Caseificio Borderi in Ortigia Sicily

No visit to Syracuse’s market is complete without a stop at this colourful deli near Ortygia’s far northern tip. Veteran sandwich-master Andrea Borderi stands out front with a table full of cheeses, olives, greens, herbs, tomatoes and other fixings and engages in nonstop banter with customers while creating free-form sandwiches big enough to keep you fed all day. There’s no real ordering process; at best, you’ll simply be asked if there are any ingredients you don’t enjoy. From there several sandwiches are made at once, with everything chopped or sliced to serve. Each one is carefully layered by either Andrea or Gaetano with sundried tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, lemon juice, an entire ball of freshly-made buffalo mozzarella, ricotta, garlic paste, onion jam, eggplant, mushrooms and ham wrapped in provolone.