Mangia e Bevi
(mahn-jah eh beh-vee)
Rosticceria at Home: After-School Snacks & Palermo Street Food
Walk through the ancient Ballarò or Vucciria markets in Palermo at dusk, and you will wade through a fragrant fog of white smoke pouring from the street-side grills. Within that smoke is Mangia e Bevi—an elemental, working-class masterpiece requiring nothing more than fresh spring onions wrapped in thin, unsmoked pork belly. Roasted over roaring heat until the fat crisps and the onion collapses into a sweet, savory jam, it is a brilliant exercise in making a lot out of a little. The name translates to "Eat and Drink"—you eat the caramelized meat, and you drink the incredibly juicy, fat-basted onion center.
Before you start
Peel the outermost layer of the scallion bulbs.
After trimming the roots and tops, crucially peel off and discard the absolute outermost layer of the white bulb. This layer is papery and will not soften properly during a quick cook.
Ingredients
- scallions12 med
- fresh pork belly1 lb
- coarse sea saltto taste
- black pepperto taste
- lemon1 large
Method
- 01
Tightly wrap the pork belly around the scallions.
Season the pork slices generously with coarse salt and black pepper. Starting at the base of the white bulb, wrap the meat tightly upward in a spiral, overlapping slightly and leaving just a half-inch of the green top exposed. Press firmly with your hands so it adheres, and secure the end into the onion with a toothpick.
- 02
Blast the skewers with high heat until the fat is crispy and rendered.
Cook them directly over a hot charcoal grill, on a wire rack set over a baking sheet in a 400°F oven, or in a dry non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Turn frequently for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pork is deeply browned, crispy, and slightly charred on the edges.
- 03
Slice, hit with acid, and serve immediately.
Remove the toothpicks and transfer to a cutting board. Cut crosswise into bite-sized pieces—cutting them after cooking keeps the slippery, fat-basted onion from sliding out of its casing. Immediately squeeze fresh lemon juice generously over the hot meat to cut the richness, and eat them with your fingers.
Notes
Seek out fresh, uncured pork belly.
The magic here relies on raw, unsmoked pork belly, sometimes sold in American markets as side pork. Standard bacon is heavily smoked and cured; while it will work in a pinch if sliced incredibly thin, it fundamentally alters the authentic Palermitan flavor profile into a completely different dish.
The lemon is not an optional garnish.
Squeezing fresh acid over the hot pork fat the second it comes off the heat is the grandmother-approved secret that balances the lipids and elevates the dish from heavy to heavenly.