Yay Or Neigh? Horse Meat Panino Lands On Sicilian Food Truck’s Menu In St Paul’s Bay
As I went to deposit my bottles at the BCRS near the petrol station exiting St Paul’s Bay, I noticed a small commotion whilst passing time in the sizeable queue waiting to turn their plastic into gold.
A food truck named Panimax had set up some tables and chairs close by and was quite busy with customers jostling in a Maltese-style, haphazard queue.
My curiosity aroused, I went to investigate.
A cursory look at the menu showed some indecipherable words which however reminded me of something. Sicily! U Scapellatu, U Ponchiu. Lovely smells were wafting from the mobile kitchen and of course I had to try some.
Before we get into it, don’t forget you can now even book your next dining experience at select eateries on Lovin Restaurants via Bookia. Find restaurants just like this and more on Lovin Malta’s awesome food directory Lovin Restaurants.
Lovely hostess Lorna ran me through the menu and introduced me to Massimo who takes care of the food. It turns out that Massimo is a seasoned chef who has worked in some of the best seafood restaurants in Malta such as Onda Blu and Porticello.
“My idea is to replicate the street food stalls in Catania. Our panini are Catanese classics such as horse meat, stuffed veal, mortadella, smoked scamorza and pistachio and of course Sicilian sausage.”
There are different sides and toppings such as parmigiana, pepperoni mollica and several other antipasto style veg dishes.
“We even make the bread to my own recipe.” Massimo continued. “Gluten free bread is also increasing in popularity.”
I went for the one that first caught my eye, U Scapellatu, the horse meat panino. Appreciating my interest in the food, he also gave me a taste of the caponata he had just prepared. The meat melted in my mouth and the caponata was next level good. It was all simply delicious and I devoured it.
“We serve the panini from noon to 2am,” explained Lorna. “From 7am till noon we serve breakfast. Arancini, cipolline, pizzette. And the sweet stuff. Cornette or brioche with Nutella and pistacchio. And of course the granita. We serve that all day.”
Yay! Granita. That’s my favourite Sicilian dessert when I don’t want to go for something heavy. Also a treat to the senses.
This guy echoes my sentiments about the food.
View this post on Instagram
Oh I do miss Sicily! But I will definitely be back to Panimax to sample more of the panini Catanese-style – and maybe even the breakfast one morning!
Tag someone who would love U Scapellatu
READ NEXT: ‘Be A Hero, Give Blood’: Malta’s National Blood Transfusion Service Launches New Key Campaign
