09 Sep Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Streaty Street Food Tour in Catania, Sicily

Anytime I travel to a new city, I try to do a food tour. There is no better way to get to know a city and its people than through food. In Sicily, this is especially true as food is Sicily’s culture, history, and memories. So, when I planned my first trip to Sicily, a food tour was at the top of my list. I arrived in Catania and, after a good night’s sleep, went on a Street Food Tour of Catania with a local company called Streaty. Wandering Catania and tasting different foods along the way, there is no doubt that the Streaty Street Food Tour in Catania, Sicily, is the Please The Palate pick of the week. Streaty was started in 2013 in Palermo by Marco Romeo. He created Palermo’s first city food tour and added Catania in 2015. Today, they also offer food tours in Naples, Venice, Florence, and Taormina. Streaty’s mission is to support small family-run businesses and save Italian street food traditions. Groups are small and led by guides who are passionate and knowledgeable. Agata is the guide in Catania. Born and raised in Catania, Agata has lived, worked, and traveled abroad. She spent time in the UK, as well as Norway. It was while traveling in Norway that she was inspired by free walking tours and returned to Catania and started offering them. She was the first to offer these walking tours in Catania. Agata is full of energy and very passionate about the foods of Catania. Sicily is in the middle of the Mediterranean. It has been dominated by many different powers over the centuries, and while the religion and language have changed, food holds these memories. Catania, a city that is 2700 years old, is the main city near Mount Etna and the second largest city in Sicily. Catania is the land of Arancini, but there is so much more to discover. We met near the Duomo and walked to the nearby Fish Market. There are three sections in the fish market. There is an area for the fishermen who go out every day at 3 a.m. to catch fish. There is an area for the fishmongers who buy fish. And there is an area where they are selling frozen fresh fish. There is also an area where fruits and vegetables are sold. Overhead colorful umbrellas hang. They hang over the street food vendors that now line the streets around the fish market. As we wandered around the market, we stopped at a few vendors. I also picked up a few extra items to try. Oysters from Siracusa have large shells with a taste that is creamy and fresh. Anchovies are layered packed in salt and stored in barrels. The anchovies are extremely salty, but a great way to eat them is in a small sandwich with fresh Sicilian tomatoes and olive oil. A fruit vendor offered us seasonal prickly pear, peeling them for us to enjoy. You should not touch the outside as they are prickly. The inside, once peeled, they looked like a kiwi. They are soft in texture and slightly sweet. A nut vendor offered tastes of pistachios from Bronte. Bronte is the capital of pistachio production in Sicily. These pistachios are grown in the volcanic soils of Etna and are so flavorful. We watched a vendor make fresh Croccante with sugar, honey, and nuts. There is a rhythm as he flattens the croccante with two spatula-like instruments. After the croccante cooled down, he cut off some pieces for us to try fresh pistachio croccante. In the hot summers, people need to stay hydrated but also not sweat it all out. So, they drink a salty but refreshing drink called Seltz made with limone (green lemons) e sale (salt). Scirocco, opened in 2016, was the first street food in the fish market. Opened in 2016. Here, we enjoyed a fritta mista of fish, which included calamari, octopus, swordfish, tiny shrimp, and anchovies. At 4th generation Antica Rosticceria Catanese dal 1910, we enjoyed two items. The Fried Siciliana is made with Toma (cheese) and Anchovies. The delicate cheese is a nice pairing with the strong flavors of olives and anchovies. We also tasted a classic Sicilian dish, and more specifically, a classic Catalan dish, the Arancino. The foundation of the dish is Arabic, and then the Norman’s added the crispy shell so that the food could travel. The Arancino (ending with the masculine “o”) is a conical shape and is traditionally made with mozzarella, veal, and tomato sauce. It is important to note that there is a debate between Catania and Palermo, who call it Arancina (ending with the feminine “a”) about which is the “right” one. I vote for Arancino! Our last savory dish was at Bar Mazzini, where we enjoyed the Cippolina, a dish of puffed pastry stuffed with mozzarella, spring onions, tomato sauce, and olive. To finish our tour, we enjoyed what many Sicilians enjoy for breakfast or lunch. Granita is made with water and sugar. It is not sorbet, gelato, or sherbert. There is no cream in it, but it is creamy. And they say that the best Granita is in Catania and Messina. Granita comes in various flavors, including lemon, strawberry, peach, mulberry, chocolate, coffee, almond, pistachio, fig, pickled pear, raspberry, and more. And you eat Granita with a brioche! The Streaty Street Food Tour in Catania was a great way to start my trip to Sicily. Not only did I taste delicious food, but I also got a good introduction to the ingredients and dishes that I saw throughout my trip. And, as I met Sicilians on my travels, they were impressed with my basic knowledge of granita as well as arancino (vs arancina). Food tours are definitely the way to introduce oneself to a new city or country.