Sailing to Byzantium - 8

Palermo is truly an ancient city; it is probably one of the oldest cities in the Mediterranean with Phoenician origins and succession of occupations by the Greeks, Roman and Byzantine empires, Arabs, Normans, followed by the regal houses of Anjou and Aragon, before being consumed by the reunification of Italy. By the 13^th century Palermo was one of the most important European ports for reasons that are only too recognisable for us. When a storm was building you needed the refuge of a safe port, and the sirocco created a need for a safe haven in the vicinity of Palermo, protecting valuable cargos and establishing vital diplomatic and commercial links at the same time; Frederick I declared Sicily to be stupor mundi or wonder of the world.

The city today is cris-crossed by a number of modern long straight vias and corsos which attempt to achieve some form of order. At an artificial centre point created by the grid like vias and corsos is the Quatro Canti separating and dividing the city into four quarters. Either side of the modern and formal arterial routes can be found the ancient warren like network of narrow streets paved with shiny, worn square flagstones, which are lined with ancient dust, rubble and decay, with filth and litter in many places. I am not put off by this because better districts have the same issue with litter, and it only serves to reinforce the grotesque (given its original meaning) and medieval characteristics of the city. If filth, litter and urban decay were to be a wonder of the world Palermo would set the standard. It is said that one of the Canto’s of Dante’s Divine Comedy was based upon the court of Frederick I in Sicily during the 13^th Century, and in many parts of Palermo today Dante would not be taken aback, surprised or shocked by what he might observe in the market places and backstreets.

A scene from la Mercato della Ballaro

The two quarters close to the port and the Mollo Sud, where we are based, have street markets namely the Mercato della Ballaro and Mercato della Zucciria. The former is quite big and winds its way through the Ballaro quarter. It is gloriously dirty with artichoke leaves spread all over the narrow streets. Boxes of fruit and vegetables stacked in the street delineate the pitch of each vendor and these spaces are mirrored overhead by canopies which protect the produce from the midday sun. There appears to be an unbroken tradition and history of street vendors or venditore ambulante adding to the variety of the market scene.

Trays of cooked vegatables being sold by a venditore ambulante

It is a loud, busy and bustling market where extreme poverty puts on a smile and does its daily business supplying the quarter’s inhabitants with some of the best and freshest food that this part of the world has to offer. The people may be poor but they eat like kings and have a diversity and richness of diet that is not only easily affordable but north western Europeans could only aspire to. The produce which is sold is mainly from Sicily but also from other islands such as Pantelleria, which exports its muscat raisins or zibibbo di pantelleria and salted capers among other things.

Sicilian Oranges

Capperi picollo di Pantelleria

There are many street side butchers in the Ballaro market, who proudly carve flesh from carcases and separate offal for presentation on slabs and in bowls before your very eyes. The slaughterhouse and chop shop is effectively part of the street. Some butchers cook the offal, and this like many other cooked vegetables can be purchased from great cauldrons of steely water which sit out in front of the stalls. There is no swift practice here; people do not force you to buy and you must actively get their attention and tell them what you want. Everybody is more than happy to deal with your requests, offering advice as you go with a level of courtesy and individual attention that is hard to find anywhere else; all this in a sometimes intimidating and medieval environment.

Sicilian tomatoes

Butchers from la Mercato della Ballaro

Seasonal foods are sold on a daily basis from early morning till about 8 p.m. The current seasonal treats are the many varieties of artichokes which are available for sale; large, medium and small; purple, green and an attractive combination of colours are all to be found. Small three wheel vans hurtle through the city piled high with bails of artichokes replenishing stalls at street corners, roundabouts and other roadside venues as they navigate their way through the cities streets, beeping their horns and hollering as they go.

Some of the many varieties of artichokes available in the markets

The Mercato della Vucciria has an entirely different feel to it, and it is more compact and a smaller. There are more formal shops in the Vucciria with a great variety of stock collected up into just about every corner, shelf, horizontal or vertical surface available. The street stalls sell mostly vegetables and dry goods, but this market has a small trapezoidal piazza not far from the Via Maqueda and Corso Vittorio Emanuele with a number of fish sellers. A few out of season, and non mainstream, Japanese tourists venture to these parts, clearly identifiable by their nikon machinery attached to their torsos flapping about and captivated by the fish stalls. I can only respect their ability to seek out the freshest of fish; they may be in Catania on Saturday!

A selection of fish for sale in the Mercato della Vucciria

Like the butchers of the Ballaro, the fish sellers display some of the freshest fish I have ever seen out on large tables of ice. Any self respecting fish seller will have a swordfish or spada on the table ready to be sliced into great steaks. Boxes of fresh sardines still sporting an elegant pink hue on the fine scales could not have been out of their saline world for more than a few short hours. Large tuna or tonno are also starting to appear in the market.

A box of the feshest Sardines

There is a long tradition attached to the seasonal fishing of the tuna in Sicily. It is said that the tonno caught here in Sicilian waters is the best available anywhere. This is chiefly due to the blood temperature of the fish by the time it arrives in Sicilian waters on its annual migration from the Atlantic chasing the sardine into the heart of the Mediterranean and Tyrrhenian seas. In times past the tuna would have been penned and netted by an armada of long boats, culminating in la mattanza alla tonnara (the slaughter of the tuna). Todays efficient factory ships do not bode well for the future of the tuna stocks.

Spada

The contrast between the dingy dark backstreets and extraordinary colours of the fresh vegetables and fruit, and meat and fish gives the city an added energy and vibrancy. The urgency with which the three wheeled over laden lorries speed through the streets is a reminder of the scale of the enterprise undertaken by the market sellers to feed this great sprawling city. I am told there are supermarkets here but I have yet to see them.