Every year in the night between 14 and 15 July Palermo celebrates saint Rosalia, patron saint of the city, with a great procession in memory of the miracle he saved Palermo from the terrible plague epidemic of 1624. Like all religious holidays, sacred and profane are mixed together and over time the feast it has been enriched with meanings, choreographies and sets that maintain a very strong symbolism linked to tradition and religious worship.

The 395th edition of the Feast

An unmissable event for the Palermo doc, Festino attracts curious people from all over the world Sicily and astounds tourists who, for the occasion or by chance, find themselves involved in the celebrations. The theme chosen for the 395th edition is the restlessness: "Unrest is human", states the mayor Leoluca Orlando, "as fear is human. But anxiety can be the engine of change when it is linked to respect for the human person, respect for rights, listening to and understanding the other. Once again Festino is an important part of the cultural change in Palermo. Once again Rosalia, with her anxiety, is confirmed as a Guide for our city . This year the traditional celebratory wagon, which will go in procession along the "Cassaro" (Corso Vittorio Emanuele) will be carried out by the inmates of the Ucciardone prison.

The foods of the Festino

The Festino also brings with it a cart of gastronomic traditions. Among these: the watermelon (in Sicilian ‘u muluni); the babbaluci, small earth snails cleaned under water and cooked in a sauce rich in garlic and parsley, are sucked directly with the shell or taken with a toothpick; the scaccio, a mix of dried fruit in a paper tile and composed of calia (roasted chickpeas) and seed (pumpkin seeds); and then the desserts. In Romagnolo, a neighborhood famous in the 30s for the ex Bagni Petrucci and Bagni Virzì, the legendary "hard pieces" are still unforgettable, that is the slices of ice cream that lasted longer at high summer temperatures.

The ice cream bomb

Before the advent of ice cream cone and take-away ice cream in Palermo there was the custom of consuming the famous Neapolitan "hard pieces" (they were the first to introduce this cooling system into molds) resistant to transport, but above all an emblem of a noble elite. There were various types (tile, charlotte, grenades, stracchini alla napoletana), but the most famous was certainly the ice cream bomb. The term bomb derives from the fact that the old master ice cream makers, economically unable to purchase new metal forms, collected the bombs' ogives which were then filled with ice cream, dug in the center and stuffed with Italian meringue enriched with candied fruit and chocolate chips (the meringue was then replaced by cream). In the 70s and 80s they ended up becoming the must of the Palermo ice cream shop.

Pasticceria Da Josè

The Da Josè confectionery, belonging to the D’Amico family, still keeps alive the tradition of the hard piece made in the historical variants: bomb and small garden. On July 14, 1960, Giuseppe D’Amico, a young pastry chef, raises the sluice of Pasticceria Gelateria Da Josè in the renowned seaside village of Romagnolo in Palermo. In summer, at that time, the beach was very busy. With dedication, stubbornness and passion, he creates small masterpieces, fully embracing tradition. From his laboratory he makes the ice cream bomb, known as "hard piece", in different flavors: coffee, parfait, rice of paradise, nougat, small garden (strawberry, lemon and pistachio), jasmine ("scussuneria"). The central part, known as the Tesoretto, is rich in candied chocolate and almonds. "The art is not hidden behind a jealously guarded recipe", explains the D'Amico family. «Art is the constant search for the best raw materials, selecting them in their places of origin and striving to preserve every intimate peculiarity. Art is the brazen capacity dictated by the talent to break the mold and present different works and even new flavors that become part of the most precious memories .

Pasticceria Da Josè
Via Messina Marine 267 – Palermo
Tel. 091 621 4405