iconic Sicilian dish-4

One of the biggest reasons behind the fame of this street food – normally served at bars or sidewalk food stalls, simply wrapped in a napkin to take away – is the huge gender dilemma it’s been posing on Sicilians for decades. While those living on the eastern side of the island use the masculine name of arancino (arancini when plural), residents of the western side advocate for the feminine form, arancina (arancine when plural), when referring to the fried delicacy. It’s been such a triggering discussion that even Italian VIPs like fashion designer Chiara Ferragni couldn’t avoid being scolded for preferring one gender over the other.

“The fight is a transliteration of the competition between Sicily’s two major cities, Catania and Palermo, that chose this culinary debate as the battlefield for their cultural hegemony over the island,” said Sicilian cuisine expert Gaetano Basile.

在小餐厅和大排档里包在餐巾纸里的外卖，这个盛名之下街头美食却给西西里岛带来了持续十几年的性别悖论。西西里东部的居民使用阳性的名字arancino（复数arancini），但是对西部居民而言，当讨论美食的时候，他们倾向使用阴性的形式arancina（复数aracine）。双方的争议如此之大，即使象Ferragni这样的设计师，选择其中一种名字都无法避免舆论批评。

西西里美食专家说，这场辩论本质上是西西里岛两个大城市卡塔尼亚和帕雷默之间的文化之争。他们选择美食辩论作为文化支配权之争的战场