Type | Snack |
---|---|
Place of origin | Italy |
Region or state | Lazio |
Main ingredients | Mozzarella, rice, sometimes tomato sauce, eggs, bread crumbs |
Supplì (Italian: [supˈpli]; Italianization of the French word surprise) are Italian snacks consisting of a ball of rice (generally risotto) with tomato sauce, typical of Roman cuisine. [1] [2]
The name is first attested in the 19th century, and is a corruption of the term en surprise, which is used in French cuisine for all kind of croquettes or pieces of meat covered with bread crumbs. [3]
Originally, they were filled with chicken giblets, mincemeat or provatura (a kind of cheese from Lazio), [1] now also with a piece of mozzarella; the whole morsel is soaked in egg, coated with bread crumbs and then fried (usually deep fried). [1] They are closely related to Sicilian arancini and the French croquettes sometimes called croquettes en surprise [4] that can be made with rice. [5] Supplì can be also prepared without tomato sauce (supplì in bianco, which means "white-style supplì").
They are usually eaten with the fingers: when one is broken in two pieces, mozzarella is drawn out in a string somewhat resembling the cord connecting a telephone handset to the hook. This has led to these dishes being known as supplì al telefono ("telephone-style supplì", in reference to cables). [6]
Supplì were originally sold at friggitorie, typical Roman shops where fried food was sold. Now they are commonly served in most pizzerias all around Italy as an antipasto.