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Many fans of Italian fried rice balls are a bit unclear about the difference between Arancino and Suppli.
I found this explanation online which seems to be very accurate to me and should help to calm down future hot-blooded discussions 🙂
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Excerpt from La Piccola Fontana :
“The Sicilian people will be having some stern words with us for combining their beloved arancino with it’s Roman cousins, supplì, and vice versa but the fact remains that when in Italy you should try at least one type of freshly fried rice ball.
These starch bombs appear in bars, restaurants, and market stalls all over Italy, but if you are going to order one, it helps to know the difference. The Sicilian arancino is often larger, and either conical or circular in shape. In fact, its name means “small orange.” It is typically filled with ragu and some sort of cheese, with optional veggies like peas, mushrooms, or eggplant.
You will also find specialty arancini like carbonara, though purists tend to turn up their noses at these newfangled inventions.
Supplì, on the other hand, are a Roman specialty usually found in pizzerias and as antipasti. They are often oblong in shape and traditionally contain only rice, tomato sauce, and a large piece of mozzarella in the middle.”
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And there you have it. Clear, once and for all 🙂
As for me, I love both equally, the only difference being that I can eat a bunch of Arancini as a main course, while two Suppli are usually enough and therefore more suited (for me) as an appetizer or snack.
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PS:
There are many different variations of both arancini and suppli, different fillings, different types of rice, tomato sauce added to the rice, etc.
In my opinion, when made and served with love, they are all equally delicious and satisfying 🙂
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P.P.S.
Supposedly, the name Suppli al Telefono stems from the mozzarella cheese which forms into long thin strands (Telephone Lines) when one pulls the supply apart 🙂
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P.P.P.S.
Usually fried rice balls are served with tomato sauce. However, I prefer to eat them with Tonkatsu Sauce
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Suppli al Telefono
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Suppli al Telefono
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Suppli al Telefono
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Arancina
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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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- to 2 cups cooked rice add 1 ea whole egg, 1 tblsp tomato sauce, 1 dash hot sauce, kosher salt to taste and grated parmigiano reggiano as needed (to keep the rice balls from falling apart)
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- form into 4-8 patties, press each into one hand, add a cube or piece of mozzarella, close the disk and roll between two hands to form even balls; bread in standard breading
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- fry suppli in 365F fat until golden on the outside and the cheese in the center has melted; serve with spicy tomato sauce or dip of your choice (I use tonkatsu sauce)
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- Suppli al Telefono
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- Suppli al Telefono
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- Suppli al Telefono
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ChefsOpinion 
Peter Scrafton 2018-11-15 15:29:54
You naughty man! Thanks for the explanation of the difference between the two kinds of Italian rice balls. For those who watch the adventures of the Sicilian detective, Inspector Montalbano, there will be a familiarity with the conical arancini. All recipes and suggestions will be most welcome.
But what (in my ignorance) is/are “turducken”?
As ever,
Peter
Peter Scrafton 2018-11-15 15:33:03
I am obviously being “thick”; but I am afraid that, notwithstanding hovering I have been unable to access the recipes. If you can put me right, such would be much appreciated
P
Hans Susser 2018-11-15 19:01:47
It’s a chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed i a turkey (all boneless), then roasted. Very popular here in the States 🙂
Hans Susser 2018-11-15 19:12:07
Hi Peter,
Maybe your PC is set to not allow these functions??
Are you reading the posts directly on ChefsOpinions Webside? (It does NOT work in your e-mail. Just clich on the link to the actual block and all will be working just fine.
Pls do me a favor, Peter – pls add your comments to the comment section on the main page. The comments you post on individual pics can not be seen unless one clicks on the individual picture, or, as I did here, I transfer them to the post page.
Also, I can not answer to the individual comments one by one (see here)
Thanks 🙂
Cheers !
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There is no hot sauce in supplì.
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Stefan, there is, if you do like hot sauce and add it.
Professionals and amateurs who love and more importantly understand food, add what they like, not what some book/recipe tells them. You get the basic principle of a recipe, then interpret it according to the present requirements, such as availability/food cost/personal medical tolerance and/or the preference of ones guest/family/customers.
That is the art /craft of cooking, which sets good professionals apart from the way hobby cooks follow recipes by others to the letter, without the benefits of experience. We usually cook dishes by method, NOT recipes ! That is why a Good professional chef can prepare food of any national/regional cuisine, without knowing “Recipes’, just by eating it once or sometimes even by just looking at the finished dish.
A regular cook usually makes about $2-$3 K a month, while a top chefs salary is in the $200 k – $400k region. Guess why 🙂
Do you seriously think there is ONE recipe for Supply (besides the one you know ???
Do you seriously think there is ONE recipe for Arancino (besides the one you know ???
Again Stefan, hobby cooks and professionals approach food VERY differently.
For example in these Suppli – in a regular kitchen you usually have black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, szechuan pepper, an assortment of hot sauces, etc, just to add heat. If you know what you are doing and what you and your guests like, you can use any of these to add heat.
After all, IT’S A FRIED RICE BALL !!!
These little variations makes customers go to one restaurant for a specific dish, rather than to another restaurant. But for the next dish and its different variation, they might like yet another restaurant better 🙂
Us professionals, we use what we have, like, love and what fit’s in the present variation of a dish.
Hobby cooks, because of their lack of debt of understanding and lack decades of daily experience in cooking, for thousand or even millions of people, must follow recipes exactly to arrive at a decent dish. Remember, professional chefs must make a profit !!!! We cook what is good, no matter if it is original or not (again, certain classic dishes MUST be followed by the letter – and again, this is a very complex, professional issue, which can not be explained in a short comment (PROFESSIONALS KNOW and UNDERSTAND ) 🙂
As I mentioned before on these pages, there are certain classic dishes that, if one uses its actual name, can not be altered from its original recipe, unless one names the dish “in the style of”.
Suppli, which originated as a leftover dish, absolutely does not fall into this category.
However, I am old and retired after 50 years in this profession, so what do I know besides the stuff I learned for 50 years in 5 star operations around the World, and what I taught to many thousands of students, apprentices, chefs and executive chefs around the world for 40 of these 50 years ? 🙂
Love,
Hans
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