Time passes quickly as you wait in line for fresh seafood at Claudio’s stand in Palermo. Pino, his longtime friend, Nino, and I joined the waiting customers there on an early December day. Everyone takes a number and lines up for Pescheria di Claudio – the best place in Palermo for fresh seafood.

Nino is one of Claudio’s loyal clients and he took us there to purchase the fish he and his wife Maria would cook up for our lunch together. The line was long, but the Pescheria di Claudio visit was an adventure, for owner Claudio shares fish lore and recipes as he serves customers.
Claudio’s passione for seafood and seafood lore was evident. Claudio’s nonno Giovanni Battista opened la bancarella (market stall) in 1945 and the pescheria was passed on to his sons, Salvatore, Domenico and Antonino. Antonino had two sons, one being Claudio.

Claudio and his assistants were veritable surgeons as they meticulously, agilely and rapidly cleaned the fresh seafood requested by customers, most of whom observed in fascinated silence.

As Pino watched, enthralled, he said to me “guardare Claudio mentre pulisce il pesce e’ come assistere ad un grandissimo spettacolo” (“watching Claudio as he cleans the fish is like assisting at a great show”).

Claudio and his team meticulously diced shrimp, cleaned uncountable numbers of sarde (sardines), and filled crates with the likes of asparagi di mare (salicornia). Growing along the seacoast or in brackish waters, asparagi di mare are coveted for use in a pasta dish, though Claudio has other recipes to share with his customers. Many of the sarde would be used in one of the antipasti sold at Claudio’s fish stand, le sarde a beccafico.

Other Pescheria di Claudio seafood antipasti included steamed octopus (a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a dash of olive oil to be added at home, insalata di mare (seafood salad), and lo sfincione agli sgombri (a Sicilian focaccia made with mackerel). Nino chose the gamberetti (small shrimp) for the pasta dish Maria would make and then ordered squid to be roasted. Claudio gathered up the chosen squid carefully, grouping them like a bouquet before they were cleaned.

As Claudio wrapped up Nino’s shrimp and squid, Pino, too, put in an order. He’d decided to cook his own favorite fish, red mullet, for his brother Filippo and wife Piera that night. Claudio prepared eight triglie (red mullet) for Pino and passed us our seafood purchases with a smile, saying “Tornate presto!”