Based on field materials, the author analyzes the significance of local food in the self-identification of the Sicilians both "inside" Sicily or diaspora, or “outside”. As an object of research and a marker of identity, some typical Sicilian dishes that have become a food symbol of Sicily outside the island are selected: arancine, cannoli, melinzani ‘a parmiciana, sassata, pasta alla Norma, caponata, pani ca meusa. As polls convincingly prove, inside Sicily or when Sicilian cuisine is consumed only by Sicilians (for example, in emigration), each of these dishes, including the above, is an indicator of only a parochial sub-regional identity and in the emic vision of the population is categorically not perceived by the population as a general Sicilian symbol, being rather a factor of ethnic separation than ethnic unification. However, for Sicilians, a local food artifact turns into a symbol of belonging to the whole region in the case of the "removal" of Sicilian cuisine outside Sicily and offering "their" cuisine to the Other, thanks to the etic vision of Sicilian alimentary culture through the eyes of "foreign" users (e.g., in the USA in the 30s of the twentieth century, nowadays in restaurant cuisine system).
