| A Valentine Reprise and Venetian Carnevale |
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For a few more days Cositutti is enjoying the enchantment, charm and delight of Carnevale in Italy where Innamorata is always in the air.
Here are a few ideas to celebrate the last day of Italian Carnevale when everyone's inner Casanova is free to engage in all manner of merriment before the Lenten fast. |
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carnevale Masks
Worn during Carnevale, masks allowed Venetians to exchange rituals for play and re-invent their personality if only for a day. Nobles and commoners mingled together without regard for social class to gather in the streets and "campi" for the masquerade.
Venetian mascherari (mask makers)patterened their designs after Italy's Commedia dell'arte with an eccentric cast of charcters that poked fun at society's norms. Popular Venetian masks include the volta, a white mask worn with a tricorn and coat, the Columbine a half mask often highly decorated with gold, silver, crystals and feathers held up to the face by long stick or baton and the Medico della Peste, a mask with a long hollow beak designed to keep patients at a distance and protect the doctor from being infected by the plague. |
carnavale Food
In Itay the last bit of extravagance before the Lenten fast meant fried sweet pastry dough and sweet fritters like this decadent recipe for frittelle ricotta e cioccolato ricotta chocolate chip fritters Ingredients
- ½ pound fresh ricotta cheese
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
- 7 tablespoons chocolate chips
- 2½ ounces candied orange peel, chopped
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- Salt
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Sugar for dusting
Instructions
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together ricotta and flour. Add eggs, chocolate chips, orange peel, baking powder, zest and a pinch salt. Mix thoroughly to combine.In a high-sided skillet, pour in enough oil to come 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Attach a deep-fry thermometer and heat oil over medium-high heat to 365° to 370°. Add batter in batches, a tablespoonful at a time, pushing the batter off the spoon with the rounded corner of a spatula (do not crowd the pan). Batter should puff slightly into balls. If not, slightly reduce heat. Fry fritters, turning with a slotted spoon until golden on all sides, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain; sprinkle generously with sugar and serve warm.
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