Bugie di Carnevale
Bugie
di Carnevale
Carnevale
in Italy is a month
long public festival with more partying towards the
end of February.
Lent is book ended by Carnevale
and Pasquetta(little
Easter, always the day after Easter, big, all day,
outdoor BBQ with lots of wine!), two big parties of
eating rich foods and drinking.
One of
these rich foods is Bugie di
Carnevale, a
fried pastry sprinkled with sugar.
It is literally everywhere during the month of
February.
This is a recipe we got from our neighbor Pina. For
the past 2 years I have made these with her during
Carnevale.
Definition of Carnevale in Wikipedia
The Lenten period of the Liturgical
year Church calendar, being the six weeks directly
before Easter, was marked by fasting and other pious
or penetential practices. Traditionally during Lent,
no parties or other celebrations were held, and
people refrained from eating rich foods, such as
meat, dairy, fats and sugar. The forty days of Lent,
recalling the biblical account of the forty days that
Jesus spent in the wilderness, serve to mark an
annual time of turning. In the days before Lent, all
rich food and drink had to be disposed of. The
consumption of this, in a giant party that involved
the whole community, is thought to be the origin of
Carnival.
Carnival
is a festive season
which occurs immediately before Lent;
the main events are usually during February. Carnival
typically involves a public celebration
or parade
combining some elements
of a
circus, mask
and public street party. People often dress up
ormasquerade
during the
celebrations, which mark an overturning of daily
life.
Bugie di Carnevale
Ingredients
(serves 6)
500 g. flour
50 g. sugar
50 g. butter, melted
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
a little dash of dry white wine of
good quality (2-3 T.)
grated zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 T. vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
Vegetable oil for frying (free of impurities with a
neutral taste)
Preparation
Mix the flour with the egg, egg
yolk and melted butter that is
slightly cooled, sugar, baking powder,lemon zest,
salt, oil and white wine as needed
to obtain a firm but elastic dough.
Cover in plastic wrap and let rest for 1/2 hour.
Put through a pasta machine, biggest setting first,
then smaller until you have a thickness
of 2 / 3 mm.
(This can also be done with a rolling pin by hand)
Cut the dough into different
shapes (normally diamonds) using a rolling
cutting wheel or knife.
Fry the Bugie in very
hot oil or lard in a high
sided pan so that fat can have a
good depth.
Fry a few at a time, until they
turn lightly golden.
Spoon out with a slotted spoon and put
them on a tray with paper towels to drain the
fat.
When the
Bugie are cool, sprinkle with powdered
sugar and enjoy it.