Arancini

Arancini are Sicilian fried rice balls with a filling hidden in the middle. They are street food, eaten hot from the hand, and the name comes from arancia — orange — for their colour and their shape.

What it actually is

Cooked saffron rice is shaped by hand around a filling, rolled in breadcrumbs and deep-fried until the shell is crisp and the centre is molten.

The classic fillings are ragù with peas (al ragù) and ham with mozzarella (al prosciutto). A plain buttered version, al burro, is common too.

Sicily is genuinely split on the name and the shape. In Catania and the east they are often cone-shaped and called arancino; in Palermo and the west they are round and called arancina. The argument is about grammatical gender, it has run for decades, and nobody is trying very hard to settle it.

How it's served

• Hot, in paper, from a friggitoria or a bar counter — no plate, no cutlery.
• By the piece, often as a snack rather than a course.
• On 13 December, the feast of Santa Lucia, when they are traditional across Sicily.

Writing it on a menu

• List each filling separately — ragù, ham and mozzarella, vegetarian — and price by the piece.
• Say whether yours are round or cone-shaped; Sicilian guests will notice and enjoy that you took a side.
• They hold heat and travel unusually well for fried food, so they suit takeaway and delivery — worth putting on that part of the menu.
• Note the allergens: gluten, dairy and egg.