Fritto Misto

Ever since our last trip to Rome we have been craving this food and meaning to try to replicate it as best as we could. We had this at Andrea's birthday party, cooked live by a couple of locals in a large pot full of oil and served in paper cones. It was utter bliss.

There are many versions of fritto misto in Italy, each consisting in a different combination of fried foods: fritto misto alla romana, alla napoletana, alla milanese... you get the point.

We simply had fried aubergine, courgette, red bell pepper and some parsley. Look at this picture to see how we prepped the vegetables:


The next step is to prepare the batter. We used a recipe from an italian recipe book we have: Il talismano della felicita' by Ada Boni. Flour (125 g), one tablespoon of oil, one egg yolk, two egg whites, a glass of warm water and a pinch of salt. We read in other places that the water should be cold and that the batter should be prepared just before being used. This book asked for warm water and suggested to rest the batter for at least an hour before using... Everybody seems to agree that one should take care not to overwork the batter, just mix everything together until you get a nice smooth mixture. The glass of water is just a guideline, follow your instinct. The egg whites should beaten to a soft peak and folded into the batter at the last minute.

Shake the pieces of vegetables to get rid of the salt, pat dry, and plunge in the batter. Get rid of any excess and drop into hot oil (180 degrees, use a thermometer). This is how our looked like, and it was very good... although not quite as good as the real one...