If you're a pizza fan (who isn't) you’re likely well-versed in the country’s best – Lucio’s, 400 Gradi, Da Mario – the list is long. They all serve Neapolitan (from Naples) pizza, which is the most common type served here. Fan as you are, there's a completely different style of pizza you may not have tried yet – Sicilian pizza. opened last month on King Street, Newtown and specialises in it, along with other street food from the region.
The two smiling faces behind the counter (one with an excellent moustache that inspired the store’s logo) of the snug, mostly takeaway shop belong to co-owners Stefano Trevisa and Daniele Zanco (the chef). They met working in the same hotel in Sydney and after a few years of working in various Italian restaurants, decided to open their own place together. Zanco is from Caltanissetta in Sicily and is cooking the food he grew up with.
The pizza is very different to the thin-based, puffy-crust, round Neapolitan pizza most commonly found. It’s square, served “al taglio” (by the slice), proved for longer, and cooked twice. “We start with the flour,” says Zanco. We buy it from Italy; it’s a mix, not the standard one.” It’s proved for 48 hours, during which the yeast converts the sugar to carbon dioxide.
“It makes it really light and easy to digest. Normal pizzerias make the dough in the morning and cook it that night. You feel really -” he puffs out his cheeks and holds his stomach. “You can eat a lot of [our] pizza.” They also add more water than is standard to the dough. It’s cooked for the first time for 8-10 minutes in a tray, then cut into slices and displayed on a counter. They warm the pizza again to order on a stone, just for a minute or two. The water evaporates, leaving the pizza crisp on the bottom and soft on the top.
Start with a traditional topping such as the Siciliana with olives, tomatoes, anchovies, onions and breadcrumbs. Another excellent option is Arzia with Italian pork sausage, ndjua, caramelised onion and provolone or for vegetarians, the contadina with roasted zucchini, eggplant and mushroom.
The only other things on the short menu are arincine, crocche (croquettes) and panelle (fried chickpea chips). Traditionally, the rice in arancini is made with saffron, so is yellow-hued. The most classic Sicilian version has beef ragu and peas in it - no cheese. But they do have cheesy versions, as well as a wild looking one made of bucatini spaghetti instead of rice, with tomatoes and friarielli (Italian broccoli).
All these street food snacks are available at markets like Ballaro, Palermo’s biggest market after which the restaurant is named. The red, green and white flags hung across the ceiling, the exposed bulbs and a photo of the vegetables stalls pasted on one wall is designed to be reminiscent of the market – “the real Sicily,” says Zanco.
213 King St, Newtown.
