Roman Rice Fritters (Traditional Recipe)

Ingredients:

Rice 200 grams	Powdered Cinnamon 1 spoonful
Flour 200 grams	Lemon the rind of half a lemon
Yeast 15 grams	Salt a pinch
Sugar 50 grams

Method

The quantities given will make approximately 80 fritters. 

Put 200 grams of flour and a generous pinch of salt into a dish. Crumble the 15 grams of yeast into the flour and add a fair sized glass of warm water. Stir with a spoon until the mixture is smooth, elastic and there are no lumps. Cover and put into a warm place to allow to rise (about one hour). 

Cook the 200 grams of rice for about half an hour in a saucepan of slightly salted water. When well cooked, drain and add two spoonfuls of sugar, the cinnamon and lemon rind, then pour into a dish and leave the rice to cool and take on the colour of the other ingredients. When it is warm, add this to the original flour mixture, which should by now have doubled in size. Mix thoroughly and then put the dish back in a warm place and allow to rise for at least another two hours. 

Heat plenty of oil in a frying pan. Using teaspoons, make small balls of the mixture and place into the hot oil. Fry a few at a time, they will swell up and become light. Fry until golden, turning carefully as necessary, then remove from the frying pan and drain off the excess oil. To serve, place in a pyramid shape on a plate covered with a serviette and sprinkle with icing sugar. Eat hot. 

The Dish

This is considered a middle-class dish, that is neither particularly rich nor poor. This is because once upon a time it had a certain cost, and was therefore more the prerogative of the well-off. It is considered a dessert, but it is really a non-sweet sweet given the minimal use of sugar. For this, rather than a dessert it could be considered a suitable snack to serve to friends or relatives. 

This is a typical dish taken from the areas of Rome and Lazio. It is simple to prepare, but should be made carefully in order to ensure a perfect mixture, cooking of the rice and final frying. Despite having said this many times before, I would repeat that, if the chef takes care over the preparation of the dish, however simple it may be, it can become important from a gastronomic point of view. 

Wine Accompaniment

It is not easy to give a suitable wine accompaniment to this dish because the sweetness is very delicate and does not, therefore, constitute the main reference point. Raisin and fortified wines should therefore be eliminated, as should Muscat wines, as none of these are able to adapt to the flavour of the dish. 

The choice falls to wines produced from late harvests, which, due to the alcohol, have only a slight sweetness about them. Those made from white grapes are preferable, and the wine should therefore be mature, not acidic and not particularly alcoholic, of an average structure and only slightly sweet. 


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