[Sca-cooks] Italian Fried Custards?

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Maggie wrote:
>One of the requests/suggestions I've gotten is to do the fried
>custards that they mention in "The Stars Compel. by Michaela Roessner".
>
>I can't seem to find any references to it in the Scappi menus
>recommended by Helewyse, or in the Anonymous Venetian cookbook, or in
>libro del coch, or .. anywhere.
>
>I see lots of mundane references to fried ricotta as a dessert, but
>no references in the period cookbooks.

There's a Spanish recipe that is not a fried custard, but fried balls 
made with a fresh cheese - ricotta could work...

And since the Spanish controlled a fair bit of Western Italy for a 
fair bit of time - the Neapolitan cookbook is very Spanish, well...

I have a version on my website. I got the basic recipe from Brighid's 
translation of de Nola
<http://home.earthlink.net/~lilinah/2002_Feasts/2002-Mists_Bardic/2002Bardic5-Dessert.html>

133. TORONJAS DE XATIVA QUE SON ALMOJAVANAS
Oranges of Xativa which are Cheesecakes

ORIGINAL
Diego Granado, Libro del Arte de Cozina (1599)
trans. by Lady Brighid ni Chiarain

You must take new cheese and curd cheese, and grind them in a mortar 
together with eggs. Then take dough and knead those cheeses with the 
curd cheese, together with the dough. And when everything is 
incorporated and kneaded take a very clean casserole. And cast into 
it a good quantity of sweet pork fat or fine sweet oil. And when the 
pork grease or oil boils, make some balls from said dough, like toy 
balls or round oranges. And cast them into the casserole in such a 
manner that the ball goes floating in the casserole. And you can also 
make bu"uelos (Recipe 108) of the dough, or whatever shapes and 
ostentations you wish. And when they are the color of gold, take them 
out, and cast in as many others. And when everything is fried, put it 
on plates. And cast honey upon it, and on top of the honey [cast] 
ground sugar and cinnamon. However, note one thing: that you must put 
a bit of leaven in the cheeses and in the eggs, and in the other put 
flour. And when you make the balls, grease your hands with a little 
fine oil, and then [the balls] go to the casserole. And when it is 
inside, if the dough crackles it is a signal that it is very soft, 
and you must cast in more flour [into the dough] until it is harder. 
And when the fritter is made and fried, cast your honey on it, and 
[cast] sugar and cinnamon on top as is said above.

Lady Brighid's NOTE:
While "toronjas" is the modern word for "grapefruits", the 
Renaissance Spanish word for "oranges" was "torongas".

MY VERSION
2 dozen eggs
2 lb. farmer's cheese
4 containers ricotta cheese (about 3/4 lb. each)
unbleached wheat flour, as needed
non-sour "sourdough" bread sponge
mild cooking oil (like canola)
honey
ground sugar
ground cinnamon

    1. Beat eggs.
    2. Mix together farmer cheese, ricotta cheese, and eggs.
    3. Stir some flour into the cheese-egg mix.
    4. Put about 1/2 cup sponge into the cheese-egg dough, mix well, 
and let rest at least 1/2 hour to rise. If the dough hasn't gotten 
lighter, add another 1/2 cup sponge and let rest another 15 min. 
Continue until you've added up to 2 cups of sponge, adding flour as 
necessary to keep dough firm, not gooey.
    5. When cheese-dough is finally ready, heat oil in deep pan on high heat.
    6. While the oil is heating, make spherical balls from the dough, 
not too large, about the size of a ping-pong ball, greasing your 
hands with a little cooking oil to keep dough from sticking.
    7. When the oil in the pan is quite hot, drop in some of the 
cheese balls. They should float on the oil.
    8. "If the dough crackles it is a signal that it is very soft, and 
you must add more flour [to the dough] until it is harder."
    9. When the balls are golden, take them out with a slotted spoon 
or Chinese wire scoop and put on a plate lined with paper towels to 
drain, then add more uncooked balls into the oil.
   10. After they are drained, put them on serving platters.
   11. Drizzle with honey, then sprinkle with ground cinnamon and sugar.

NOTE:
As you can tell, this recipe is really sketchy. That's because i 
forgot to bring the flour to the event, so we didn't cook them after 
all. If i get another opportunity, i'll try them again.

PS. this was for about 80-100 diners. There were three other desserts 
- bizcochos with non-alcoholic hypocras, persicate (a peach "soup"), 
and non-period baqlawa (at the authocrat's request) All the recipes 
are on the link above. The baqlawa was Syrian and it was superb. I am 
now spoiled and i don't want soggy honey-covered baklava from shops. 
It's not for no reason that there's a Syrian saying:
"There's an empty spot in my stomach that only sweets can fill."
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita