''Panelle'' (or ''panelle di ceci'') are Sicilian

fritter A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables or other ingredients which have been Batter (cooking), battered or breading, breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-frying, deep-fried. Fritters ar ...

s made from

chickpea flour Gram flour or kadala maavu is a pulse flour made from a variety of ground chickpea called Bengal gram or ''kaala chana''. It is a staple ingredient in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, including in Indian, Bangladeshi, Burmese, Nepal ...

and other ingredients, usually including water, salt, pepper, olive oil, and finely chopped parsley. They are a popular

street food Street food is ready-to-eat food or drinks sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or at other public places, such as markets or fairs. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

and are often eaten between slices of

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

or on a sesame roll, like a

sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

. These sandwiches, called ''pane panelle'', are usually served with a slice of lemon to be squeezed over the panelle. Panelle are made by mixing chickpea flour with water, salt, pepper, and olive oil, then whisking over heat until a thick dough is formed. Parsley is mixed into the dough and the mixture is either spread on an oiled baking sheet or put in an oiled container to cool and set. Once cool, the dough is cut into slices and fried. The panelle can be eaten fresh and hot, or cooled to room temperature. Some sources claim that these fritters originated with the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

rulers of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

between the 9th and 11th century, although this appears to be unsupported by historical documentation. Panelle are very similar to the panisse of

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

.Colman Andrews ''et al.'', "Panelle", ''Country Cooking of Italy'', 2012, , p. 151 These sandwiches have become very popular among

Sicilian Americans Sicilian Americans ( Sicilian: ''Sìculu-miricani; Italian: Siculoamericani'') are Americans of Italian Sicilian birth or ancestry. They are a large ethnic group in the United States. The first Sicilians who came to the territory that is now the ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, specifically in

Gravesend, Brooklyn Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the southwestern edge of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is bounded by the Belt Parkway to the south, Bay Parkway to the west, ...

and

Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...

. In Brooklyn, panelle are commonly used in sandwiches with ricotta added to them on

vastedda Vastedda is the traditional Sicilian bread used to prepare the Pani câ meusa, a sandwich of veal spleen. It often also includes toppings of caciocavallo and ricotta cheese. It is most common in the city of Palermo. In Gratteri, near Palermo, a ...

. They are also popular among the Sicilian American community in Chicago's northwest suburbs, particularly around Niles and

Des Plaines Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 60,675. The city is a suburb of Chicago and is located just north of O'Hare International Airport. It is situated on and is named after the ...

. They are sometimes called ''paneddi'' in Sicilian. The Italian singular of ''panelle'' is ''panella'', a single fritter.

References

External links

''Panella'' page
Cuisine of Sicily Legume dishes Cuisine of New York City Italian-American culture in New York City Sicilian-American culture {{Italy-cuisine-stub

See also

References

External links