Why Ninetta’s orange carpaccio is Hong Kong’s most unlikely new Italian dish

That philosophy finds perhaps its purest expression in a dish that captures Ninetta’s balance between rustic tradition and subtle fine-dining technique: orange carpaccio. On paper, it reads like a dare: fruit and fish, vinegar and citrus, chilli and dill. It sounds weird. Yet stopping at the menu description misses everything Xodo is trying to say about Italian culinary identity.

The idea comes from the orange salads typical of southern Italy. Insalata di arance has been a staple of Sicily’s tables for centuries. Its history is inseparable from the island’s unique position as a crossroads of cultures. “In the ninth century, Arab rulers introduced bitter oranges to Sicily, fundamentally reshaping the island’s culinary landscape,” Xodo explains. Over centuries, Sicilians crossbred these with sweet oranges. Local peasants would pair the abundant citrus with cheap coastal staples like salted anchovies, wild fennel and local olive oil to create a refreshing, hydrating winter salad that has never really gone out of fashion.

For Xodo, the dish is also deeply personal. He was born in Seregno in northern Italy, and his heritage straddles the country’s north-south divide. “Half of my origin is from the south, from Calabria,” he says. “From my grandmother’s house balcony, I could see Sicily and Mount Etna. That’s why I try to mix the peculiarities of both cuisines.”