Sicilian food: origins, history, curiosities

One of the most famous teller of these stories in Palermo is the author, journalist and food expert Gaetano Basile.  He normally distinguishes three different types of cuisine that we used to have in the past: the first one was called the cuisine of the Monsù and it was the one cooked for the Nobles.

Monsù is the Sicilian term for the French Monsieur and meant the kind of cuisine prepared by important chefs for the rich and noble people, just like the writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa describes in his famous masterpiece: “The Leopard”.

The second type of Sicilian food.

A second type, the most common, is the popular cuisine, made of dishes that the poor people, who were the majority of Sicilians, used to cook daily.

They were trying to imitate the Monsù Cuisine by simply revisiting some rich plates and often changing the main ingredient.

If the Nobles had meat or fish they had egg-plants/aubergines or cheese instead.

That is why this cuisine is considered the most unique and creative.

Even today you can find stands along the streets that sell the famous “pane ca’meusa” (spleen sandwich) or the “panelle & crocchè” (chickpea fritters and potato croquettes) or the “stigghiole“.