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2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-06-06 02:02
Turn for Venice in the days of Carnival it is a company that has something heroic about it.
For those who live or work there, it means dodging shapeless waves of tourists moving like a blob, avoiding stacks of human sardines covered in bizarre clothes which, while in some cases are really refined costumes, in most are mostly masks that cover the face accompanied by hats and feathers.
If your purpose is to photograph clothes and immortalize clouds of confetti, in short, think about it.
It is quite another matter when it comes to sweets, which can really become the only reason to cross crowded streets and fields. Even the hard and pure Venetians, in fact, those who shy away from Carnival and constantly grumble about the crowd, do not give up pancakes And galani.
Finding shortcuts or secret passages to reach you more comfortably pastry shops and temples of fried food. And by regularly engaging in heated gastronomic disputes every year on the best fritola in the city.
Yes, because Venice and fritola, since about 1200, are one: they mix together like raisins in the dough, they merge like pine nuts in the alveoli, they look for each other and anxiously like white sugar and your brand new dark suit.
Evolution of the Arab-Persian zelabia, made known to the Venetians by Giambonino da Cremona, the fritola (do not call it frittella: they will recognize you immediately and give you one of those of the day before) was the masterpiece of fritoleri.
So important that they were united in a guild (in the 1600s) and handed down the profession from father to son (real notaries of fried food, in short) these masters of oil, butter and lard went walking around the streets or in the fields (to be able to fry outdoors, Art allocates a very high sum) or work in "quadrangular wooden shacks", kneading "the flour on large tables and then frying it with oil, pork fat or butter, in large pans supported by tripods.
Once cooked, the pancakes were displayed on plates, variously and richly decorated, made of tin or pewter.
On other dishes, demonstrating the goodness of the product, the ingredients used were displayed: pignuoli, raisins, citrons .
A few numbers? In 1743 there were 27 but in 1797 there were 150.
Celebrated by noblemen in tights, vests and fluttering shirts (the originals eh, not the kitsch reconstructions of today) and sung by Goldoni, the fritoleri are so loved as to make them a prototype: the fritoler-seller par excellence (real or fake it was) is that Zamaria.
In those crazy antiques market books, the ones that bear witness to the crafts of the past, our hero is portrayed amidst the fumes of boiling oil and the explanatory cartoon reads: "On the festivals, and often hip in other places, fritolazze I sell myself with the zebibo ".
Now, if you want to do things properly, get the zibibbo: we'll take care of the fritole. But know that the ones you will eat are different from all the others.
The true Venetians, in fact, have a dough that resembles that of focaccia: they are, in short, pretty full. If there was a sommelier of fritola, he would advise you to taste them lukewarm, smelling them lightly and then take a firm bite of the golden, soft and spongy dough, sinking until the tip of the nose is covered with sugar.
For lovers of fillings, the other version of the Venetian pancake is that of a puff pastry, which once cooled after frying is filled with cream or zabaglione.
He is the companion of the queen of fried foods, the galano: it is declined only in the plural, since one never eats a single one. Each region has its own name (chiacchiere, frappe, bugie, rags …), but the principle is the same: a sheet of pasta, fried in oil and dusted with icing sugar.
The origin seems to be Roman: during the spring, very similar desserts were prepared with the dough of lasagna, fried in pork fat and subsequently sweetened. In the rest of the Veneto they are called crostoli (from crustula: they look like crusts of pasta) precisely crusts, in Venice they are galani (it was the name of the intertwined ribbons that girls wore around their necks in the past).
The difference, however, is not only lexical: the galani are thin and very crumbly and have a ribbon shape, while the crostoli tend to be rectangular, less crumbly and a little thicker.
Attempting to reproduce Venetian fritole and galani at home is impossible.
It is mandatory to taste them on site, possibly in combination: here are some useful addresses. Few, because in Venice those who know how to do them in a workmanlike manner can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
1. Rosa Save
Look at a dough and fall in love instantly. Feeling in harmony with the world even without having stayed in an ashram. Here, in front of Rosa Salva's fritole, this is the feeling.
The Venetian blinds have to rise for 3 hours, then they are fried by making a large hole in the center ("because they are cooked evenly" says the owner), a hole that leaves a delicate trace of itself after cooking and which transforms the classic round sphere in a more flattened and low specimen.
Australian raisins ("it's the best, because it's big and soft and gives flavor to the dough"), pine nuts and a short break before being dipped in granulated sugar, never icing. To be consumed without restraint.
The stuffed ones, freshly made, release an addictive scent of eggs and vanilla: the cream is chantilly (not the pastry because it is too heavy) and the zabaglione is mixed with the cream too, to lighten (!) The overall consistency.
Do you want numbers? For 600 pancakes, 170 eggs.
Keep some space for the galani: very thin, with a scent of orange, a slight hint of anise and a little white wine. There are also damselfish … And pastry chefs move with such grace … And they smile …
Are you saying it's the effect of sugars? I assure you that getting out of the laboratory was very difficult.
2. Tonolo
9000. I say 9000. An old pastry chef said that once, in a single day, he fried nine thousand pancakes. A braggart? Impossible.
I had to elbow just to be able to guess the labels with the indications of the various fillings …
Here the classic tondo triumphs: the fritole are exactly as you expect them. The Venetian blinds are golden and round, with some pasta croissants that require space, and the stuffed ones are round.
In addition to the cream-zabaglione combination, there is also the chocolate filling. Maybe too loaded: I saw a Japanese whose hands were shaking when tasting. Light, soft, never chewy and without a smudge due to over-fried. Measure in sweetness and filling. The icing sugar does not even have time to congeal, so much is the sale.
I have never heard anyone order just one: the best intentions are lost after the first bite of Venetian.
Ah, did I mention that there are also apple ones?
The galani are good: slightly (a matter of millimeters, eh) thicker than the previous ones, but very crumbly.
In reality, the annual challenge could end here: every year it seems that the city splits in two, like a stadium full of opposing hooligans fans during a championship final.
In fact, everyone supports their own reasons for the goodness of Rosa Salva's fritole against those of Tonolo.
Having to be impartial judges and also having to give advice on carnival street food par excellence, we not only do not take sides, but we continue to let you taste other examples.
3. Rizzardini
We had already said about the Rizzardini cartels: in this case, however, irony wins.
His "Venessiane sensa gnente" (translation: Venetian without anything. In short, do you want to understand that they are without stuffing?) Are not bad at all.
Just a bit more fried than the others, slightly more irregular in shape, but valid.
4. Didovich
Didovich's are also good: not too sweet, measured fillings and excellent raisins.
For the Galani, here is Colussi, in Calle Lunga San Barnaba. Traditional pastry, prices in line with the noble name.
Before diving into the colorful crowd, last few tips.
Be wary of overly exuberant fillings: at best they cover the taste of the dough and transform the fritola from a delight to a disgusting wrapper. In the worst case, however, they are an excuse to cover a pasta that is not up to date or disguise frying made with stale oil.
Befriend the icing sugar: it will turn into a zealous sentinel capable of telling you if the fritola has been lying motionless for a while on the counter.
Finally, abandon the excessive tanning: fritole that is too dark will leave you with a bitterness in your mouth that will make you want to go back next year.