Every year on 13th December - the feast of Santa Lucia of Syracuse - whole Sicily celebrates the favourite local street food specialities: arancine!
Don’t get mislead by its name - arancina (‘small orange’) has nothing to do with actual citruses and refers to the shape of this beloved by Sicilians snack made of deep fried rice balls and variety of delicious fillings. Although the most traditional ones include red meat sauce (arancina al ragu) or mozzarella, ham and butter (arancina al burro), there seem to be a never-ending variety of its flavours - from seafood and various cheesy options to pesto, vegetables and even pistachios (famous in Catania)!
The snack has been a part of the regional culinary traditions for hundred of years already, with its beginnings going back to the Medieval times when the Arabs first introduced rice to Sicily. With years, it has also grown to be perceived as a symbol of a well-known antagonism between the East and the West of Sicily. The difference starts with the name itself: arancino or arancina, male or female? In the East of the island, the snack - shaped more like a pear, with a pointy top and a wider bottom - takes on the male form (‘arancino’), whereas in the West (including Trapani!), it is known as a curvy perfectly round female - ‘arancina’. Who is right? Well, let us leave this question unanswered… :)
As always, we invite you to find out more about this delicious local street food speciality with us! EasyTrapani organises cooking classes on/of the best of Sicilian treats and traditional dishes. And what is a better way to explore the flavours of the island than spending an afternoon making a batch of arancine yourself? :)
Let us know if you would like to book a cooking workshop for your next visit in Sicily! And for now - you can also try to make some arancine at home! Check the photos for the recipes. Buon appetito!
Connected to the saints day of santa lucia, from Siracusa. According to the legend, she died for her christian faith by who was killed for her Christian faith by removing her eyes. Rice and eyes are kept in gastronomy tradition through another food of the day called cuccia: cooked grains that looked like eyes cuccia with ricotta cream , mixed with ‘mosto cotto’, cuccia with mosto cotto
Arancina means small orange and is in fact the shape of this bowl of rice
Arancina – arancino is a symbol of the antagonism bewteen Palermo and Catania, as lons as the ancient differentation between western and eastern sicily, the phoenician and the greek sicily, an ancient division which was also due to the long double river hymera that from th e center of sicily was going to the north coast in the existing area of termini imerese, and just opposite to the south of Sicily between Agrigento and Gela
according to legends, rice arrived in sicily with the arabs during the middle ages and sicilians were the first europeans to get to know the rice. cultivation went on for centuries until the xixth century, when because of the unification of Italy, sicilian rice has been even forbidden for letting the rice fields of Piedmont (the invasors) to be mostly the main of all Italy. after totally disappearing as production, rice is now starting to be produced again after more than one century
However, tradition never ended and arancina or arancino has been always a leading street food and home made snack. This is why Arancino and Arancina can be considered a Nationalistic Sicilian food, symbol of independent Sicilian culture
you can do cooking class about the art of arancina with us!
Where to find: breadshops, any restoration food shops like bars
Type of arancina: burro (with ham and cheese), meat (ragu) etc all those by the pic: scoglio (seafruits), salmone, seppia nero di, aubergines, vegetarian, mushrooms, artichokes, spinach, sausage, four cheeses, meat, ham
Ingredients for 40 Arancine
Rice Kg.1
Grated Parmesan cheese gr.100
Butter gr.100
Eggs 4
Béchamel sauce lt.1
Breadcrumbs gr.100
Garlic 1
Ingredients:
minced meat mixed 500g
peas average gr.200
carrots 2 tomato paste in tin gr.200
onion 1
oil
salt
Preparation: Fry the chopped onion and chopped carrots along with add the tomato paste and a bit of water salt and pepper and cook for about 30 minutes
Ingredients:
baked ham gr.100
mixed cheeses (mozzarella / Provola / type Belpaese) gr.100
Preparation:
reduce everything to small Cubes
Ingredients: artichokes 6
mixed cheeses (mozzarella / Provola / type Belpaese) gr.100
Preparation:
cut artichokes into small pieces
cook them in a pan with oil and a clove of garlic
salt and pepper
Bake for about 20 minutes
Ingredients: Champignon mushrooms 300 g
mixed cheeses (mozzarella / Provola / type Belpaese) gr.100
and now the clue, the real method to make Arancine according to Emilia, our chief
Preparation:
Cut the mushrooms into small pieces
cook them in oil and garlic, for about 20 minutes
salt and pepper
Cook the rice in separate container
drain
mix with parmesan, butter and put the béchamel sauce
let cool
add two whole eggs plus two egg yolks (set aside the egg white that will be used later)
Moisten your hands and form manually rice balls
puncture the rice balls and put a teaspoon of sauce béchamel
then enter the type of favorite dressing
prepare a bowl with the egg white of two eggs + create a dish with breadcrumbs
close the hole and put the arancine in the egg white and in the breadcrumbs
cook them in hot oil until they get a golden brown colour
Led by a local guide
All entrance fees included
Hotel pickup included
Flexibility to customize your itinerary to your own preferences
Vegetarian meal option available
The tour includes:
Local guide
Entrance fees
Lunch (full-day tour only)
Hotel pick-up (round-trip shared transfer)
Additional info:
No age restrictions for the tour
Vegetarian and vegan meal options are available (please advise at time of booking if required)
Half-day tour can be combined with other tours and excursions (please get in touch to discuss the available options)
Lunch for a half-day tour can be purchased for an extra cost of 20 euro (please advise at time of booking if interested)
Tour language options: English, Polish, Italian, Lithuanian and Hungarian(for Polish, Lithuanian and Hungarian - please advise at the time of booking)
Booking has to be confirmed by the seller.
A pick-up can be arranged from any place in the district of Trapani (Trapani, Marsala, Mazara del Vallo, Alcamo, San Vito lo Capo, Erice, Castelvetrano, Castellamare del Golfo and other towns in the area)
A pick-up can be arranged from any place in the district of Palermo and Agrigento for additional trasport cost of €100 up to 4 people
Departure point
From your hotel/accommodations
Departure time
Full-day trip - morning
Half-day trip - morning or afternoon
The exact departure time is flexible and can be customized to match your itinerary
Hotel pickups commence approximately 30 - 60 minutes prior to this time, exact pickup time will be advised on reconfirmation
Duration
Flexible
Returns to original departure point
Prices:
Full-day Arancina Tour
A full-day Arancina Tour including a lunch
From €100.00
Half-day Arancina Tour
A half-day Arancina Tour. (Can be combined with other half-day tours and excursions)
From €50.00
All fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.
