Artusi’s funghi fritti

Artusi’s funghi fritti

In Tuscany, the end of summer and beginning of autumn is synonymous with mushrooms. And when mushrooms are mentioned, they are porcini of course. Fresh porcini. Many a keen forager will plan to andare a funghi to collect their own fresh porcini, which go into pasta and risottos. But another

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Thu 26 Sep 2013 12:00 AM

In Tuscany, the end of summer and beginning of autumn is synonymous with mushrooms. And when mushrooms are mentioned, they are porcini of course. Fresh porcini. Many a keen forager will plan to andare a funghi to collect their own fresh porcini, which go into pasta and risottos. But another wonderful way to enjoy this special seasonal offering is by deep frying.

 

In his famous 1891 cookbook, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, Pellegrino Artusi includes amongst his 790 recipes one for funghi fritti, deep-fried porcini mushrooms—undoubtedly an influence from the many years the Emilian native spent living in Florence. Tuscans love a good deep fry and even have a saying, fritta è bona anche una ciabatta, basically meaning anything is good when deep fried (even a slipper).

 

Artusi describes the preparation of the dish, including how to choose the best mushrooms for frying—medium sized. Large ones will be too soft and spongy, small ones too hard. He assumes one is out forging one’s own, of course, so instructs the forager to cut the stalks where they touch the earth and wash them whole, quickly, rather than soaking them, as soaking will diminish their unique, earthy aroma.

 

The preparation is simple: cut them into rather thick slices and simply dust them with flour before throwing into a bubbling pan of olive oil—the best fat to use for frying mushrooms (rather than lard), according to Artusi. Then all that is needed is a sprinkle of salt and pepper while piping hot. The mushroom slices could also be dipped in beaten egg after dusting them with flour, he adds, but this is ‘superfluous.’

 

Dipping them in egg gives a light but crisp batter, which bubbles and grows in the boiling oil and is wonderful in terms of texture. It is similar to the fritti that can be found in today’s Tuscan trattorie consisting of rabbit or seasonal vegetables, such as artichokes, zucchini flowers or sage leaves.

 

In typical Artusi fashion, no measurements are given in his recipe; the nineteenth-century reader was likely to be a casalinga, a housewife, already well versed in the kitchen. It is rather an intuitive type of preparation anyway. Use as much flour as is needed to coat the amount of mushrooms. Same goes for the egg. It also calls for a bit of common sense—for deep frying, oil should cover the mushrooms and this also depends on the shape and size of the pan.

 

If you’re not lucky enough to have fresh porcini mushrooms available, you can use any large cap mushroom, such as portobello.

 

 

Here are a few tips for a good frittura:

 

The olive oil should be hot, but not too hot, about 175ºC. You want to cook the mushrooms without burning the batter outside. If you do not have a thermometer, do it the old-fashioned way—test by placing the end of a wooden spoon in the oil. Tiny little bubbles should appear around the edges.

 

Thoroughly pat the mushrooms dry after rinsing.

 

For ultimate crispness, use cold eggs straight from the fridge.

 

Fry in batches and do not overcrowd the pan or you will reduce the temperature of the oil too much, resulting in soggy batter.

 

Serve immediately with a good sprinkle of salt.

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