Palermo and its markets

25.02.2023

Ballaro´ Market, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

The Ballaro´ market is located in the centre of the vibrant city of Palermo. There you have the chance to try local specialities, taste good wine and get in touch with the local culture.

The permanent market stretches from Piazza Casa Professa to the bastions of Corso Tukory towards Porta Sant’Agata. The market is famous for selling early delicacies from the countryside around Palermo. Ballarò is the oldest of the city’s markets, frequented daily by hundreds of people, animated by the so-called abbanniate, i.e., the noisy calls of the vendors who, with their characteristic and colourful local accent, try to attract the interest of passers-by. It looks like a heap of crowded stands with the street invaded by the wooden crates containing the goods that are constantly shouted, barked, chanted to advertise the good quality and good price of the products.

Food

Inside the market, grocers sell cooked food and street food, typical of Palermo cuisine, such as boiled or baked onions, panelle (chickpea flour fritters), crocchè or cazzilli (potato croquettes), boiled vegetables, octopus, quarume (veal entrails), and panino con la meusa (spleen).

The Vucciria Market

The Vucciria is a well-known historical market in Palermo. Its proximity to the city port stimulated the settlement of merchants and traders from Genoa, Pisa, Venice, etc. since the 12th century. The presence of numerous craftsmen is still legible from the names of some streets (via Chiavettieri, via Materassai, via dei Tintori, etc.).

Moving through the dense web of alleys and small squares of the Vucciria market, one can find all the ingredients of Sicilian cuisine; the colourful stalls overflow with wooden crates that, thanks to the colours of the merchandise, turn into caskets filled with the gold of lemons, the silver of fresh and salted sardines, the bronze of olives and the coral of dried tomatoes. The pyramids of cuccuzzedde, green broccoli, and bunches of tenderloin are spectacular. In summer, the scene of this great street theatre sees water muluni and large watermelons with their bellies sliced and laid bare as the absolute stars.

Food

The varied world of fish, resting on beds of crushed ice, is represented by prawns, giltheads, scorpion fish, tuna, swordfish, octopus, cuttlefish and large squid. Boiled octopus are plunged into the boiling pots, seasoned at the end of cooking with just a squeeze of lemon. The salted sardines are cleaned in front of the customers’ eyes. Also characteristic are the grilled stigghiole and panelle.

Nightlife

Since the 2000s, the Vucciria has become one of Palermo’s nightlife venues, from late afternoon until late at night. You can find many places selling drinks at a lower cost than elsewhere, and corners selling street food.