THE MARKET PLACE

 Mercato, formerly a place for commerce and exchanges with stalls and shops, has been recently restored. 
It was built inside the town walls, adjacent to Porta di Mare (Sea Gate);  it overlooks Piazza dell’Addolorata (Our Lady of Sorrows Square) where the entrance gate and octagonal fountain dominate.

Today, the Marsala market hosts the fishermen’s activities and the fish market, an important business on this part of the Sicilian coast where tunafish pass frequently.

The fish business is still an important local resource, and is kept alive by the fishermen’s families, and their fishing boats.

CUISINE AND PATISSERIE

 The Sicilian cuisine and patisserie have undergone many influences and offer extraordinary dishes and specialities.

The following are some  typical dishes: pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines), gnoccoli con sugo di gronco (gnocchi with conger sauce), fish cuscus, botargo, matarocco, tonno ammuttunatu (tunafish), sarde a beccafico, sgombro marinato (pickled mackerels).

The patisserie products, rich in taste and colours, recall the Arab and African cuisine.

Here are some specialities:  Sicilian cassata, cassateddi di fico, pignolata, cappidduzzi di ricotta, mustazzoli al vino cotto, cannoli, frutta martorana, orange, lemon, mulberry and cactus fruit jams.