Pane ca' meusa is a sesame-seeded vastedda bun stuffed with veal spleen, lung and trachea boiled then fried in lard, served maritato with caciocavallo and ricotta or schietto with lemon, the most distinctive Palermitan street food.
Pane ca' meusa traces to medieval Palermitan Jewish butchers in the Giudecca quarter, who could not eat the pork that Sicilian Christians did. After the 1492 Spanish expulsion of Sicilian Jews, Christian butchers inherited the spleen-sandwich tradition; it has been sold at Palermo street counters continuously for 500 years. Antica Focacceria San Francesco has served it since 1834.
3 editor picks for Pane ca' meusa in Palermo, ranked by editorial score. All Palermo signature dishes · Pane ca' meusa across every city.
Pani Ca' Meusa Porta Carbone ★ 4.7
vucciria · Via Cala 62, 90133 Palermo
Pani Ca' Meusa Porta Carbone on Via Cala by Palermo's port has fried spleen, lung and trachea sandwiches in lard since 1943; the city's canonical pane ca' meusa counter.
Nni Franco u' Vastiddaru ★ 4.4
kalsa · Via Vittorio Emanuele 102, 90133 Palermo
Nni Franco u' Vastiddaru on Corso Vittorio Emanuele at Piazza Marina in Palermo is the canonical pane con la milza counter, founded 1992 by a former Antica Focacceria apprentice.
Antica Focacceria San Francesco ★ 4.2
kalsa · Via Alessandro Paternostro 58, 90133 Palermo
Antica Focacceria San Francesco on Via Alessandro Paternostro opposite the basilica is Palermo's 1834-founded sit-down street food room, serving the canonical pane ca' meusa and panelle.