We descended from the orange and yellow trolley that had taken us up to the scenic overlook above Castellammare del Golfo, and there she was–the food truck, with her gleaming photos illustrating the glorious menu items. “This was the day!” I thought. “Finally, the moment I’d been hoping to meet–time to taste real stigghiola!” I ate tuna stigghiola last September in Bagheria at I Pupi, a fancy-pants Michelin-rated restaurant. Now, I don’t want to knock I Pupi, it’s exquisite. And so was the tuna stigghiola; however, to be a real Sicilian street-food connoisseur, the final ring for me was to engage true stigghiola.
“What is it?” you ask?
Stigghiola looks like a ringlet-inspired sausage. It is made from wrapping or spiraling the small intestines of sheep or goat around fresh, flat-leaf parsley and thick, green onion. This “sculpture” is seasoned with salt and pepper, then grilled on an open flame, preferably in the street. Once off the grill, it’s doused with fresh lemon juice and cut into small, bite-sized pieces or eaten on a skewer (like a kebab) or in a bun. Our hostess Paola and I gleefully ate the stigghiola (So gleefully, that I almost forgot to pay for it!). The verdict: It was good! Would I eat it all the time? Well, like pani ca meusa (spleen sandwich), once a year will do me just fine.
