Carnevale is starting this week in Venice. I’ve never been but the images of extravagantly costumed revellers always brighten up the national news. Of course no festival in Italy is worth its salt without a traditional local platter or two to enjoy whilst partying. The Venice carnival’s snacks of choice are galani which are crispy fried dough shapes doused in icing sugar. At their best they are light and melt divinely in your mouth, but if you get the frying temperature wrong they’re more like a sickly sweet mouthful of grease. This top-drawer recipe comes from Paola, my friend Marco’s mum, who calls them by the Genoan name bugie which means ‘lies’ in Italian. Anyway our children go crazy for them and that’s no lie!
First separate the egg yolks from the whites. Beat the yolks and in a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients (except for the oil) to the bowl and mix well. Beat the egg whites till they’re stiff and fold them into the mixture. Now place the resulting dough on a floury surface and knead together. Leave it to rest for about half an hour. After your cup of tea, take the dough and cut small slices of about half an inch thick. Roll this through a pasta machine – it’s best to get it down to the 2nd smallest option. Now cut the flat dough into slices and then fry til golden brown. When placing the frittelle in the oil make sure to drunk them completely so that they puff up. Then just cover them in icing sugar and you’re done.
