I usually meet with my Italian friends at Roma Gourmet for a cappuccino, and chat about life here in the States, as well as the latest developments in our mother land. On most morning, often around 11 am, the conversation shifts to food. The time proximity to lunch time is crucial to aged retired Italians.

They begin staring their watches, and continue to do so until…just about 20 minutes past eleven, the time where all of them just get up simultaneously and with somber apology leave the premises. You probably guessed why. It’s lunch time.

The world would certainly end if they did not sit at the table exactly at 12 noon.  Often we ridicule ourselves, about the cooking of the regions we came from, and proudly display our nationalism through food. I was always intrigued about the street foods of
Italy, and asked my Italian compari for their childhood memorable snack. On one occasion I asked a gentleman from Palermo if he would be interested in teaching us the process of making “Le panelle”, a typical street snack from Sicily.

We met at my restaurant for an unusual lunch. Filippo Napoli from Sicily brought his home-made wine. I offered some cheeses variety and aged salumi, Paolo Misuraca from Calabria showed up ready to indulge, and Carmine “il professore” from Lazio, sat at the bar watching soccer while drinking. We shifted to the kitchen where the Panelle King was performing his magic. His name is Franco Lo Buono, also known as “Dotto”, the doctor. Actually he is not a doctor and never went to medical school, but years ago he was involved with the Giovanny 23d Soccer team, and his job was to alleviate the physical ailments of the players. I am not certain that those ailments ever went away.

Franco was born in Palermo and proudly displayed the art of making “le panelle’. He fried them lightly, and with a paper towel absorbed the excessive oil residue. He then proceed to lay them in a large platter and kept them warm until the moment when he sliced large soft rolls, filled them with the warm and oily panelle, and offered them to us for the final ritual. They were wonderful, different, but most of all, it gave us the great feeling of sharing the art of communication. Of course through conversations and several quarts of home made wine, we also discovered the history of this glorious Sicilian snack that Franco prepared.

The panelle, he said: represent one of the most well recognized street foods of Palermo, and are the fried version of something called farinata di ceci, chick pea flour.

These miniature and flat pancakes are a testimony of the history of the people from the Mediterranean basin.

Around the 9^th and 11 Century, the Arabs, while dominating Sicily, already featured a mixture which included water and fine chick pea flour.

The blending of the two was cooked in a terracotta pot, until dense and creamy. Then it was flattened and fried in small pieces. The Sicilian proverb” pari na paniella”, you look similar to a panella, was referred to object who had the misfortune to be flattened by excessive weight. The panelle are characteristic snacks of the city of Palermo, often accompanied by “cazzilli”, a version of potato croquettes. You can find them everywhere in the typical “friggitorie”, fried food places, or in the famous street carts, which you can find on any busy streets of the historic center of the city.

Obviously, in addition to the well kept secret recipe, the second most important ingredient is the quality of the frying oil and its temperature which need to be monitored constantly. In addition to the panelle, Palermo offers additional succulent street foods, such boiled octopus, stigghiole (section of the intestine of goats and lamb), and sfincione. All of them are available in different quarter of the city and each vendor specializes in the preparation usually passed on from previous generations.

Panelle / Recipe

Serves 4-6

½ pound chick pea flour

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chopped parsley, chopped

Sunflower seed oil, for frying

In a pot, dissolve the chick pea flour in 4 cups of cold water. Add the salt, parsley, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, about 20 minutes. It will resemble yellowish farina. You may not think that it is done, but it is.

 Remove from the heat. Spread the mush over a large baking sheet to cool slightly, spreading evenly, until it is about 1/8 inch thick. After it has cooled and dried a bit but still warm. Make round circle about 4 inches in diameter. Heat the oil for deep frying to 360 F.

Deep fry until golden, about 1 minute on each side. Drain on paper towel, and serve warm on bread.