Reviews: A real Sicilian "arancina" in Notting Hill?

Do you remember when I talked about the famous and extremely popular Sicilian rotisserie? You find it in bars and cafès and one of the most appreciated pieces is definetely the ARANCINA, the huge rice ball fried and filled with mozzarella cheese and ham (al burro) or with Sicilian ragù made of minced meat sauce (alla carne). Delicious! Especially in Palermo everyone is crazy about our amazing arancine and one thing you don't know for sure is that the noun is actually FEMININE in this part of the island! And it is a very big deal for us! So remember it when you visit Palermo and you want to try one, all right? :-)

Recently, while I was in London, walking in the renowned area of Notting Hill I happened to find a food spot called: "Arancina, the traditional Sicilian pizzeria". The name was curious to me, to start with, because in Sicily we have a lot of famous dishes, but the pizza is not something we export as Sicilians, while the arancina definetely is. We do have our tasty pizza called sfincione in Palermo, but to my surprise there was no trace of that in the pizzeria, so I gathered the owners could not be from Sicily and infact I was right.


The place was lovely, cosy and very nice decorated, the people kind and smiley, the location amazing and the pizza was really good, it reminded me about the traditional pizza a taglio they make in Rome: thin, soft and tasty. Obviously as a real Sicilian and a food blogger (perfect combination, isn't it?) I had to try the arancina and see if it was like the original ones, but sadly my reaction was disappointment. Big disappointment.

For two reasons: first the SIZE of them. 

These ones were tiny ones... I would say "supplì" (originally again from Rome) with a different name.

Second the PRICE. A small fried ball of rice for 2.60 pounds.

In Sicily an average arancina is sold between 1.20 and 2.00 euros at the maximum (which in pounds is between 1.00 and 1.80 and in dollars between 1.50 and 1.70 more or less) and it is DOUBLE in SIZE.

In my opinion if you want to sell something at a high price because is exotic or sough after it's ok, but at least sell it in the correct size. I would have preferred to spend 3.00 pounds for an original big sized arancina, rather than 2.60 for a tiny one.

The taste was ok, it wasn't the exactly one but was good, ...I was hungry and I ate it with pleasure, but to be honest it was gone in just three bites and that was it. That was my lunch.

Do you know which was one of the most important ingredient that was missing in there? SATISFACTION!
Having something that is scrumptious, very well made and leaves you full and happy? Plus, you eat it and think of your homeland,... missing it. It is something that has to do with food, but above all with memoirs, family, friends, tradition, connection. All in one arancina and it wasn't accomplished at all!

Simple as that.

So, I would recommed the place (here is the website) for a nice authentic Italian pizza a taglio, but I would suggest to work more on the arancina... at least on the size, because if you sell the real thing customers will triple! And in case you want to try the original ones, there is only one place: Palermo, Sicily!

Then, we can talk about TRUE SATISFACTION!!!!!

Santa Lucia & the tradition: let's find out what when & why

Do you know why on December the 13th which is the day of the Sicilian Virgin and Saint Lucy here in Sicily we eat some stuff called: "cuccìa", "panelle" and above all "arancine"? Let's make it clear once and for all :)

The story has got ancient roots: in the XVIIth century the city of Palermo and probably all the areas around were suffering from a terrible famine; people were starving and had nothing to eat, so they started to pray Saint Lucy who was originally from the Sicilian town of Siracusa. On the day of her festivity in 1646 (during the period of famine) a huge ship arrived in the harbour of Palermo and it was full of wheat.

People were so hungry that use the grain just as it was, boiled and eaten it with the few things they had like oil of olive, ricotta and vegetables. 

Little by little the tradition of cooking the wheat in grains spread on that day and people started to make also a sweeter version which in Sicily has always to be with ricotta cream. The name of this dish is "cuccìa" (the pic above is the sweet cuccìa), probably coming from the word "cocciu", which literally means grain. So this day is the only day of the year in which pasta and bread are banned from Sicilian tables to remind us the story of this miracle.

Now, having banned all the food made of wheat people had to eat other stuff apart from the cuccìa, so they started to eat potato pies, panelle which are chickpea fritters (the pic above), also in their sweet version filled with little custard and caster sugar on top (see the pic here on the right).

But the food that the majority of Palermo citizens relate to this day are the unique "arancine", scrumptious fried rice balls filled with different ingredients: ham & mozzarella cheese or minced meat ragout (the classic ones) but today you also find them with spinach, salmon and sometimes chicken as well.  

Hence, although it started like a day of penitence today by contrast it is popularly known as "the day of arancine", in which the "average palermitano" stuffs himself with 5 or 6 (and sometimes 8,9,10!!!) rice balls, and probably, if you ask him/her why there is no bread or pasta he/she doesn't even know how to answer.

 I am a huge fan of traditions, but I think it's important to know their stories and where they actually come from, so if you wanna try an arancina, or a sweet panella or some cuccìa on this very special day for us, feel free to do so, but at least you know why!