So much fun! This is how we can sum up the lovely morning spent with Danny Dyer and his daughter Dani in Palermo. We knew Danny was a fun guy but we did not expect him to be such a vulcano! We are happy to share some fact and curiosity that led us to E4 TV Channel on April 2023. Our founder Marco, featured in the episode as the Dyers’ personal food guide, share his experience, feelings and funny facts. 

Where was Absolute Dyer shot in Palermo?

The market scenes with Streaty founder Marco were shot at Capo market. In the episode 1 of Absolutely Dyer: Danny and Dany do Italy, you see Danny, Dani and Marco strolling around the market and discussing about local food and seasonal produce. Some easily catch the attention of E4 crew, like the long Sicilian courgettes. The Capo market is the most authentic food market in Palermo. However, you have to choose carefully what dish to try. You don’t want to fall in tourist traps, do you! Join our Streaty Palermo tour to explore the market with a local and taste the best of the streets. The Capo market is an inviting stage for the Dyers, colors, scents and flavors that lead the two into the kitchen of Mamma Piera to roll some arancini, without any doubts the best Arancini in town. Does Dani look a bit intimidated by the arancini? yes she does but she did love it. Still, we cannot call her the most adventurous of the foodies! LOL! In the episode 1 of Absolute Dyer: Danny and Dani do Italy, Marco also makes them taste the Sicilian Sfincione and the “infamous” spleen sandwich. 
Another scene of Absolute Dyer in Palermo was set in the catacombs of the Cappuccini confraternity. It’s quite a spooky place for sensible travelers and quite an interesting one for curious and adventurous ones. You will literally walk among hundreds of mummified friars and sicilian nobles who wanted to live forever…and so they are. 

The Tuna sperm request

Oh no, this is not a joke! Channel4 production asked me to list the most delicious and most challenging foods that Palermo had to offer. After some field research, I came up with a fabulous idea “do they want it rough? and they will get it…Tuna sperm”. Yes, Sicilians eat everything out of a tuna fish, this is why this fish is renowned as the “pork of the sea”. The finest sea delicacy of Sicily is the Tuna bottarga (caviar). However, not everybody knows that Sicilians also love to eat the semen of tuna, locally called “lattume”. And this is what I reserved for the Dyers in Palermo, which made it the most hilarious scene of the episode. In the episode you can see Marco, Danny and Dani sharing some piece of delicious boiled Tuna semen. If you are familiar with Danny Dyer’s style, you can imagine what kind of jokes he would share with the camera rolling! So much fun!
A curiosity: the tuna semen isn’t regularly served in the market. It’s a product that locals buy fresh at the fish mongers and cook home. So if you are hunting for tuna semen around the streets of Palermo, give it up. It was cooked by a vendor only for the occasion.

The explosive drink

This has been the coolest moment in the shooting times. Nobody in the crew had any idea of was about to happen, only I knew. The autista is a digestive drink that only locals know where to find. And so I took the Dyers to a hidden square where you can try this explosive experience. The overflow of the drink is caused by the reaction of baking soda and the citric acid of lemon. The trick is to drink the huge glass as quick as you can, and also as much as you can if you wanna be a real Sicilian macho. One reaction is give for granted after this…a huge burp! Watch the episode to see how Danny and Dani managed this. 

Danny’s talk

The most surprising and funny thing of all the time with Dyers was to enjoy the wild and spontaneous attitude of Danny in front of the camera. We did have to repeat some scene because I could not literally hold my laughters! So I asked Danny “how come they allow you to talk dirty like this on TV? in Italy you would be banned for ever”. Danny’s answer is legendary “If you call Danny Dyer, you know what to expect”. Standing ovation! 

Conclusions

The Dyers are definitely the funniest celebs we have ever hosted on our tour. We did enjoy a lot the genuine interest for food of Rick Stein, the charming talks of Paul Hollywood and the witty jokes of Anton and Giovanni Pernice, but the Dyers are inimitable. Their energy, their loving connection. These guys rock! the most enjoyable thing was to feel how father and daughter get along. Their loving vibes are very strong and their connection is just fascinating to look at. 10 out of 10!

About Streaty_Staff

We are a group of Italian tour guides passionate about our culinary traditions. We happily share our knowledge and our tips with travelers in order to promote the authentic Italian cuisine.