sicily sandwich part 1: focaccia maritata

Sophie and I did a whirlwind tour of Sicily last week. We were in the capable hands of the Tasca family, and so visited pretty much all of their vineyards. This meant that over the course of 48 hours we made it from the slopes of Etna all the way over to Mozia, including a stop at Regaleali of course.

But we also managed an evening in Palermo. While on our way to dinner, we stopped for a snack at the Antica Focacceria S. Francesco. Although I’d been there in the past, I’d always eaten up on the top floor, which is more like a restaurant. Instead, the Focacceria is best known for it’s street food: arancini, crocche di latte, panelle, focaccia and sfincione.

But what I really wanted was their famous Focaccia Maritata. While Sophie was scolding me about ruining my appetite before dinner, I went ahead and got a few arancini , crocche’, a slice of sfincione and….a huge whopping Focaccia Maritata.

According to their web site this one-of-a-kind sandwhich was ‘invented’ in 1851. They decided to ‘maritare’ – combine – the traditional Focaccia Schietta (ricotta, caciocavallo, lard) with veal spleen and lung.

And so one of the all time great sandwiches was born.

The spleen and lung are boiled first. Once cooled they are sliced paper thin and placed in a huge pot which is placed over a low heat on the counter. The meat is pushed over to one side, while a huge dollop of lard is added to the bottom of the pot. The lard, once melted, takes on the flavors of the meat. As each person orders their focaccia, the focacciaro grabs a bit of the sliced meat, and lets it sizzle and heat up in the lard.

In the meantime he slices open the bread, and lays a slab of ricotta on the bottom. Next comes the now hot meat, dripping with lard. And a huge handful of grated caciocavallo.

You can either get it to take away (this is street food after all) or eat it right there at one of the marble topped tables.

Evidently they have opened a branch at the Rome aiport. Somehow I can’t seem to believe that they would have a huge pot of steaming spleen in Terminal 1. Nor did I realize that they Focacceria di S. Francesco runs a lot of the Caffes at the Feltrinelli bookstores. Again, greasy streetfood can’t possibly be the same in a store where greasy fingers are frowned upon.

So, if you really want to get your hands around a big, hulking, greasy, meaty, cheesy Focaccia Maritata I would definitely advise a trip to Palermo. 

But maybe you don’t want to go right before dinner. Because yes, Sophie was right. I did spoil my appetite. But was very glad I did.











Antica Focacceria San Francesco
Via Paternostro 58