Fritto misto

File:Bartolomeo-Pinelli-Fritto-misto.png

{{lang|it|Fritto misto}} has been familiar in Italy for many years. An engraving made in 1803 shows {{lang|it|fritto misto}} being handed to a family group, and another, from 1816, shows an outdoor wood-burning stove, heating a cauldron of oil in which the fryer cooks his pieces of battered meat or fish while his assistant wraps a helping into a cone of paper for a customer.Riley, p. 221. The dish was known to non-Italians by the mid-19th century: it is mentioned in Sand and Canvas (London, 1849) in a chapter reporting on eating out in Rome:

{{blockindent|a sort of omnium gatherum, as its name implies, consisting generally of small portions of calve's head, liver, brains, artichoke, cabbage leaves, cauliflowers and young gourds, fried in fat Bevan, p. 241.}}

The Parisian chefs Urbain Dubois and Émile Bernard included a detailed recipe for {{lang|fr|fritto-misto à l'italienne}} in their {{lang|fr|La Cuisine classique}} (1872), commenting, "The fritto-misto is a national delicacy of Italy; the Romans especially prepare it with the greatest care, because it is very important to them."Dubois and Bernard, pp. 81–81. Like many other chefs and food writers, they emphasise the importance of eating the dish as soon as it is cooked: "The essential point is that the fry is served very hot, because as it cools it softens and thus loses all its qualities."{{refn|{{lang|fr|Le point essentiel es que la friture soit servie bien chaude, car en refroidissant elle se ramollit et perd par ce fait toutes ses qualités}}.|group=n}} A New York article on "Christmas in Rome" at the end of the century referred to "{{lang|fr|fritto misto}}, a dish of brains, liver, potatoes and various vegetables, all fried that rich golden color which seems to be only obtainable in a foreign frying-pan".Christmas, Grace P. [https://archive.org/details/catholicworld70pauluoft/catholicworld70pauluoft/page/344/mode/2up "Christmas in Rome"], The Catholic World, December 1899, p. 344.

The frugal Roman street version of {{lang|it|fritto misto}} was often made of offal (brains, sweetbreads, liver) and vegetables, all battered and deep-fried. More upmarket {{lang|it|fritto misto}} was, and is, found in Bologna, typically containing prime cuts such as strips of lamb and chicken along with the offal and vegetables.[https://www.bolognawelcome.com/en/other/recipes-and-typical-products/fritto-misto-alla-bolognese-2 "Fritto misto alla bolognese"], {{lang|it|Accademia italiana della cucina}}. Retrieved 19 April 2025. In coastal areas a {{lang|it|fritto misto di pesce}} ({{literally|mixed fry of fish}}) is familiar. The main ingredients may include baby octopus, calamari rings, cod, sardines, shrimps and whitebait. {{lang|it|Fritto misto di pesce}}, is often named after the area from which it comes, such as {{lang|it|fritto misto ligure}} or {{lang|it|fritto misto della laguna}}.Carluccio (1996), p. 84. Elsewhere in Italy {{lang|it|fritto misto di verdure}} (with vegetables) is popular, and may include artichoke hearts and wild mushrooms. A sweet element may be introduced to the mixed savoury ingredients, such as {{lang|it|amaretti di Saronno}} biscuits or deep-fried fruit.Carluccio (2005), p. 89.

Most of these dishes are served with the addition of a small variety of sweet ingredients, such as {{lang|it|amaretti di Saronno}} biscuits or deep-fried fruit. A {{lang|it|fritto misto di verdure}}, with no specific regional origin, may contain artichoke hearts, carrots, cauliflower, courgette flowers, mushrooms, peppers and potatoes.[https://archive.org/details/2023CottoeMangiatoCollectionSpecialePrimavera.pdf/page/62/mode/2up?q=%22fritto+misto%22 "Fritto misto"], Cotte e mangiato 2023, p. 62.

{{Reflist|group=n}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book | last = Bevan| first = Samuel| title = Sand and canvas; A Narrative of Adventures in Egypt, with a Sojourn Among the Artists in Rome| date = 1849| location = London| publisher = C. Gilpin| oclc = 1141304675}}
• {{cite book | last = Boni| first = Ada|authorlink=Ada Boni| title = Il talismano della felicità| date = 1999|language=Italian| location = Rome| publisher = Colombo| isbn = 8-88-635933-0}}
• {{cite book | last = Carluccio| first = Antonio|authorlink=Antonio Carluccio|title = Antonio Carluccio's Italian Feast| date = 1996| location = London| publisher = BBC| isbn =

0-56-337169-2}}

• {{cite book | last = Carluccio| first = Antonio| title = Carluccio's Italian Food| date = 2005| location = London| publisher = Alhambra| isbn = 978-1-84-400297-9}}
• {{cite book | last=David|first=Elizabeth|authorlink=Elizabeth David|title=Italian Food | year=1987 |orig-year=1954 | location=London | publisher=Penguin | isbn=978-0-14-046841-0 }}
• {{cite book | last = Dubois| first = Urbain|authorlink=Urbain Dubois|author2= Émile Bernard| title = La cuisine classique: études pratiques, raisonnées et démonstratives de l'école française appliquée au service à la Russe| date = 1872| location = Paris| publisher = Dentu|language=French| oclc = 17746404 }}
• {{cite book | last= Riley| first= Gillian| title=The Oxford Companion to Italian Food | year=2009 | location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-538710-0 }}
• {{cite book | last = Roden| first = Claudia|authorlink=Claudia Roden| title = The Food of Italy| date = 1989| location = London | publisher = Chatto & Windus| isbn =

0-70-113493-3}}

• {{cite book | last = Wolfert| first = Paula|authorlink=Paula Wolfert| title = Mediterranean Cooking| date = 1977| location = New York| publisher = Quadrangle| isbn = 0-81-290660-8}}

{{Cuisine of Italy}}

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Category:Italian cuisine

Category:Fried foods