Serves听4
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Ingredients
20 perfect courgette (zucchini) blossoms
175g/6oz (1陆 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
beer, to mix
sea salt, to taste
peanut oil, for frying
Method
First, with a small pair of sharp scissors, snip each petal down to the stem to open the blossom more fully. If the stems are still attached, snip them off. Sprinkle the flowers with a little water and lay them to dry, stem-side up, petals spread out like a sunflower.
In a shallow, broad bowl, beat together the flour and enough beer to form a batter that is slightly thicker than double (heavy) cream. Stir in a little sea salt. Cover the batter and let it rest while the oil heats up.
Use peanut oil - a minimum depth of 7.5cm/3in in a heavy skillet - because it can reach the highest temperature without smoking. Heat the oil over a medium heat, as heating it too quickly results in cool spots, which result in uneven frying.
When all is ready, slide the blossoms, one at a time, into the batter first and then the hot oil; cook only a few at a time. As they turn deeply golden, remove them from the oil with tongs and allow them to sit a moment on absorbent kitchen paper.
You might grind a little sea salt over them, or even better, mist them lightly with sea-salted water. When thinking about the wine, you'll want a simple white that can stand a deep chilling, for it is the icy idea of wine more than the wine itself that works so well with the just-fried, crunchy flowers.
Reproduced with the kind permission of Marlena di Blasi from her book, A Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance, published by Virago Press |
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