L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2025 L'Italo-Americano visit early in the morning: boats and trucks feed the f i s h a n d p r o d u c e h a l l s , counters fill with the day's catch, greens and tomatoes in summer, artichokes when they return, citrus in winter. Many guides call it Italy's largest covered market, but labels aside, the important thing is how much you can f i n d h e r e : f r o m f i s h t o c h e e s e a n d c u r e d m e a t s , from bread and vegetables to a delightful impromptu coffee, all without leaving the building. Just like in the Mercato del Capo, street food is king: torta di ceci (cecina in local speech), a thin chickpea flat- bread baked in wood ovens, eaten plain with black pep- per or tucked into bread for a simple sandwich, is per- haps the most famous. Art history aficionados will certainly be happy to know that the market also has a connection with Ital- i a n p a i n t e r A m e d e o M o d i g l i a n i , w h o w a s rumored to have kept a stu- dio in the upper floors of the building in the early 1900s. Coming back to our side see in its usual location, as it is kept in Palazzo Ajutami- cristo for the time being. Now, let's move north to Tuscany, more precisely to Livorno, perhaps one of the region's lesser-known towns. Its main market tells another story, quite differ- ent from the popular tales of its Sicilian cousin; it speaks of late-nineteenth-century c i v i c a m b i t i o n a n d f i n e architecture. The Mercato delle Vettovaglie opened i n 1 8 9 4 a l o n g t h e F o s s o Reale canal. Architect Angi- o l o B a d a l o n i , i t s c r e a t o r , designed a light-filled hall in iron, brick, and glass, big enough to bring order and scale to a port city's food t r a d e : f r o m o u t s i d e , t h e b u i l d i n g f i t s w e l l i n t o Livorno's urban plan – pub- lic, solid, and open to the s t r e e t – w h i l e i n s i d e t h e space stretches high above rows of counters and aisles. So, if the Capo is a maze of lanes, Livorno is a single, striking roof that gathers everything in one place. If you want to enjoy the Mercato delle Vettovaglie (or any market, really), then of the Atlantic, the Financial Times list also highlights s o m e A m e r i c a n m a r k e t s , among them, there is also Los Angeles's Grand Cen- t r a l M a r k e t . Opened in September 1917, it remains a staple of the city still today: housed on the ground floor o f t h e h i s t o r i c H o m e r Laughlin Building and its 1905 annex, the market was b u i l t t o s e r v e a g r o w i n g downtown population and has been in continuous use ever since. Today it hosts around 4 0 v e n d o r s and attracts nearly 2 million visitors each year, mak- i n g i t o n e o f t h e c i t y ' s busiest food destinations. Over the decades, the ven- dor mix has changed, mov- ing with Los Angeles's waves of growth to include any- thing from produce stalls and inexpensive eateries to t o d a y ' s b l e n d o f t a c o s , ramen, deli counters, and artisanal goods. Italian food has a place here, too, from f r e s h p a s t a t o s p e c i a l t y products, a reminder that c u l i n a r y t r a d i t i o n s c r o s s oceans and adapt without losing their roots. street food, which is defi- n i t e l y p a r t o f t h e C a p o ' s pull. Panelle (thin chick- pea fritters) slide into warm b r e a d f o r a q u i c k s n a c k , often joined by crocchè, simple potato croquettes; s e a f o o d a p p e a r s f r i e d t o order or sold raw at the fish s t a l l s ; a n d t h e n t h e r e i s sfincione, the city's most famous slice: thick dough t o p p e d w i t h t o m a t o e s , onions, anchovy, oregano, a n d a b l a n k e t o f t o a s t e d b r e a d c r u m b s i n p l a c e o f cheese. In nearby Bagheria, a white version leaves out t o m a t o e s a n d l e a n s o n o n i o n s a n d c a c i o c a v a l l o . Delicious. T h e m a r k e t a l s o h a s a s p e c i a l s y m b o l , a m o s a i c that locals call the Pupa ru Capu, "the girl of the Capo," representing Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. Set in a colorful Art Nouveau panel, it was commissioned in the early 1900s by the Morello family to adorn the building where their bakery w a s . R e c e n t r e s t o r a t i o n efforts show how attached people remain to this sign, but it also means you can't T h e F i n a n c i a l T i m e s h a s r e c e n t l y h i g h - l i g h t e d t h e world's best food markets, with two Italian n a m e s m a k i n g t h e c u t : Palermo's Mercato del Capo and Livorno's Mer- cato delle Vettovaglie, also known as the Mercato Centrale. The first is a lively part of the Sicilian capital's old city center, the second a vast iron-and-glass hall built at the end of the nineteenth century. Different? yes, but still two sides of the same coin, as they both show how strong the market tradition remains in Italy and why these places still mark and define many people's daily lives. While both markets cited in the Financial Times' list are, in their own right, beau- t i f u l , w e s h o u l d n ' t f o r g e t that a market earns its place n o t t h r o u g h i m a g e b u t t h r o u g h u s e a n d a t m o s - phere: stalls open early, reg- ulars chat with vendors, and what arrives in the morning is gone by lunch. Here, you see what the land grows and what the sea brings in, but y o u a l s o s e e h o w p e o p l e a c t u a l l y c o o k a t h o m e , which is the truest sign of a market's value. L e t ' s b e g i n o u r e x p l o - ration in Sicily. The Merca- to del Capo develops behind Palermo's Teatro Massimo and threads through an area that has hosted food sellers for centuries; its main entry is Porta Carini, from where the market winds toward s m a l l s q u a r e s a n d s i d e s t r e e t s , c l o s e e n o u g h t o homes that shopping truly becomes part of daily life. The scale is human, and the goal is, of course, very p r a c t i c a l : i f y o u w a l k through its narrow streets you'll find everything, from crates of fruit and vegetables t o m o u n d s o f h e r b s a n d spices, from fish on ice to butchers at work; and peo- ple come to buy what they need for lunch and dinner. That everyday rhythm is also what visitors like, along with FRANCESCA BEZZONE Palermo and Livorno earn spots on the Financial Times best markets list A fishmonger at the Mercato del Capo (Photo: Rolf52/Dreamstime) and, bottom right, the market's colors and verve (Photo: Lachris77/Dreamstime) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES EVENTS

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