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Sweet Thoughts

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Carnevale!A Carnevale ogni scherzo vale! cry one and all, and the merrymaking of Carnival, with its masked balls, parades and parties, lasts all through February, reaching its peak on Martedì Grasso (Shrove Tuesday).

To celebrate the last feast before the Lenten fast it was, and still is, the custom to make special sweets and desserts. The most popular are undoubtedly cenci (rags), also known as bugie and chiacchiere (fibs and chitchat). They are curls and twists of sweet pastry fried in oil.

To make a good plateful you'll need:

  • 300 gr. flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons soft butter
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • A glass of vin santo
  • A lemon
  • A pinch salt
  • Icing sugar
  • Oil for deep frying

Mix and work together the flour, butter, sugar, grated rind of lemon, the vin santo and a pinch of salt to make a soft pastry ball. Cover it with cling film and put in the fridge for an hour. Roll it out and cut into strips about 2 X 5 cms wide with an indented pastry wheel. Fry in hot oil then drain on brown or kitchen paper and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Another popular sweet is frittelle di riso, rice fritters. They used to be the speciality of the feast of San Giuseppe on March 19, but now they are made on many other occasions as well. They are little balls of leavened rice fried in oil, delicious when hot and home made -- but avoid the ones bought in the shops as they tend to be heavy and oily.

  • Half a litre of milk
  • 1/2 cup pudding rice (riso per minestre)
  • 3 eggs
  • A dessertspoon of sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • A walnut-sized piece of butter
  • Lemon rind
  • 1/2 cup sultanas soaked in a tablespoon of rum
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • Icing sugar
  • Oil for deep frying

Cook the rice in the milk until soft and all the milk has been absorbed. Add the butter, sugar, and lemon rind and leave to cool . Add the beaten eggs, sugar, the flour mixed with the baking powder, the sultanas and rum and leave in a warm place to rise. Fry spoonfuls of the mixture in hot oil. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with icing sugar.

The frittelle can be made with a tablespoon yeast instead of baking powder.