A STREET FOOD TOUR OF ITALY, FROM NORTH TO SOUTH
Whenpeople think about Italian cuisine, they usually picture themselves sitting over a very long and lazy family dinner with multiple courses. Still, we actually have a long-lasting street food tradition, touching all our regions. It’s just that till quite recently, we didn’t know that those mouthwatering dishes went abroad under the name of street food (i.e. cibo da strada).
In fact, street food in Italy has its origins several millennia ago as evidenced by the thermopolium that can be found around Pompei. These were small stalls that sold drinks and hot food, with large earthenware jars embedded in a masonry surround that kept the food inside the jars warm. Archaeologists have found over 80 of these early fast-food establishments in Pompeii alone. The food served was often depicted in artwork on the front of the masonry surrounding the jars, with images of chickens, ducks, rabbit, goat, snails and other animals giving the hungry passerby an idea of what was on offer at that particular thermopolium.
So, let us take a journey today, from North to South, from the Genoese focaccia on the Italian Riviera to lampredotto sandwich in Florence to the pani ca ‘meusa in Palermo, from the Valtellina sciatt to the Abruzzese arrosticini. Will this be an exhaustive list? Absolutely not! Visiting the country calmly, on the road, you can discover many other typical dishes. For now, let’s start our journey…
1 FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA STREET FOOD Putizza is a typical party dessert of Trieste, perfect as a snack to be consumed on the go. It’s a rolled cake typical of the Karst and very similar to the corresponding Slovenian version: a dough with an intense flavor, filled with dried fruit.
2 TRENTINO-ALTO ADIGE STREET FOOD The Bretzel is the typical South Tyrolean bread that is also widespread in Austria and Germany and comes with a recognizable intertwined shape. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, it is garnished with grains of coarse salt. Panino con il würstel is a must in Bolzano, where it’s served neat on wax paper with bread on the side. There are many varieties of sausages however, from Meraner (prepared with beef mixed with pork and spiced) to Weisswurst (white, not smoked), perfect for eating with bretzel!
3 AOSTA VALLEY STREET FOOD
Tegole are typical, delicious round, flat, tasty, and crumbly biscuits made with almonds, hazelnuts, butter, egg white, and flour. The Aosta tegole are traditionally eaten for breakfast, but they are also perfect as a mid-morning or afternoon snack to go.
4 LOMBARDY STREET FOOD
Sciatt is Valtellina’s mouth-watering bites of Casera cheese, passed in a thin buckwheat-based batter, then fried and served hot. You can have them with chicory and bresaola served in a walking cone.
Caldarroste can be found everywhere, as chestnuts are widespread throughout the country, but Milanese kiosks selling freshly prepared roasted chestnut cones are quite an institution.
5 PIEDMONT STREET FOOD
Miassa is an ancient Canavese specialty, widespread only around Ivrea, where it used to replace bread. Prepared with water and cornflour, it’s a kind of polenta-based piadina cooked on an iron heated over a high flame, and then filled with the typical salignun, a fresh ricotta cream flavored with alpine herbs and chili. As a kid, I couldn’t wait to visit my great-grandma in Ivrea to taste it!
6 VENETIAN STREET FOOD
Cicchetti are typical appetizers of the Venetian gastronomic tradition, accompanied, in full Venetian style, with an Aperol Spritz or a glass of local wine. Among the most famous, we find creamed cod, egg with anchovies, meatballs, baby octopus with polenta, and fried vegetables. Cones of fried fish are widespread throughout Italy, getting a different name depending on the region or town you order them. Still, the Scartosso de pesse is a fried fish foil in the Venetian version, using the fish from the Lagoon. A riot of squid, sardines, prawns, sole, shrimp, mullet, other local fishes and vegetables. Paduan folpetti are a true delight: ungutted octopus boiled and served in green sauce.
7 EMILIA-ROMAGNA STREET FOOD Piadina is one of the most popular street foods, and we now find piadinerie serving it throughout Italy! The dough varies depending on the area: on the coastline, around Rimini, the pastry is thin, in the hinterland much thicker, while the classic filling is with the local cheese called Squacquerone di Romagna dop, rocket, and ham.
The erbazzone, particularly typical of the Reggio Emilia area, is an exquisite savory pie filled with chard, spinach, garlic, egg, shallot, and onion.
Modenese Crescentina, also known by the name of tigella, referring to the name of the terracotta disk once used to cook it on the grill, is a typical bread, round and rather flat, usually cut and stuffed with the traditional cunza (a mixture made from lard, rosemary, and garlic) or with cold cuts and cheeses.
Torta fritta in Parma, also known as gnocco fritto Reggio-Emilia or Modena, is a fried dumpling prepared by frying a dough made
from flour, water, and salt then cut into squares. As per tradition, it is accompanied by tasty local cold cuts.
