5. Palermo’s Street Foods. The Authentic Pane e Panelle

‘Street foods’ are generally correlated with social aggregation, urbanisation, cheapness, and nutritional contents at the same time. In particular, the following conditions: economic convenience; lack of immobile locations; ‘poor’ food features; typical folk elements; and a certain trend towards poor hygienic conditions; are or should be taken into account. Above all, street foods are extremely preferred in certain areas because of their amount of bioavailable proteins and energy intake, and also because of their economic convenience. The higher the price, the higher the inherent value of the food. In this ambit, the study of street foods in the world could show some surprise. This book is dedicated to the study of a peculiar type of folk cuisine found in the Sicilian largest city, Palermo. In particular, this Chapter concerns a specific product which can be found only in Palermo, although some similar recipe may be found in Northern Italy (Liguria Region). Because of the important influence of many civilisations in Sicily, these situations may be expected. One or two of these products are explicitly found in Palermo, and one of these foods––the pane e panelle sandwich—is discussed in this Chapter by different viewpoints including history, possible ‘authenticity’ features, the identification of raw materials, preparation procedures, concomitant alternative recipes, and nutritional facts.