ITALY: Palermo's Ballarò Market

Ballarò Market (Mercato di Ballarò) is one of the oldest street markets in Palermo.

It has been around for centuries dating back to at least the Arab period (9th–11th centuries).

Ballarò market reflects Arab, North African and even South Asian cultures.

It is in the old historical part of town with stalls packed into the narrow winding streets.

Ballarò is touted as the most authentic market in Palermo and is still used by many locals to buy fresh produce, meat, fish, spices, prepared meals and street food.

Which makes it a tourist attraction.

You can buy fresh seafood.

Different types of cheese.

 

 

There is an abundance of fresh produce.

It is a noisy market. Sellers shout in the Sicilian dialect to attract customers (the shouting is called abbanniata).

What was very fun was the huge selection of ready-to-eat food. There were so many options to choose from. 

Arancine is a local Sicilian specialty. Deep-fried rice balls, stuffed with things like ragù (meat sauce), ham and cheese, or spinach and mozzarella. They have a crispy outside and a creamy inside.

For those with a sweet tooth, cannoli has a crispy shell, sweet ricotta inside with pistachios or chocolate on the ends. And then there are other variations to the traditional choices. Chocolate and Nutella are always good choices.

Stigghiola is lamb, goat or beef intestines that can be wrapped around a skewer or spring onion and then seasoned with lemon, salt, and parsley, grilled right in front of you. They say it is smoky, chewy, and hardcore Sicilian street food. I’ll accept that explanation.

 

 

Another option is called Mangia e Bevi. It’s pancetta wrapped around a spring onion.

The options are endless.

And to finish it all off, there are tons of fruit stand selling fresh squeezed fruit juice for a couple of Euros a glass. They’ll squeeze the fruit right in front of you with a very basic hand-press juicer.

They make fresh spritzes with the freshly squeezed juices by mixing them with prosecco, or other alcoholic beverages, and add a splash of soda water. 

They put them in a plastic cup and they are ready to go!

Its hard to go hungry in Sicily. 

And its even harder to not gain weight.