8 LIGURIAN STREET FOOD
Frisceu is the traditional mixed fried seafood, or fried cod, looking like rounded pancakes in batter with thinly sliced herbs and often served with panisse, prepared by boiling a chickpea flour polenta on charcoal, then cut into pieces with the characteristic “half-moon” shape, then fried and served hot.
Focaccia Genovese is cult street food. The Genovese version is thin, slightly crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside, and seasoned with extra virgin olive oil. We - I’m a local… - eat it not only on the road but also and above all for breakfast, when dipped in a cappuccino! Do try it! It also comes in unlimited variations: with onions, with tomatoes, with oregano, with pesto sauce, etc.
Focaccia di Recco is one of my favorite treats ever. It’s a product that boasts the IGP designation and can be prepared with this wording only in Recco, Sori, Camogli, and Avegno, all four towns located east of Genoa. It’s composed of two super-thin layers of dough made with water, flour, extra virgin olive oil, and salt, which hold a delicious filling of fresh stracchino cheese. Torte di verdure (vegetable pies) are an everyday treat. The most famous vegetable pie is the green cake: a thin pastry filled with rice, zucchini, and herbs such as chard, which change according to the season.
Farinata is a must in the eastern Italian Riviera. A thin layer of chickpea flour and water, baked in the oven and served hot. In La Spezia, you can even have it to fill sliced pizza to go!
9 TUSCAN STREET FOOD
The lampredotto sandwich is a must-try in Florence! It’s actually the abomasum, one of the four stomachs of the bovine, boiled in vegetable broth, served in a lightly wet sandwich, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and, optionally, a green sauce made with garlic and parsley or a spicy red sauce.
Covaccino is the typical Florentin flatbread, one of the most sought-after dishes by street food lovers. You can have it filled with your favorite ingredients. I love stracchino and sausage!
Cinque e cinque, typical along the coast near Livorno, it’s bread stuffed with cecina, the Tuscan version of the Ligurian farinata, The name refers to the ancient payment system: five coins (once soldi) of bread and five of chickpea cake. Marche street food
Olive all’ascolana, a must for fried food, typical of Ascoli Piceno. The large Ascoli olives from Piceno (which boast the DOP) are stuffed with a filling based on minced meat, lemon zest, eggs, Parmesan cheese, and nutmeg breaded and fried in boiling oil. What can I say? One leads to another, and self-control is easily lost!
Typical of the province of Ancona, in the Marche region, it is a sandwich stuffed with veal or lamb intestines, seasoned with chili and other aromas and, subsequently, heated on the grill. It’s called panino con le spuntature.
10 UMBRIAN STREET FOOD
Crescia di Gubbio, also known as Torta al Testo, is a round dough made from water, flour, bicarbonate (or yeast), spread and cooked on the typical panaro, a disc of iron heated by the open flame of the embers. Sliced, it is usually served with excellent local cured meats and costarelle (i.e., pork ribs) and vegetables.
11 LAZIO STREET FOOD
Maritozzo is a delicious - definitely not light - Roman pastry: an elongated brioche dough enriched with pine nuts and raisins, cut lengthwise and stuffed with whipped cream and a sprinkling of icing sugar. I told you… not light, but truly unforgettable!
The supplì is an elongated meatball made with rice cooked with tomato sauce or with meat sauce with a mozzarella heart in the center. It’s then fried and served hot, with a crunchy exterior and a soft meaty center.
In Ariccia, near Rome, don’t miss the porchetta, a specialty based on boned and spiced pork, with a crunchy crust and perfectly balanced aroma of rosemary, pepper, and garlic. It’s a tradition handed down from father to son! You can now get it in any country fair around Italy, but the original one is a totally different experience I recommend!
Well, pizza al taglio is technically well known and served everywhere, but in Rome is a must. The most famous one is the white pizza, but you also get the one with potatoes, the one with tomato, the one with porchetta and chicory, and the one with mortadella.
12 ABRUZZO STREET FOOD
The arrosticini are the typical, irresistible, Apennine pastoral tradition skewers of sheep meat roasted on the brazier.
13 SARDINIAN STREET FOOD
Fave del Sinis are broad beans, the main ingredient of local peasant cuisine. On the Sinis peninsula, located in the central-western area of the island, they are prepared and eaten as they once were: after a long soaking in water, they are boiled and seasoned with garlic, parsley, oil, and chili, and then eaten as usual: one by one, just like peanuts.
Muggine arrosto is one of Sardinia’s most typical fish products, prevalent in the lagoon area of Cabras. Roasted mullet is perfect to be savored on the go.
14 CAMPANIA STREET FOOD
Neapolitan Cuoppo is a typical takeaway cone filled with delicious customized fries with many fragrant flavors ranging from courgette flowers (the so-called sciurilli) to mozzarella in carrozza (i.e., fried or “in a carriage”) and from croquettes to fish.
