SWEET AND SOUR PUMPKIN

Ficatu ri Settecannoli

 

SWEET AND SOUR PUMPKIN

Ficatu ri Settecannoli

 

History

Sweet and sour pumpkin is a starter or side dish typical of the popular tradition. Simple but tasty preparation, in the past it was known in Palermo with the name of ficatu ri Settecannoli, one of those dishes whose name evokes, in a game of analogies, a markedly different dish.

The allusion to the liver, more expensive than vegetables, and present, unlike other entrails, in the tables of the healthy classes, comes from the meatiness of the pumpkin and the use of sweet and sour, which was traditionally useful, often with onions, to cover the strong flavor of the offal. More nebulous instead the reference to sette cannoli, probably indicative of the area where today there is the homonymous district of Palermo. That area, since the time of the Arab domination and before the interventions of housing expansion in the XIX century, was destined for cultivation and supplied the city with many fruits and vegetables. An anecdote tells that this preparation with a peculiar name was invented by a street vendor who use to work near the fountain of Piazza Garraffaello in Vucciria, the historic meat market: because of the similarity of textures and flavors, he started to abbanniare (promote) the sweet and sour pumpkin as the more expensive liver. This abbanniatina, u ficatu ri Settacannoli, was used by the other vendors and until a few decades ago still echoed in the markets, not only to refer to the recipe but in general the pumpkin. Erroneous is the widespread story that linkes sette cannoli to the fountain of Garraffaello, because originally it was provided with ten spouts, of which eight are still preserved. Preparation suitable to be consumed in the street, because it should be eaten cold, you can find sweet and sour pumpkin in food markets such as Ballarò and Capo, or in chip shops.

Recipe

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)

  • 500g aglio
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 4 tablespoons wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • mint leaves
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper
Remove the seeds from the pumpkin, peel and cut it into regular slices. Brown the cloves of garlic in the oil you’ll use for cooking the pumpkin and remove them from the frying pan once ready. Fry the slices of pumpkin in boiling oil, season with salt and pepper. Discard some of the frying oil, put the frying pan on the heat with the remaining oil, the fried garlic, vinegar and sugar. Mix with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved. Place the pumpkin in a high sided serving dish, then sprinkle with the sweet and sour sauce and add some mint leaves.