WHAT TO EAT IN CATANIA?
THE FLAVORS YOU CAN'T MISS

There is Etna, there is the sea, there is a beautiful center full of history, alleys and alleys that have so much to tell: what to eat in Catania , however, remains one of the first thoughts of the tourist visiting the city.

While it is partly true that Catania can be visited in one or two days of brisk walking, it could take much longer to try, rather, all the culinary tradition of the elephant city. A tradition made up of homemade dishes, street food (which often, here, translates into “arrusti and tip”) and sweet delicacies, of which the highest representation is the cassatella called Minna di Sant’Agata.

Catania is that place where every neighborhood has its culinary vocation : there is the fish market with its fish coppi, via Plebiscito with the barbecues always on, the district food in via Santa Filomena. But what are those dishes that you absolutely cannot not taste?

What to eat in Catania for breakfast: granita

At the entrance to the bars of the city, under the heading “ Granite con brioche ” they should put a caption that warns those who approach this meal first. A bit like those of Jumanjii: “Adventurous, beware! Don’t start etc. ”. Granita is addictive if you love sweets and, above all, a cold breakfast.

If you have already eaten it outside Sicily, despite cases of the same name, no, you have not eaten a granita. So, start your Catania day with a typical summer breakfast. Take a seat in a cathedral bar, before visiting the beautiful cathedral or immediately after for a break. The Amenano fountain in the background, the caciara in the square, the occasional musicians: the set is ready to order your first granita.

Pasty, tasty, fresh. The most traditional? Almond or lemon, but over time the granitai masters have experimented with every one: prickly pear, mulberry, peach, pistachio and much more.

The king of rotisserie: the arancino

No, no, if you sit down at the table and you still have the whole city to explore, make a mistake: you will be the father of all the time lost on holidays, the much feared abbiocco.
Take the opportunity, however, to take a little break in one of the many bars in the city and go straight to the point. Do not let yourself be distracted by the variety of what we call a diner (all wonderful, to be honest!) And go straight to him: the arancino !

Arancino al ragù, with its pyramidal shape, is the arancino par excellence, but if you still have room for an encore you will find something for all tastes: alla norma, pistachio, even fish in the right places.

Instructions for eating an arancino: the temptation will be to start biting the tip, but you can only afford it at a certain level of seniority in the relationship with arancini. For newbies, the arancino must be overturned: the pointed part is, in reality, a comfortable grip.

A typical Catania menu for dinner: the Curtigghiu

Now that you’ve been around the city and around, now you do. You can relax at the table and enjoy, from start to finish, a typical Catania menu .
We at Curtigghiu have thought of one for you that passes through our cornerstones, from the appetizer onwards!

Start with a nice Sicilian fried : if it is true that frying is a value in the South, in Sicily it borders on the sacred. Next to the most famous panelle and crunches, you will find the Sicilian mini (special closed and fried pizzas) and the fried macco, a typical dish of the most popular cuisines.

Among the first courses, choose the pasta alla Norma . A simple as well as exhilarating preparation, the Catania dish par excellence that takes its name from the work of Vincenzo Bellini, used as an exclamation of amazement for too much goodness. Eggplant (fried, of course), tomato sauce, ricotta and basil: the ingredients for happiness.

If you have been good observers, during the day, you will have seen that for the people of Catania there is only one meat par excellence: that of horses! And the horse fora accompanied by salad we suggest as a choice of the second. An intense and unforgettable flavor, accompanied by the most typical side dishes of our canteens: ricotta, onion and fresh tomato.

Did we manage to make your mouth water? Then you really have to come and visit us!

The Curtigghio is located among the restaurants of via Santa Filomena , a few steps from via Etnea. You can find us open every evening, and at lunchtime on Saturday and Sunday.

You can contact us here:
+39 095 58 61 352

or book your table online by clicking directly HERE

Via Santa Filomena 43