Sunday, May 3, 2009

How to make a great "Frittura Toscana"

All diet loving people are advised not to read this post! Beause today's post is all about the "frittura", deep fried veggies and fish, a classic Tuscan treat. We have the frittura either as an appetizer or ("fritto misto") as a main dish, the latter usually with a lot of fish.

Today's post was inspired by the greatest frittura I ever ate - yesterday at a dinner at Barbara's & Fabio's new farmshop in San Miniato. A crunchy, yet delicate, golden brown crust that was just melting in your mouth. Wow!

After a couple of glasses of wine (Cosimo's white wine Annick goes perfectly with fried food, cause the acidity mellows the fat and grease), Barbara shared the secret! Here it comes....PROSECCO!

Yes, the best batter for deep frying is made of flour, prosecco, salt and nothing else!

Here is how to make the best frittura you ever tasted:
- put a bottle of dry sparkling wine into the freezer until it is ice cold
- in the meanwhile slice and cut the veggies (carrots, peppers, onions, artichokes...) and keep them in crushed ice (it makes them keep the color and taste better)
- mix the flour and salt with the ice cold prosecco for a dense batter
- put the batter in the fridge again - you want it to be really cold
- take the veggies out of the ice, throw them into the cold batter, mix briefly to make sure the veggies are evenly coated and fry till golden brown in extra virgin olive oil
- let oil drip off briefly on a kitchen towel and serve with lemon slices

Another trick: to test if the oil has the right temperature, hold a toothpick into the hot oil. When the oil starts bubbling, you are ready to go!


Buon Appetito!

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