Frittelle veneziane per Carnevale or fritole are traditional Venetian Carnival sweets. The batter is prepared from flour, yeast, eggs, milk, sugar and water. Then, raisins are added. The frittelle are then fried.
Carnival is a Christian celebration marking the beginning of lent (40 days) before Easter. Traditionally, during this period, no meat was eaten. The word Carnevale is an Italian word derived from the Latin carne (meat) and vale (worth). During this period, people wear costumes and masks, some countries also have parades of colourful Carnival floats.
In Italy, one of the cities that has celebrated Carnival for a long time is Venice (northern Italy). Every year tons of people travel from all over the world to be part of this amazingly colourful celebration. People reunite and dance at the heart of Venice; Piazza San Marco. This celebration has been around for numerous years and is world-famous for its intricate masks. In fact, there are contests judging and crowning the best mask of the year. In the past, people wore masks according to their occupation. Some of these masks are still very much popular nowadays and are part of the Italian culture. Two of these masks are the Arlecchino(joker like mask) and the Colombina (named after a character from the Commedia dell'arte).
Apart from great masks, Venice also has its traditional sweets for this time of year. The traditional Venetian sweet for Carnival is the fritters. There are a few different variations of the frittelle or fritole, however, the traditional one is prepared with a batter of flour, yeast, eggs, milk, sugar and water. Then, raisins and sometimes pine nuts are added to the mixture. The frittelle are then fried and served warm sprinkled with granulated sugar. The typical Venetian fritole are small and empty, however, as I mentioned before, there are other variations that are filled with cream, such as the zabaione or jams.
Preparazione: 1h 50 minuti
Cottura: 15 minuti
For: 24 fritters
Preparation: 1h 50 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes
Ingredienti
- 200gr di farina 00
- 8gr di lievito di birra
- 50ml di acqua tiepida
- 11/2 cucchiai zucchero semolato
- 1 uovo
- 130ml latte tiepido
- 1 cucchiaio di rum
- 1/2 scorza di limone
- un pizzico di sale
- 60gr di uvetta
- olio di arachide per friggere
Ingredients
- 200gr plain flour
- 8gr yeast
- 50ml of warm water
- 11/2 tbsps caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 130ml of lukewarm milk
- 1 tbsp of rum
- 1/2 lemon peel
- a pinch of salt
- 60gr raisins
- groundnut/peanut oil for frying
Metodo / Method
Mettete l’uvetta in acqua tiepida. In 30ml di acqua tiepida, aggiungete il lievito di birra e mescolate.
Put the raisins in warm water. In 30ml of lukewarm water, add the yeast and stir.
In una ciotola mescolate la farina con lo zucchero e la scorza di limone grattugiata.
In a bowl, mix the flour with the sugar and the grated lemon peel.
Versate il lievito nella farina e mescolate. Aggiungete anche il rum. In una ciotola a parte sbattete le uova con un pizzico di sale.
Pour the yeast into the flour and stir. Add the rum too. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with a pinch of salt.
Versate le uova nell’impasto delle frittelle e aggiungete poco a poco il latte e mescolate.
Pour the eggs into the dough of the fritters and add the milk little by little and stir.
Ottenete un impasto fluido ma abbastanza consistente. Strizzate bene l’uvetta e aggiungetela al composto, mescolate ancora per distribuirla bene. Coprite la ciotola con un foglio di pellicola trasparente e fate lievitare per un'ora e mezzo a due ore.
You get a fluid but quite consistent dough. Squeeze the raisins well and add it to the mixture, stir again to distribute it well. Cover the bowl with a sheet of transparent film and let it rise for an hour and a half to two hours.
Fate scaldare abbondante olio di arachide in una padella e quando è ben caldo, prelevate delle piccole quantità di impasto, circa mezzo cucchiaio, e fatele cadere all’interno dell’olio bollente. Quando cominciano a gonfiarsi girate le frittelle, in modo che si coloriscano bene da entrambi i lati. Scolatele con un mestolo forato e fatele asciugare su un foglio di carta da cucina. Finché sono ancora calde, passate le frittelle nello zucchero semolato. Servite le frittelle ancora calde.
Heat plenty of peanut oil in a pan and when it is hot, take small amounts of dough, about half a tablespoon, and let it fall into the hot oil. When they start to swell, turn the fritters so that they colour well on both sides. Drain them with a perforated spoon and let them dry on a sheet of kitchen paper. As long as they are still hot, pass the fritters in the granulated sugar. Serve the fritters still warm.
That's all for today. Enjoy these fritters for your next Carnival celebration or if like me, your country doesn't really celebrate Carnival, why not make them for your next party with family or friends. Now, go ahead and revise the adjectives by describing these Carnival characters. See you next week with another recipe! x
