If you ever saw any of The Godfather films you will know a little how it all works. The mafia are a mean bunch of guys (and they are all men, they don't like women very much, by the way). They are divvied up into groups or clans based on family and the head of each clan is don. The head honcho in the Godfather is Don Corleone. Corleone takes it's name from the town in Sicily where the mafia all began, early last century, and was consolidated after World War Two. Corleone is not a very pleasant place. Dry, hot, craggy and unfertile. You can see why they have anger issues.
The mafia racket is simple, if not ironic, in a murderous sense.
Basically, the mafia offer protection to businesses. Businesses pay to be protected from the very same people offering the protection. It's sweet. Don't pay up and we will burn your house, shoot you and your family or cut off your horse's head and put it in bed next to you while you are sleeping.
The payment is called pizzo. And they reckon most businesses today in Sicily still pay this in some way or another.
But there is one exception that we know of. In the quaint Piazza San Francisco d'Assissi is the cafe Antico Foccaceria, the first business in Palermo to say no to the mafia. No to the pizzo.
Timmy and Roscoe also say no to pizzo so we went there to check it out. A police car is parked nearby and while we are there a couple of armed, local cops come in to buy something to eat.
We are very happy with the food here. Lots of antipasto type things; rolled up eggplant in passata with pine nuts, crumbed sardines, swordfish croquettes and a dish of wriggly pasta shapes with tomato, pork and peas.
Dons Timmy and Roscoe
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