Arancino or arancina? Sicily's fried-rice grammar war
In Catania and Messina, on Sicily's eastern side, the stuffed fried rice ball is arancinu — masculine, and often cone-shaped; in Palermo it is arancina, feminine and round like an orange. The dish, traced back to Arab-ruled Sicily and its introduction of rice and saffron, splits the island in a patchwork rather than in half: Ragusa and Siracusa, though eastern, side with the feminine. Asked to referee, the Accademia della Crusca, Italy's language authority, ruled with perfect diplomacy: both forms are correct. Italy's register of traditional food products lists it as 'arancini di riso'. The derby goes on.
