Street Fryer · Chickpea Fritter Sandwich
Pane e Panelle
Photo: Dedda71 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0
The fritters start as a thick chickpea batter cooked into a solid paste, left to set, then sliced and fried — the bread is basically just the delivery vehicle.
Panelle are thin slices of set chickpea-flour paste, deep-fried until crisp, then piled into a soft sesame roll, sometimes with a squeeze of lemon. Palermo's street stalls and market carts sell it as one of the city's most iconic quick lunches.
Why it's made this way: Chickpeas were an affordable Sicilian staple, and turning the flour into fried slabs stretched a cheap ingredient into filling street food for market workers.
More from Italy
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Arancini (Fried Rice Balls)
Porchetta Sandwich
Lampredotto
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Campari
Mondeghili
Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries.
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