Street Food in Calabria: typical foods to try

If there is one thing we will not forget from our travels, it is certainly the taste of typical foods.

That indefinable taste, that recipe impossible to replicate at home, because the uniqueness lies in having known it there, amidst the scents and colours of its land. Sandwiches, cuoppi and meatballs served on the fly, hot, wrapped in greaseproof paper and ready to eat without rules, bon ton banished.

Forewarning: this tour among grills and hot pans of the best street food in Calabria is not recommended for those not ready to exaggerate. And to get greasy.

You may not be able to pronounce its name, but it will be hard to forget its taste. Morzello is a typical dish from Catanzaro made with veal. That said, it doesn't quite convey the sumptuousness of what will be delivered, piping hot, into your hands.

Inside a very mobile pitta (a doughnut-shaped bread of Arab origin) will be the famous ‘’fifth quarter‘’, a mixture of tripe and offal coloured with tomato and blended together with spicy chilli pepper, bay leaves and oregano after slow and thorough cooking.

You recognise the smell of grilled sausage from afar. Festive evenings in Calabria have that smell, with feasts, concerts and events in the town squares with the corollary of food trucks and steaming grills placed everywhere to titillate the taste buds of tourists, at all hours.

What are you in the mood for tonight? Certainly a paninu cu satizzu, that is, a crusty ciabatta of bread cut in two and stuffed with grilled sausage and a ‘side dish’ of your choice, turnips or onions, for example.

Before passing any judgement on it, taste it. This is the only way to understand why anyone who comes to Calabria appreciates this dish, which is also the history and culture of an area, part of the community ritual of the "quadara", i.e. the process of cooking the pig of which - as the popular saying goes - "nothing is thrown away".

In the large copper cauldron, the less noble parts of the pig are inserted in succession and respecting the cooking times of each, and cooked in their own fat for hours on end. All that remains is to taste, and if the dish is lacking, they will be delicious laid on a generous slice of fragrant bread.

As an appetiser, for lunch, as a snack, with the aperitif. It is always the right time for a meatball, and in Calabria tradition demands (indeed, demands!) that it be strictly fried. Wherever you are, let yourself be guided by the smell and you will no longer be able to do without this nutritious and inexpensive finger food, which will be offered to you on the street, in delicatessens, and in any other establishment.

The dough is one that has been handed down through generations: minced beef or mixed (beef and pork), homemade breadcrumbs, eggs, grated cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. For the shape, there are different schools of thought: spherical, long, flattened in the middle. They are eaten hot, just out of the frying pan, crispy breadcrumbs and a soft heart. The only downside: one pulls the other.

A quick, cheap and extraordinarily good meal. A treasure trove of freshly caught specialities: the perfect accessory for your sea-view stroll is the fried fish cuoppo.

From Diamante to Tropea, from Corigliano-Rossano to Soverato, there are plenty of places that offer this crispy fried fish to take away or to eat fleetingly at the table. Each piece to be skewered with a stick tastes of summer and fresh fish and goes well with a glass of white wine, strictly chilled.

It is the most aristocratic of sandwiches, which is why there is often a queue to enjoy it. The swordfish sandwich is Reggio Calabria's street food par excellence.

If you are planning to visit Scilla and the poetic district of Chianalea where the houses skim the sea water, you cannot fail to taste it, because it is a must in gastronomic tradition and you will find it everywhere, from pubs to kiosks to beach lidos.

Each place customises its recipe with some variation on tradition, adding to the simple slice of grilled swordfish seasoned with salmoriglio (salt, oil, garlic, parsley, oregano and lemon), mint, capers, and citrus aromas that enhance the flavour of the fish and make this sandwich irresistible, to be bitten while still warm and discovering, bite after bite, all the flavour of a very ancient tradition.