In order to make fette di panissa (Panissa slices) the flour is cooked with water and salt until it acquires volume and consistency, a bit like polenta. Once cooked, the mixture is placed to cool down in a large copper pot or in a traditional long rectangular mold with a crescent-shaped section. Panissa can be eaten warm or cold, if eaten cold it is cut into cubes and seasoned with oil, salt, pepper and raw onion and served in a sort of salad. But the triumph of its flavor is when the slices of panissa are fried in boiling oil and eaten in the traditional fugassa (focaccia bun) of white bread. Panissa is Ligurian streetfood.
Panissa
In Liguria, the sandwich with Panissa slices is a real must. Every self-respecting Ligurian person has eaten it at least once in his life (and we hope many more!)
The most characteristic place to eat a sandwich with slices is in Savona city and it is a small shop in a very tiny vico/alleyway in a side street of via Pia, the most famous street for farinata. Until a few years ago it was not clear whether the place had a name or not, then business cards appeared in which reference is made to the Casa della Panissa (Panissa’s house). But the business of the name has always been secondary: in Savona everyone knows it and finding it is not difficult because at the crossroads with via Pia there is a nice sign indicating the direction. Furthermore, if from Via Pia you see a white chair in the alley near the shop, it means that the shop is open.
The tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant has been open since anyone can remember and in Savona city it represents a real institution. Two ladies have always managed it, one of whom passed away at the beginning of November 2013. Now one of the two ‘historical ladies’ and a man are managing the place and frying the slices of panissa in front of you when you order them.
The place is very small and extremely characteristic: a big old fryer at the entrance, a counter, two pieces of furniture in which the panissa long slices are placed to rest and dry, a table and a bench for those who decide to sit down to eat (with the serious risk of coming out of there with their clothes smelling like fries). The furniture is probably the original one from when the shop opened and hanging on a wall is the price listing written by hand in Savonese dialect.
The food can be eaten on the premises or wrapped in newspaper for take-out.
On the menu you may also find some other truly local and traditional specialties: codfish frisceu or borage frisceu, a sort of big fritter made with codfish or borage in its dough and fried on the spot too.
That’s the whole menu but it’s delicious!
Traditionally, Ligurian frisceu can be prepared with different ingredients such as lettuce, whitebait and even anchovies or also with chives and oregano.
During some periods of the year like Carnival or Easter the frisceu are prepared in their sweet versions adding powdered sugar, caramel, honey or sprinkles and they are usually sold at local fairs or by seasonal vendors.
