In a previous post, I talked about how much Italians love frying and how averse to this cooking technique Americans seem to be. (Click here to see that post) The reasons for this reluctance are many and completely understandable: the smell of cooked oil that lingers in the house; the fear of getting burned by hot oil, a real and present danger; the fear of not getting it right and producing an inedible mess, wasting time and money.

Growing up I knew very little about how to fry and shared many of those fears. In my family, we never made fried food at home, we went out to get our fix. I have fond memories of Howard Johnson’s fried fish special on Friday nights.

When I moved to Tuscany, I was in awe of how simple they made it look. Working with Loredana, my Tuscan mentor, I stood at the stove and watched her turn out platter after platter of perfectly fried, golden brown nuggets of rabbit or cardoons or eggplant. I wanted to be able to master frying without fear, to have complete confidence in turning out evenly cooked and beautifully golden crunchy goodness. In the end it was just a matter of practice.

The process is simple. You need a skillet or saute pan with oil, kept hot over a moderately high fire. Pat the meat or vegetables with paper toweling before dipping in the batter. Don’t crowd the pan. After a few batches the oil may cool down; let it heat back up to temperature before continuing with another batch. Use tongs to turn each piece as it browns and when the pieces are evenly browned, lift each piece with tongs and let the oil drip back into the pan. Stand each piece up on paper towels to drain.

Each season brings something new to fry, so start here, keep practicing and Buon Appetito!

Pastella per Friggere (batter for frying)

1 cup flour

1 cup white wine (or beer for fish)

½ teas sea salt

peanut oil

This is enough to fry 20 zucchini blossoms or a pound of mushrooms. Make as much as you need.

Put the flour and salt in a bowl, whisk together and begin adding the wine in a slow steady stream while whisking constantly, until you have incorporated all the flour and the mixture is smooth with the consistency of thin pancake batter.

Put 1½-2” peanut oil in a deep skillet and heat until drops of batter bubble immediately and turn brown quickly. Dip each piece of food into the batter and add to the oil until the pan is full but not crowded; turning each piece when it’s golden brown. Drain each piece on paper before serving.

“Anche una ciabbata fritta e’ buona.” (Even a slipper is good fried) – Old Tuscan saying

As many of you know, I spent this winter teaching at various cooking schools around the US, sharing traditional Tuscan dishes and talking about life in Italy. Although my menus don’t typically contain a lot of fried food, when I look back on what we cooked this winter, it seems we did a lot of frying. At classes for Christmas in Texas we made my grandmother’s panzerotti, fried chestnut ravioli rolled in sugar. For a special Tuscan dinner in February, there was salvia fritta, fried sage leaves stuffed with anchovy. To celebrate the feast of St. Joseph at my mom’s church in March, I labored over fritelle di San Giuseppe, rice balls flavored with orange zest, a traditional Tuscan treat.

What struck me in all those instances was the reaction of the local cooks and chefs: they were nervous about frying. They wanted to bring out special equipment like electric fryers and special thermometers for monitoring the oil. They expected it to be difficult and messy. I spent the winter helping both amateurs and professionals see how simple and easy frying can be.

Italians are always ready to toss a skillet on the stove top with some oil to fry up some little goodie. There are often piles of tiny fish at the fishmonger, too small to do anything with but toss them in flour and fry. Summer brings too many zucchini blossoms that are wonderful dipped in a simple batter and fried. Baby artichokes from the garden, fat porcini mushrooms from the woods, tender lamb chops from the butcher or winter squash cut into bright orange strips – they’re all fodder for the hot oil. Heat some oil in a skillet, mix a light batter, dip and fry the pieces until golden brown and then drain on butchers’ paper. It’s a simple and age-old process, and no special equipment is needed. Even though frying might not be the healthiest of cooking techniques, it truly turns everything into a crunchy joyful pleasure.

In America we often make things in the kitchen more difficult than they need to be. That carefree feeling in bringing forth food from the kitchen is elusive but an excess of equipment won’t save us.

Buon Appetito!

How to fry a slipper.

Pastella per Friggere (batter for frying)

Even a slipper is good fried.