When in Naples, don’t miss the ‘O per’ e ‘o muss (i.e., the foot and the muzzle). The offal is cleaned, boiled, cooled, and seasoned with a splash of lemon and salt. It has a soft and chewy texture, but it really tastes good.
Pizza a portafoglio (i.e., wallet pizza) is a very ancient recipe, sold in the alleys of Naples: it consists of a small size pizza, stuffed with tomato and a single piece of fiordilatte (yummy type of local mozzarella), and then folded on itself to facilitate the consumption on the street.
15 APULIAN STREET FOOD
Panzerotti are usually fried, but you can also find a baked version. No matter the option you select, they’ll be delicious, warm, fragrant, with a filling based on tomato sauce and mozzarella. Focaccia barese is a must of the Apulian street cuisine. This type of focaccia is a very tall and soft one, with boiled potatoes mixed in the dough and stuffed with fresh tomatoes.
Piadina Salentina is quite a must in Lecce, with fillings combining the flavors of Apulian cuisine, such as beetroot and turnip greens, and with the innovation of different flavors such as avocado.
Touring the streets of Bari Vecchia, you will come across sgagliozze sellers: thin slices of polenta fried in boiling oil served hot with a sprinkling of salt.
16 BASILICATA STREET FOOD
Sfugliolato is a typical Lucanian dish: a bread prepared with flour, oil, brewer’s yeast, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, and the traditional recipe, also has salt, anchovies, and pepper. It’s prepared by rolling out the dough in a quadrangular shape, then stuffed with the ingredients and rolled up on the long sides, wrapped into a donut.
17 CALABRIAN STREET FOOD
Morzello is the Catanzaro’s response to tripe: a typical specialty based on calf entrails which are first fried, then stewed in a high casserole with tomato, hot pepper, and spices such as bay leaf and oregano.
18 SICILIAN STREET FOOD
Arancine is one of my favorite dishes ever. Still, here we have to enter an essential southern and never-ending debate on their gender, which is actually one of Sicily’s most controversial linguistic topics. If in Palermo, they are strictly fimmine (female = arancine), in Catania, they are masculi (male = arancini). The important thing to remember is that it’s a delicious fried cone of rice filled with meat sauce. It is also found in many other variations, though: the white version, with mozzarella, ham, and bechamel, has long been my daily treat leaving the
Bellini theatre where I used to work.
Pani ca meusa is a spleen sandwich trendy in Palermo’s open-air markets. It is a sandwich with a mix of offal, including the spleen, hence the name. Unlike many other Sicilian dishes, it is not of Arab origin but Jewish. It dates back to more than 1000 years ago, when the Jewish butchers kept, as compensation, the calf entrails with which they stuffed what they found, the bread, in fact. The pieces of the spleen (often together with veal lung and trachea) are cooked in lard, in large pots, and then dried and served in the guastedda, the sesame loaf. When ordering your sandwich, be ready to answer a crucial question: “schietta?” (i.e., frank, meaning seasoned with lemon only) or “maritata?” (i.e., married, meaning seasoned with caciocavallo cheese or salty ricotta).
Cassateddi are an Easter traditional dish widespread throughout the Trapani area, but now they can be enjoyed all year round. The small ravioli of shortcrust pastry, filled with ricotta, chocolate chips, and cinnamon, are fried in boiling oil and covered with powdered sugar. Yummy! Sfincione, a high pizza with a spongy dough, topped with tomato, cheese, anchovies, oregano, and onion. In Palermo, it is easily found in bakeries or street vendors and today is recognized as PAT (traditional Italian food product). Stigghiole, is another must when visiting stunning open markets in Palermo: grilled skewers prepared with rolled up sheep entrails seasoned with salt and onion. This product is also recognized as PAT!
Pane, panelle and potato crocchè, a true Sicilian delicacy and yet another fried specialty (we’re not good at diet food). It’s a typical potato croquette with panelle, a thin pancake, prepared with chickpea flour, usually offered in Palermo within the guastedde, loaves covered with sesame seeds, seasoned with salt and lemon.
Last but definitely not least, the granita, spread all around the island, but coming from Messina: the ideal summer breakfast! Tastes are almost unlimited, ranging from strawberry to lemon, from mulberry to almond, from figs to chocolate. However, the most famous and renowned is the menza ca ‘panna, served in a glass half with coffee granita and half with cream. The granita is eaten strictly accompanied by the typical coppola brioche, a butter sandwich with its particular hat shape.
Our tour has come to an end, and I hope you are inspired to try some of these street foods the next time you are in Italy, and that youvenjoy the timeless Italian tradition of enjoying regional specialties on the go!