Sicilian Street Food in Palermo 🇮🇹 CRAZY Italian BBQ + HUGE Arancini in Sicily!!

Numero uno nello street food mondiale, eccola qui, sua maestà, la sticchiola. Welcome to Chopstick Travel, we're Luke and Sabrina and today we are in Palermo. This is the capital of Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean and this is our first time here. We're going to have the ultimate street food tour of Palermo today. There's so many different influences here in Sicily, especially Arabic influences, so we're really excited to taste the food. We're going to be exploring the whole city, it's going to be a great episode. Make sure you stay tuned until the end. Let's go eat some Italian food. So we're starting off our day here at the Fontana Pritoria. This is a landmark here in Palermo, a beautiful, magnificent fountain. It's massive and it's flanked by all these different statues. It was built in the 1500s and this is a perfect place to start our day, but we have to go eat some Sicilian food, so we're going to start our day with a typical Sicilian breakfast. Our breakfast spot today is this little hole in the wall called Cafeteria del Corso and they serve granita, which is a traditional Sicilian breakfast. They make granita with all kinds of different fresh fruits, all fresh ingredients, and this is a really cool spot, right on the side of this main strip, only two little tables, and I think it's going to be really good. So we're just waiting for our granita to arrive. So this is the famous granita Siciliana. It is almost like a shaved ice sorbet, kind of halfway between both, and then it's topped with panna, the cream, and I got the frutti di bosco, the mixed berries. And I'm going to grab a little bit of that off the top and some of the panna. Look at how beautiful the colors are of that, all made using fresh ingredients. Oh man, that is so smooth, silky, silky smooth, and then you get that nice kind of icy texture in there too. Grazie. Okay, so we have a couple more things now. That is so, so delicious though, but this is what you've got to eat it with, the brioche. So very simple, just a brioche and a granita, that's a typical Sicilian breakfast. And then Sabrina's ordered a granita cafe, so just made with coffee, and that looks awesome too. Alright, let's tear a piece of this brioche off. Oh yeah, super soft. I guess you just eat this as is. Maybe the granita's not filling enough. Mmm, fresh. Let's chase that brioche with a little bit of granita. Mmm, super refreshing, because of course it's hot here in Italy. And then the flavor of those mixed berries is so strong, it's a concentrated berry flavor, so I can taste raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and then mixed with the silky smooth panna, it's just incredible. Yeah. Alright, so this is one of their more popular granitas, the cafe e panna, and whoa, what is going on on top here? Look at all of that. It's like full of powder, full of cream. I'm just going to go in for one giant scoop, if possible. Whoa, oh my gosh, wow, that is like tiramisu in a cup. But it's super cold, the ice granules give it a nice texture, and then it is just covered in like a coffee powder. Oh, that is just what I need. That is amazing. What an interesting little breakfast item, I love that, and this is such a hidden gem. He's even making the brioche fresh here, and he's got all different kinds of flavors of granita, he's got peach, mulberry, watermelon, lemon, almond, all kinds of different ones. What a great way to start the day. So Palermo has quite a few famous markets, and we are at the Ballaro Market, which is one of the most popular, and it is seriously buzzing. There is a lot of energy here, a lot of delicious, fresh-looking produce, and lots of street food too, you can find it all here. Eccola qui, sua maestà, la stigghiola! We just stopped at this little street food stall that's serving all kinds of different things, he's got some intestines on the grill, he's got all kinds of different deep-fried things, and he had a bunch of arancini as well, so we decided to go with one of those. So this is the Italian rice ball, so he actually coats it in some breadcrumbs and then deep-fries it, and it should be stuffed usually with ragu, mozzarella, some things like that, and he warned us that you're definitely going to want to wait at least two minutes before biting into this thing, because it'll be way too hot, and just look at the size of it, it's literally the size of a baseball, that is seriously crazy. So, waiting for it to cool off. Queste sono le stigghiole, non è salsiccia, sono le