Heritage Food Vault

Welcome to my “heritage food vault”, and allow me to introduce myself: My name is Rodriguez and I am a trained chef and former restaurateur. I owned my own restaurant in Spain for four years. Latterly, I have spent much of my time hopping from one country to another to find the local Original recipes, generally passed down in families and known as “Grandmother” recipes.

In this monthly newsletter I will pass one of these onto you from my very own “Heritage food vault”.

This issue being Christmas I thought, “Well, everyone will have their main meals sorted, taking account of dietary and religious requirement, so why not a different Christmas sweet item?”

One year I had the pleasure of spending Christmas in Croatia and my hosts made me Fritule, which are traditionally eaten at Christmas and Easter.

So how are they made, read on and try it for yourself.

Ingredients:

300g plain flour

300ml milk

5 g dry yeast

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon orange zest

10g raisins

10g currant

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tablespoon rum

1 tsp salt

The process:

If using yeast, whisk it into 100 ml of milk, leave for 10 mines for the yeast to work.

In a deep bowl, add flour, yeast, eggs and other ingredients. Whisk the mixture until it is thick enough to form peaks.

As it’s Christmas, let’s celebrate and make them extra special by adding a spoonful of rum to the mixture.

In a deep container heat the oil until temp reaches  350 F (170 C)

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of batter in hot oil and fry, 2 or 3 at a time, until golden, about 4-5 minutes, turning with a slotted spoon as necessary. Yes, I know Grandma would not have had a thermometer, so how did they check the oil was the right temperature? Simply drop small cubes of bread when the oil is heated and when one turns golden in seconds, that’s ready to use.

Fry them until they turn yellow on all sides. If frying multiple batches, reheat oil to desired temperature before spooning in additional fritule.

Drain on paper towels and dust with icing sugar.

There you have perfect Fritule, crisp on the outside, bursting with flavour and texture, a bite-sized miracle.  Pop into your mouth while they are hot, great addition to your Christmas/Boxing Day menu.  Accompanied with a glass or two of Champagne Brut would be my choice, or Gewurztraminer for a sweeter option.

Until next month, Happy Christmas and New Year from Rodriguez.

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