Panelle are thin chickpea-flour fritters; crocche di patate are mashed-potato croquettes. Together they fill a sesame vastedda bun for the Palermitan working lunch sandwich.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Panelle trace to Arab Sicily; chickpea flour was a Maghrebi staple that entered Sicilian cooking after the 9th-century conquest. The technique is to cook a thick chickpea-flour porridge with water and salt, spread it thin on a marble slab to set, then cut into squares and deep-fry until crisp at the edges. The crocche (potato croquettes) emerged as a companion in the 19th century and were always sold from the same friggitorie counters. The form survives at every Ballaro, Capo and Vucciria street counter. The vastedda roll-stuffed sandwich format is the canonical late-morning Palermitan street meal; Friggitoria Chiluzzo and Nni Franco u' Vastiddaru are the reference counters.
Common allergens: Gluten, Sesame
Tip from the editors. Spread the chickpea paste while still hot for the smoothest panelle; oiling your hands keeps it from sticking.
Friggitoria Chiluzzo on Piazza Kalsa in Palermo is the city's cheapest serious meal, panelle and crocche sandwich at 2 euros eaten standing on the piazza.
Try: Panelle e crocche sandwich
Tip: Cash only. Eat on the church steps opposite.
Panelle and crocche vendors along Piazza Ballaro in Palermo sell chickpea fritter and potato croquette sandwiches for 2 to 4 euros, the canonical Palermitan.
Try: Panelle e crocche sandwich
Tip: Cash only. The corner of Via Carmine has the busiest counter.
Antica Focacceria San Francesco in Palermo's Kalsa serves the full Palermitan street food carte from 11:00-23:00, the city's reliable late-evening.
Try: Pane ca' meusa, sfincione, panelle
Tip: Counter pickup is fastest. The terrace facing the basilica is the late-night seat.
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