stigghiole. This thing is seriously heavy, it's like twice the weight of a baseball, and the same size as one, and I think it's not going to be too hot, so let's bite in. Oh my, wow, look at that, that is awesome, the filling looks like there's some peas in there, there's definitely some ragu, I could taste the tomatoes in there, and there's definitely some cheese as well, the rice is a nice firm texture, and then you get that crunchy outside, the flavor is just really fresh, even though this thing probably, I mean definitely can't be that healthy for you. I gotta go in for another bite though, because I gotta get in deeper to that filling, look at that hole. Oh yeah, there we go, oh man, that is seriously juicy, this thing is heavy. There's lots of meat in that ragu sauce as well as the peas, and wow, this is like a meal in and of itself. The ragu is so delicious though. That's it for the Valaro market, super cool place, and there's a lot of markets here in Palermo to explore, and we're getting this vibe that this city is so much more relaxed and laid back than Roma, for sure, and we're just walking through these little streets with everybody's clothes hanging out to dry, and we're heading to do some sightseeing while we burn off those arancini. The vegetation here is super super cool, there's all kinds of different plants, cactuses, palms, and it's all intertwined within these old historic buildings, it just creates such an amazingly picturesque atmosphere. How's it smell? Like coconuts almost, it's really nice. Sweet coconuts. This is such a beautiful park. So we have come to the Cathedral of Palermo, this is definitely the nicest church I've ever stepped foot in, it's absolutely massive. The details are so intricate, the ceilings are extremely tall, and there's so many different pieces of art, be it paintings or sculptures, and there's even tombs underneath, royal tombs underneath of the cathedral, so you can go to the rooftop if you buy a ticket, or you can just walk around inside here, there's so much to see. So what did you think of the Palermo Cathedral? Wow, it's huge, I didn't expect it to be so large, and really nice to walk around and kind of get away from the sun. Yeah, it's beautiful from the inside and from the outside, you've got to check out both. So we're going to go check out another one of Palermo's markets. So we're just walking through another market here, and we just picked up some Svincione, which I'll tell you about in a minute, we're going to find somewhere to sit down and have it with a beer. So this is the famous Sicilian pizza known as Svincione, and it's almost like a focaccia bread on the bottom, and then it's just been topped with some tomatoes and some cheese, and it's all about the bread that makes this different than like a Napoli pizza or something, and we're having it with a beer, so let's give it a try. Yum! So there's definitely some anchovies in there, I'm not sure it's in the sauce or what, but I can definitely taste a fresh seafood flavor, and then you've got a nice thick layer of tomato sauce, and you get some saltiness from the cheese, wash it down with a beer. I am loving Sicily. Bread that this is on is actually quite thick, but it's very fluffy too, and this is a very typical Sicilian street food, but we just got it from a bakery and it's just as good. So we've walked down the street to a very popular place to have one of Palermo's most famous street foods, it's a spleen sandwich, so we're going to order one up and try it out. So this is the famous Palermo Sicilian spleen sandwich called Pane Camusa, and it's a spleen and lung of veal, and there's also some cheese on top too. It's served in this almost like a hamburger-like bun, and the aroma is quite strong of opal. Let's try it out. There's almost no flavor at all. So the spleen and the lung are super soft, they've been boiled down, there is a slight aroma of opal, but honestly there's almost no flavor. I can only really taste the cheese. It's a nice soft bun, but there really isn't too much to it. I thought there was going to be a lot more flavor than that. Yeah, it's okay, not my favorite. Thank goodness there's cheese on it, because that's the only place where the flavor is coming from. But overall, not too bad. So we're just back at our hotel taking a little bit of a break, and we're on the rooftop of the hotel right now, and it has incredible views over the historic center of Palermo. And we're waiting for the sun to go down a little bit more, because a lot of the restaurants actually open up later, like 7.30, 8pm here. But wow, this