Sicilian Arancini or Arancine

Sicilian arancini

Sicilian Arancini-Arancine are a typical street food in the regional capital of Sicily. They are a stuffed rice ball, round as an orange, deep fried and with a delicious filling!

The male version Arancino is traditionally prepared in Catania, in the Eastern Sicily. It has a pear-shape and also its flavour is slightly different.

Instead, the female version Arancina is traditionally prepared in Palermo, in the Western Sicily -and it has a round-shape.

There is currently a big debate around their gender, involving also the prestigious “Accademia della Crusca”, the Italian linguists society.
Try to talk about that with a Sicilian to double check it, and listen to his reply!

Sicilian Arancini frozen

Arancini story

The Sicilian arancini seems to have been imported by the Arabs, who used to eat rice and saffron seasoned with herbs and meat.

The invention of breading in tradition is traced back to the court of Frederick II, when people used to take the dish with them on hunting trips.

The crunchy breading, in fact, ensures an excellent preservation of the rice, as well as a better portability. It may therefore be that, initially, the arancini were characterized as a takeaway food.

In Palermo, the day of arancini/arancine is December 13, during the feast of Saint Lucia. On this day the serve also the typical dessert of boiled wheat and ricotta, the cuccìa.

Today the variations are endless. There are the classic arancini, with stewed ragu’ (meat sauce) and peas or the butter and béchamel ones.

Then there are the more creative ones, with pistachios, sepia, eggplant or Norma, mushrooms and bacon, or ricotta, mint and Piacentino cheese from Enna.

You can even find sweet ones, created for children, with a smaller size and a rounded shape, filled with chocolate or ricotta cream. Rolled in sugar and cinnamon, these sweet, fried arancines are a real treat!

Our Frozen range from Dolci & Salati offers a great variety of flavours: from the classic meat al ragu’, spinach and cheese, mozzarella & ham to the typical Sicilian Norma with aubergines.

Discover them HERE