Came across this little bit of ‘mezza Italiana/Australiana’ at the beach on the weekend… a surf rescue boat emblazoned with the word, Arancia (orange). I realise it’s a NZ brand name but for some reason it just felt great to see this Italian word on something such a part of Australian life in beach and flood rescues.
Recently, I heard a radio discussion about foreign languages currently taught in Australian schools. Of the six languages most commonly learnt, apparently Japanese is the most popular followed by Italian, Indonesian, French, German and Mandarin, each being classified as business or heritage. They said, Italian is a heritage language taught due to the contribution of its large migrant community and their descendants over the past century or more. Pretty lovely to hear.
It is claimed that arancini originated in Sicily as far back as the 10th century. The balls of rice with various fillings are shaped, crumbed and fried, resembling an orange – the Italian for orange being arancia. (Rice cooked the day before and cooled in the fridge works best.) In Messina, they can be more cone shaped, while in Naples they are pall’e riso (rice balls) apparently. I think ours (made 11 centuries later in Australia!) ended up being influenced a little by both cities.
Zoë Boccabella 