Arancina
A fried rice ball with a filling, usually meat ragù or ham and cheese. In Palermo it is feminine, "arancina"; in Catania "arancino".
Eating Sicilian
Dishes and street food to try in Palermo.
Editorial selection: not official data. Times and prices are not given: check the venue's or museum's own website.
Pane e panelle
Thin chickpea-flour fritters in a bread roll, often with potato croquettes.
Sfincione
A thick, soft pizza with onion, tomato, anchovies and caciocavallo cheese, also sold in the street.
Pani ca meusa
A roll with veal spleen and lung, for adventurous palates. Ordered "schettu" (just lemon) or "maritatu" (with cheese or ricotta).
Baked pasta (anelletti alla palermitana)
Baked pasta made with ring-shaped anelletti, dressed with meat ragù, caciocavallo and primosale and topped with breadcrumbs. It varies from area to area: other pasta shapes, hard-boiled eggs, cured meats and vegetables also appear.
Caponata
A dish of fried diced aubergine with celery, onion, capers, olives, pine nuts and tomato, in a sweet-and-sour sauce of vinegar and sugar. The Palermo version is the simplest and most classic; other provinces add, for example, peppers or almonds.
Cannolo
A crisp fried shell filled to order with sweet ricotta cream: best when the shell stays empty until the last moment.
Granita and brioche
A summer breakfast: granita (lemon, almond, mulberry) with the brioche col tuppo.
Pasta con le sarde
The symbol dish of Palermo: bucatini with sardines, wild fennel, raisins, pine nuts and toasted breadcrumbs instead of cheese.
Brioche with gelato
The best-loved summer breakfast: the brioche col tuppo split and filled with gelato, or with granita. Eaten by hand, at the counter or sitting down.
Cassata
A ricotta cake with sponge, green almond paste and candied fruit. The baked version is another, simpler one.
Stigghiola
Lamb or kid intestines wrapped around spring onion or parsley and grilled over charcoal. Typical street food of Ballarò and Vucciria.
Almond pastries
Soft little sweets of almonds, sugar and egg white, in many shapes and flavours (lemon, pistachio, orange). Bought by weight in pastry shops.
Last reviewed: 4 November 2026