city is absolutely gorgeous. So for dinner tonight, we've come to this really cool restaurant that's sprawling out onto the sidewalk, and we ordered a couple of typical Sicilian dishes, and we've got their house wine here, it's a chardonnay, and for the whole bottle, 7 euro. I think it's a pretty good price. The prices seem pretty cheap here, so I'm excited to eat. So my pasta has arrived, and this is pasta alla norma. This is one of the most famous pastas in all of Sicily, and one of the most famous products of Sicily is their eggplant. So this is an eggplant pasta with cheese, and some beautiful, beautiful pasta. Look at that. I am so ready to dig into this. The eggplant is so ridiculously soft. It's covered in this tart, sour tomato sauce, and then the cheese just tops it off perfectly. And of course, the pasta is al dente. And you get these little pieces of eggplant in there, and this is quite the portion for 6 euros. So I have got the pasta con sardine, which is the sardine pasta, and there's also wild fennel in there. Let's give that a try. It looks very interesting. If you're a seafood lover, this is perfect for you, and tons of flavor from the wild fennel. There's almost like breadcrumbs on top, which add a little bit of crunch. And let me try one of these dried fruits to see what it is. Whoa, that was just popped with almost like a seafood juice. I wonder if that is some sort of seaweed in there. Wow, that is unique. So our second course has arrived. This is involtino di carne, and they definitely don't care too much about the presentation here. That's what you get with the cheap prices. And so this is, I think it's veal, and then it's stuffed with prosciutto. It should be stuffed with prosciutto, and also maybe cheese. And I'll put a little bit of lemon. Oh, lots of seeds in that lemon. Push that off, and then we'll cut this open and see if we can see what's going on inside. Oh, it looks like there's some greens in there as well. It looks like it's stuffed with maybe potatoes and greens. Let's give it a try and find out. Hmm, that one's not nearly as good as the pasta. So it is stuffed with prosciutto, but it's a cooked ham, not the cured prosciutto. And I don't think there's any cheese in there. I think there's a little bit of potato, actually. And it's just a little bit dry. It's oily on the outside, but then it's dry on the inside, unfortunately. But yeah, it's all right. Not much to it. Oh, seed. So this is the insalata siciliana, which is the Sicilian salad. And we have tons of different ingredients. We have anchovies, onions, potato, not sure why, and olives as well. And I'm going to go in for one bite with just about everything. Born Sicily. This is what it is. Honestly, whoa. Those anchovies. What is going on here? The anchovies are like as salty as the ocean gets. The potato makes it soft. Tomatoes are really fresh, so. Do you take back what you said about the potato? Is it a good addition? They're all right. Kind of a sad salad. The pasta alla norma was my favorite dish for sure. And I will say that there's definitely better options out there in Palermo for the other dishes that we tried tonight. But I think it's time for dessert. Dessert is served. And what else could it be than a canolo? And this is the full-size one. And the brown crust on the outside is the typical Sicilian style, I think. But this one is stuffed with sheep's ricotta cheese. Hello. Just eat it. Oh, that's really good actually. Yum. Ricotta is phenomenal. It's a little sweet, but definitely not too sweet. And then really crunchy on the outside. It's simple, but simply delicious. And this is the most, probably the most typical Sicilian food of them all. Definitely dessert. Okay, screen is going to try. Turn the camera itself. What is that? Oh. So good, right? Wow. That's way better than anyone. Than the one we had in Rome. Definitely better than the one we had in Rome. Way better than the one we had in Rome. Oh my gosh. Wow. Give me another bite. All right, guys. That's it for today's video. What an incredible first day here in Sicily. What was your favorite thing we tried today, Sabrina? I have to say it was the granita. It's so good and unique. Yeah, I think I have to second that. I love the granita. Such a cool little shop, too. And I'd say that the canolo saved the night here. Definitely get the canolo if you're going to come here. All the information for the places we visited is down in the description box. Subscribe. Hit the bell icon so you're notified when we post our next video. And see you guys on the next episode of Chopstick Travel. Bye.