Carnival rice fritters

Siena, outdoor location shots, winter.

The Sienese people, the University students and the few tourists that in this time of the year are forced to pass through the tiny shadowy back lanes usually tuck their hands down in their pockets to find some warmth and hide their face in a wool scarf of to protect themselves from the biting cold.

The sun can not reach with its warmth the alleys between the old medieval buildings, and so people walk faster, everyone with something urgent to do, friends to visit or appointments that can not be postponed.

Then you emerge in Piazza del Campo, the view opens in the shell-shaped square surrounded by red brick buildings, the sun finally breaks through and you are caught by an unusual smell.

From the beginning of Carnival to the 19th of March, St. Joseph, there’s a mixed smell of fried food and sugar in the thin winter air. This festive smell is due to the rice fritters stall, a wooden and mountain-like structure, which appears in the scenery of the Campo’s square for a month or so, selling those that to me are the most delicious rice fritters in the world.

In these cold days you find yourself queuing outside the fritters stall, clinging to each other, even though you don’t know your neighbour, just to keep you warm. When you finally reach the first place you ask smiling for 2 or 3 euros of fritters, with small change already in your hand not to waste time searching in your purse.

Inside the stall the pastry chefs fry relentlessly huge amount of fritters into giant pans placed over those that seem ancient cauldrons. They drop the fritters one by one into the steaming hot oil with such an incredible speed, given by experience and the long queue of people waiting for their turn.

Then come the rice fritters, coated with caster sugar and wrapped in a white paper cone. Finally it’s time to take off the gloves, with a defiant behaviour towards the air cold, and tuck the fingers into the paper bag to bring to the mouth a sticky sweet fritter.

Though very hot, they must be eaten immediately, to savour the crispy shell that quickly surrenders to a soft, smooth and extremely light rice heart.

These fritters have a very special place in my heart, maybe because you start eating them in winter and finish when it is almost spring, maybe because they remind me of a successful University exam celebrated with Laura, sitting in the sun and eating joyfully our fritters from the paper cone!

Of course the recipe is secret: just to be honest, these fritters made in Siena are not related especially to Carnival but to Saint Joseph… this said, the Tuscan culinary tradition has delicious recipes for rice fritters to celebrate Carnival, so I tried to make a similare recipe using my Grandma’s recipe and mixing it with other recipes, one from Pellegrino Artusi and one from Giovanni Righi Parenti, just as I made for the Carnival fried dough last week.

Related posts:

Carnival fried dough, the Tuscan cenci Schiacciata alla fiorentina, a sweet flatbread for Carnival and the Italian Table Talk Mum, could you buy me a rice tartlet? The Italian rice pudding tartlets My Canelés de Bordeaux and my Carnival fancy dresses