Fall is time for apple picking and for preparing delicious apple desserts ideally savored during a relaxing afternoon snack or a perfect autumn meal based on chestnuts, wood mushrooms, pumpkins, turnips, and other mouthwatering fall ingredients.
The frisciöi are traditional pulpy and soft straw-yellow fritters, eaten as appetizer, snack, or dessert when visiting the picturesque villages of the inland. The frisciöi's base is a batter where you can add various ingredients; depending on the mood and taste one can add Swiss chard, borage, onions, artichokes, zucchini, beans, zucchini flowers, stockfish or apples to make it into a delicious fall dessert.
Ingredients for apple frisciöi:
- 4 apples (renette variety)
- 150 gr. flour
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons of melted butter
- milk
- vanilla sugar
- half a teaspoon of baking powder
- lemon juice
- oil for frying
Directions:
Prepare the batter mixing the eggs with the flour, butter, and milk. If you want a crunchier fritter don’t add eggs, while if you want a puffier one add baking powder, sparkling mineral water or beer.
Prepare the 4 apples by peeling them and removing the core; cut them into slices or small pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice.
Add the apples to the batter, drop in abundant hot oil by the spoonfuls and fry on both sides for a few minutes, until they become golden.
Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with vanilla sugar (or sugar) and serve preferably hot.
Raisins and pine nuts added to the batter and cinnamon to the fritters can make for a tastier recipe.
This recipe can also be adapted to make a dish for all seasons by adding different ingredients to the batter: 300 g of skinless boned chopped up stockfish or 250 g of zucchini with 4 fresh onions sliced thinly and a dash of marjoram, or the zucchini flowers or the gianchetti an exquisite whitebait of the pesce azzurro, fish from the Mediterranean.
Deborah Bellotti
International editions: