Day 6
I think karma is really getting back at me for skipping all those classes in college. Today my street food tour guide literally just skipped work and did not tell me.
I found myself at 10:30 in the morning, standing next to a pile of dog poop getting stared down by some Sicilian jabronis outside some random museum. I stood there looking like a dunce repeatedly checking my email for any sign of communication. Now I am not really the type of guy to call customer support, I usually give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I have the “it’ll work out” mentality. But since I was literally the only person standing on this corner ( I like to think I had a better chance of turning a trick than those Spanish prostitutes) I decided to call customer support. Within 2 minutes of being on the phone with the nice lady she goes “oh yeah, he called in sick about 10 minutes ago.” So I rescheduled for tomorrow. Lets hope his/her brown bag fever clears up because I’m trying to eat.
That customer support chat really worked up an appetite. That, and I usually always have an appetite. So I started walking until I found a place in the heart of the historic district. Plopped down [the chair did not like the plopping] and promptly asked the waitress to bring me: a) an espresso and b) whatever she would order at 11 in the morning [this was hard to explain without knowing Italian. She was really confused why I cared what she thought.] So she brought me Foccacia caponata e caciocavallo.
Caponata is a Sicilian eggplant stew that has its roots based sicily’s arabic and african influences; specifically Tunisia where the dish is also popular. The sauce is tomato based with fried eggplant, olives, capers, sweet vinegar, and some onion and garlic. Its served on a beautifully chewy and dense sesame seed bun. The whole thing is topped with caciocavallo which is a cheese between pecorino/parmesan/and provolone, salty and nutty. This thing was amazing. Salty, chewy, savory. It was so good I did not even realize there wasn’t meat in it. I actually ate it so fast the owner of the restaurant made a side comment to me, which I can only imagine translated into something like “holy shit, slow down.”
Next I ordered Sfincione aka Sicilian Pizza. Again the waitress was a little confused. I guess no one orders pizza at 11 am. But like I have 36 hours here, I am going to eat what I want when I want. Don’t judge me. Plus most kids my age eat cold pizza before 11, at least this was hot.
Sfincione is more like the typical foccacia we know in the states, covered with tomato sauce and oregano. This did not have cheese, although some versions do, some also have little anchovies on top. Sicilians love to just throw anchovies in there for the heck of it, like some sadistic joke. Except their anchovies are really good…and fresh from the sea…like 200 feet away…. Anyways this was topped with a delicious pizza sauce, a sprinkle of oregano, and a little sauce. The bottom is crispy with an ever so slightly char flavor and the top is spongy, dense, but also airy. Incredible, simple yet packed with flavor.
I then went on exploring the city. I worked up an appetite around 3 so I decided to check out a spot that my hosts told me about. A place where I could get the best foccacia milza, AKA the famous Sicilian spleen sandwich. Now before you go “eww thats disgusting” almost every other culture uses the organs of the animals they kill. Its not all tenderloins and boneless skinless chicken breasts. Please promise me, always try something once. If you don’t like it, spit it out, don’t swallow it *insert dirty Dad joke here*, it cant hurt you to try.
The restaurant is called Nni Franco u Vastiddaru. You can find Franco out front chillin’ with his posse of old Italian men chain smoking and what I can only imagine is bitching about their wives and checking out the young girls in the piazza.
I first ordered panelle y coche. Which is a chickpea fritter that is seasoned with salt and parsley and deep fried. Served with lemon. Super good, simple, and the lemon really makes it. The flat triangles are the panelle.
The oval balls are potato fritters seasoned the same way. They are very commonly served together, often on one of those great chewy sesame buns.
Next the spleen sandwich. It honestly sounds better if you just refer to it as foccacia milza.
This again came topped with caciocavallo and a side of lemon. Honestly I had no idea what to expect taste-wise going into this. I figured, its an organ, so I am guessing gamey, irony, weird texture, maybe some poop notes in the background(?), I don’t know man.
But this thing was incredible. The spleen was intensely beefy and the texture was kind of like really firm fat on a ribeye, but not nearly as chewy. It essentially melts in your mouth. The whole sandwich really works. The salty cheese, acidic lemon that cuts through the fattiness, the chewy bread thats kind of nutty and toasted. I was blown away, it was really frickin good.
Next I went and took myself out on a hot date. Cause I really am a total package and deserved to be shown off and pampered. I’m a catch.
I literally googled searched “#1 restaurant in Palermo, Sicily” and went. It was in this really sketchy neighborhood though. So that was a surprise. It was actually kind of cool, I felt like Andrew Zimmern walking through some back alley slums to some secret food spot. Except he has a camera crew with him, and I am just a blonde chubby kid. In a sketchy neighborhood. Clearly a tourist. Without many fighting skills or any at all really. Eh, ya live and ya learn.
The place was called Quattroventi, 24. Dope name right? I sat down and ordered a Sicilian red wine. It was really good, this one was more akin to a wine you’d find in the states. Still that fruitness I’ve come to find with their wines but this was a bit heavier, like a fruity merlot almost.
I then ordered the fish tasting menu. Palermo is on the water… and Sicily is an island…in the Mediterranean and I live in Chicago, of course I’m not ordering the meat! By the way, this place specializes in Sicilian comfort food. So you know I was excited.
Now I know the post is getting a little long so Im going to keep the rest fairly brief.
There technically was a desert, but my airbnb host gave me concert tickets and it started at 9:15 and I did not get my last course till 8:45 so I skipped out on desert. Everyone was very confused. Like they sent the owner to come talk to me, confused. Oh well, I left my lactose pills at home anyways, so probably for the better. Saved everyone a hefty plumber bill.
