SUPPLì: what a wonderful surprise

Surprise!

Supplì. A rice ball with a piece of cheese inside, dipped in eggs, breadcrumbs and then fried. If you put it this way, it doesn’t sound like anything special, does it? But when the rice is basically a risotto, cooked in a perfect ragù sauce, and when the cheese is pure mozzarella, the result is yet another Roman masterpiece.

You won’t find supplì anywhere else in Italy, but in Rome. You can find arancini, bigger and more rounded rice balls with way more ingredients, in other regions, especially the ones in the South (Calabria and Sicilia). But the one and only supplì it’s exclusively served in pizzerias and trattorias in the Eternal City. Nowadays you can also find variations: white supplì (no tomato sauce), carbonara (with eggs and guanciale, like the pasta), veggie versions, etc. But the traditional one, trust me, is unbeatable.

Now, the name. It means absolutely nothing in Italian. It probably comes from the French “surprise”, word used from Napoleon soldiers (yep, I’m talking about the eighteenth century – it’s a pretty old recipe) when they bite it for the first time. The piece of melted mozzarella must have really surprised them! Therefore, its name. And also the expression ‘telephone supplì’ (yep, this is more modern) because when you split it open and pull the two parts aside, if it’s cooked to perfection, the mozzarella will lengthen as a string, as a telephone cord. Boy, Romans are very creative with names!

#supplì #surprise #telephone