Arrosticini are a traditional dish from the Italian region of Abruzzo. Arrosticini (rustelle or arrustelle in the local dialects; also known as spierini or spidducc') are typically made from castrated sheep's meat (mutton), cut in chunks and pierced by a skewer. It is cooked on a brazier with a typically elongated shape, called canala as it resembles a gutter.
There are two main kinds of arrosticini: those made industrially, with cubical chunks of meat with a side of 1 cm (1/2.5 inches) on skewers with a maximum length of 10 cm (4 inches); and those made by hand, for which meat is cut with a knife in chunks of different sizes, alternated on the skewer with pieces of ovine fat (doing so provides more tenderness and a more pleasant smell). This kind of arrosticini requires meat of very high quality because it has to be cooked for a longer time. Arrosticini originate from the food consumed by shepherds and other inhabitants of the mountainous areas in Abruzzo within the villages of Civitella Casanova, Carpineto e Villa Celiera, who were accustomed to eating even less refined food than hard sheep meat.[1]
Arrosticini are often accompanied by slices of traditionally home-made bread soaked in extra-virgin olive oil (pan unto) and by Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wine, with big amounts of peperoncino in olio or — as it is done in some restaurants — by a drink made consisting of two parts of red wine and one part of gassosa (roughly the Italian equivalent of beverages like Sprite).
Traditionally, arrosticini are eaten with the hands, pulling the meat off the skewer piece by piece using the teeth.
They are produced throughout Abruzzo, both industrially and in a home-made fashion. They are also found in other areas with large populations of Abruzzese.
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