There are very precise rules for perfect Italian frying, and here we want to reveal some of them, along with some mouth-watering typical examples
“Everything tastes better when fried”: and how to disagree with this proverb, as old as Italy, that we all keep repeating when we talk about food. The smell, the crispy texture, the warm and velvety filling (when present) are an irresistible mix and everything takes on a different essence.
Frittura is undoubtedly a landmark of Italian gastronomic culture, the most popular preparation, smelling of home, family, but also of dinners with friends and carefree weekend evenings. The great importance of frittura in Italy is unquestionable and it takes popular but also refined forms depending on the context, and it is certainly well-loved by tourists as well.
Let's find out everything you need to know about the favored cooking method in this super guide to Italian frying.
Italian frying yesterday and today
Frying has a very ancient history, even apparently dating back to Ancient Egypt, when bread was cooked in animal fats to preserve it and then eaten with honey. So if the first fried dishes were in actual fact desserts, in Greece people began to cook various dishes in olive oil in an ancestor of our frying pan, the teganon. This technique came to us probably around the first century, when it was passed on to the Romans, who, it seems, were fond of it.
In addition to frying in the teganon, the ever-innovative Romans actually invented deep-frying, which was served in places called cauponae or tabernae - the ancestors of street food kiosks, basically. But the greatest spread of frying occurred in the Middle Ages, when olive oil was replaced by animal fats, such as lard, but because of the cost it was exclusive to the wealthier classes.
But how do we fry in Italy today? Most dishes involve cooking in seed or olive oil, but experts say the former, particularly sunflower or peanut oil, would be preferable because it can better handle the smoke point, which is the temperature limit beyond which it begins to burn. How to check the ideal temperature? With a thermometer for sure, but, a toothpick to be dipped until it has bubbles is sufficient. It is left to personal taste and traditional recipes to select the batter and breadcrumbs, the former made of flour and sparkling water or beer, and the latter of egg and breadcrumbs.
However, pay attention to the equipment: it would be best to use a high-sided iron pot, or at most a copper or aluminum frying pan, which should be filled so as to immerse the dishes in it and thus obtain a golden, homogeneous, light and not too soaked cooking. It would also be ideal to have an aluminum skimmer, to accompany the dipping and facilitate pick-up. Finally, it is recommended to have paper towels, which will dry the food and also allow you to enjoy it with your hands without getting too greasy.
If you would like to try your hand at Italian frying, these small and simple tricks may be useful.
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The 10 most beloved Italian fried foods
Fried food is the star of the tables in homes, restaurants and bars all over the Boot, and it doesn't "save" anything. That's because for the local tradition practically anything can be fried, from meat to fish, from vegetables to yeast products, not forgetting of course many desserts.
And to pay homage to the history of our cuisine, we want to mention 10 of the most famous and beloved Italian fried foods:
1. Supplì and arancine: very different from each other, they have in common rice as the basic ingredient. They are breaded and stuffed meatballs, precisely with rice and various fillings. The former is part of Latium cuisine and involves a tomato sauce and stringy mozzarella filling (that's why it is called “al telefono”, recalling the telephone wire) while the latter is perhaps the most famous Sicilian dish, involving meat sauce, peas and saffron, but today there are a thousand other variations;
2. Potato crocché: another street food celebrity is found throughout the tradition of many regions. It involves a potato filling, often seasoned with pepper and parsley, and sometimes ham and mozzarella cheese. Cylindrical in shape, it is dipped in egg and breadcrumbs for a crispy breadcrumb coating. A classic, for example, in Campania cuisine is to find it alongside mozzarella in carrozza and frittatina di pasta.
3. Artichoke alla giudia: Let's return to Latium for this dish of Roman-Jewish cuisine. Carciofo alla giudia, a “cousin” of the Roman artichoke, is fried whole, dipping it in oil until it acquires a brown color. Seasoned with lemon juice and a sprinkling of pepper, it is truly a specialty not to be missed.
4. Fish fry: shrimp, squid, baby octopus, and anchovies are just some of the elements of the classic mixed fish fry, which opens seafood menu lunches at home or in restaurants. A key staple in many regional cuisines, such as that of Apulia, in Naples it also becomes a delicious street food and is placed in the cuoppo, a blotting paper cone that allows the fried fish to be enjoyed while walking around. Often squid rings and seaweed grown dough zeppole and are added. In Rome, however, it is made into cod cubes.
5. Parmigiana: whether you fry them as they are or after tossing them in flour and egg, fried eggplant is the pivotal ingredient in parmigiana, a mouth-watering layered treasure interspersed with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese and then completed in the oven. A real delicacy to be customized.
6. Meatballs: classic meatballs, to be eaten as they are or then dipped in tomato sauce, acquire their best shape with frying. Again, to make them simply use your imagination.
7. Crescentine or fried gnocchi: the Bolognese crescentine or Modenese gnocco are exquisite little bundles of leavened dough fried in lard; protagonists of appetizers and aperitifs, they are eaten alongside cold cuts, cheeses and sauces instead of bread: a masterpiece of Emilian cuisine not to be missed.
8. Frittelle and donuts with sugar: delicious at fairs or to end a nice evening in sweetness, they are the refuge of the glutton. Dough leavened at the base, then dipped in oil, and topped off with a nice sprinkling of sugar: a must all along the Peninsula.
9. Crema fritta marchigiana: next to the olive all'ascolana, the fried foods of the Marche region cannot be without these exquisite cubes of custard made firm and then breaded in egg and breadcrumbs. Really unique and delicious.
10. Iris: Let's conclude with a round-shaped dessert, a kind of brioche made of a leavened dough and a filling of ricotta cheese and often some variations, such as pistachio or chocolate. An ever-present must-have Sicilian street food alongside the more famous cannoli and cassatine.
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In which region do people fry the most?
Considering what has been said, which Italian region is "the" fried food one? In which area of Italy is frying most common?
It is not easy to say since there are dozens and dozens of dishes prepared with frying in each one, but we must also admit that in the center and south, traditionally, people fry more than in the north.
Some classics from regions such as Latium, Campania and Sicily, for example, are at the top of the preferences for street food alongside the ever-present French fries, but we do not feel like leaving aside Puglia, Calabria or Sardinia. We do not know exactly why but it is probably due to the legacy of the so-called cucina povera, poor people cuisine, which involved cooking in oil in order to consume leftovers more easily and shortening the time required for cooking.
Far from claiming to be exhaustive, however, we warn you: if you are a lover of Italian frying you will find plenty of it wherever you are, just take a quick look at the menus.
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