The largest cities in Sicily are Catania and Palermo. Both cities are impressive, rich with history, art and famous persons that have made them outstanding. But for unknown reasons that go back to pristine times, there is a rivalry between the citizens of the two cities which gives birth to arguing about any subject from sport to business, even contending a dispute that goes back to the III century, if the birthplace of Saint Agatha, the patron Saint of Catania, was Palermo or Catania.

They will debate politics taking opposite views and never reaching a compromise, dispute which of the two cities is cleaner and there is no argument that is not worth debate, it does not matter how irrelevant it is.

When talking over about the origin of Sicilian famous dishes like arancine, the rice balls, caponatina, the eggplant salad, pasta con sarde o melenzane, the pasta with fennels and sardines or with eggplant, bruciulone, the stuffed meatloaf to name a few, the heated discussions never end unless one of the contestants gets some wine and to conclude the debate offers it with a snack , usually bragging about his homemade wine as the best in the world.

One of the courses whose origin they would never agree upon is the sarde a beccafico, the stuffed sardines: a delicacy made in Catania and in Palermo of which the only similarity is in the same name that they share and the use of the sardines and other ingredients. In Palermo, the beccafico are baked, in Catania they are fried instead.