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Sicilian Panelle

Panelle stands are as popular in Sicily as, hot dog stands, in the US. You can quickly grab a Panini and Panelle as you are walking down the street and hunger pain attacks. But sometimes you will grab a sandwich with panelle just because that’s what you crave. Panelle are an acquired taste, just like japanese sushi is an acquired taste or the middle eastern falafel . If you like chick peas and falafel and if you are a vegetarian, you will surely like these. Like many other dishes, this was a dish, my husband developed a taste for. He did not so much like it on a bun, but found it very tasty with a salad, for example. I mentioned in one of my past posts that one of my goals in life has been to introduce my husband to the pleasures of food. When I met him he had just about 5 to 10 dishes that were tried and successful with him, he repeated the same ones over and over again, without giving any thought to how many more wonderful creations existed, in the world he had not yet explored. I, on the other hand had been exposed to different cultures and culinary experiences and so it was unlikely that I would take a step back to limiting my palate to just a few dishes, and since I was the one controlling the kitchen I made it my goal to help my husband like foods, that before marriage, he would never have tried. I soon realized that, not every ingredient I used, would make my husband jump for joy. It was not because he had never tried it before, but also because he had not developed a taste for it. So I learned to make the particular ingredient in different ways with different presentations, until my husband found the one that he truly enjoyed. Today, after 30 years of marriage we can both agree that I have succeeded in helping him have an open mind about new dishes. It has opened up a great new world of food that he enjoys so much. Food is really one of the best pleasures in life. It would be terrible to deny ourselves the variety it offers! Chick pea flour can be found at Italian, Middle Eastern, Indian, some local supermarkets and Health Food stores.