Olive Nation Blog

Sicily - Palermo

Posted by Chiara in Travel, Jul 15 2008

In late May this year, Amit and I spent two weeks in Sicily to visit our olive oil producers and to taste as many island specialties as humanly possible. We flew to Rome to pick up my parents, then we all drove to Civitavecchia to board the overnight ferry to Palermo. Our trip was full of surprises.

 The views of the sea from the ship were gorgeous, especially the sunset. We toasted with a couple of Campari and soda (with a big orange slice) and then ate some of the best fried calamari I have ever had: tender, crispy and lemony. After dinner we discovered that the Mediterranean is small compared to an ocean, but can get just as angry. We went to lie down in our cabins and for the whole night I felt as though I were riding a cushioned rollercoaster. Interesting.

The next morning we were ready for Palermo. We had a few coffees on the deck and watched the coast get closer and closer until we docked, got back in the car, and looked for breakfast.

We had several melt-in your-mouth panelle, a kind of fried chickpea (garbanzo bean) pancakes, which brought back many happy memories of my aunt Rosellina, from the Sicilian branch of the Lucia family–my grandfather was born in Palermo. They are delicious and easy to make. They also happen to be completely gluten-free. People have them as a first course (usually not at breakfast.)

The recipe is below. There is a lovely demonstration by the chef of the Gambero Rosso: he’s an expert, and you might learn some Italian while watching him on youtube:

 Panelle Sicilliane U-Tube Video.

 We also listed the recipe on another page. Click here for the Panelle Sicilliane recipe.