Pani ca’ meusa, authentic street food of Palermo, the capital of Street Food By Italy and Europe. A dish still mainly associated with street vendors, which consists of a soft roll (vastella) dusted with sesame (giuggiulena), stuffed with pieces of spleen, lung, and sometimes veal trachea. The meat is first boiled and then fried in lard, served hot. It is called “maritatu” (if served with caciocavallo cheese, which mimics the bridal veil) or “schettu” if plain, accompanied by a squeeze of lemon juice.
The history of the recipe is born in the dense Jewish ghetto of Palermo. Part of the Jewish population worked inside the slaughterhouses, but not being able to receive money for that work, they were compensated with offal (excluding liver, considered precious), which they resold in the Caldumai square (offal vendors) together with bread. With the expulsion of the Jews from southern Italy in 1492 ordered by King Ferdinand of Aragon, the activity was continued by the “caciottari” (or “guastiddari“).
The “Meusari” compete in the markets of Palermo, dividing people into factions and showing the “street” character of this frugal meal, consumed standing up with no class distinction.
