Recipe: Sicilian Lemon, Raisin and Fennel Seed Fritters

The Sicily-set second season of The White Lotus had drama aplenty – but few TV dramas can compete with the tumultuous history of Sicily itself. Over thousands of years it’s been in the hands of the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the French and the Spanish, before finally becoming part of a unified Italy. This remarkable history has fuelled Sicily’s unique food culture, which has also been helped along by the island’s position on the doorstep of Africa and the Middle East. We have Sicily to thank for arancini, cannoli, cassata and granita (often enjoyed for breakfast with brioche), among many other dishes now available from around the world.

For more than a thousand years, Sicily also had a strong Jewish population, until the Spanish inquisition in the 15th century, when the community was forced to convert to Roman Catholicism or be banished. The ancestors of cookbook author and food stylist Victoria Granof were just some of those forced to leave during this time, fleeing to the Ottoman Empire. While remnants of that Sicilian food culture remained in her family, Granof said she believed their “Sicilian-ess” had been “eclipsed by the past few centuries in the former Ottoman Empire”. But when now-Brooklyn-based Granof visited the island for the first time in the 1990s, the island immediately felt like home.

She pays tribute to that history in her new cookbook, Sicily, My Sweet, which stars the age-old Sicilian sweets that have been made in the island’s convents, pasticcerie and homes for generations, as well as several new creations. Its graphics and photography evoke all the rough charm of the island and its recipes reflect its multifaceted history. There are multiple types of biscotti; pasticcini alla mandoria e amarane (little almond and cherry biscuits, popular in Italian pastry shops); cannoli; cassata; and ricotta-filled doughnuts. Then there are these doughnut-esque fritters, rich in citrus and coated in sugar. And they have a very Sicilian backstory.

“November is usually a rainy month in Sicily, except during what’s called Saint Martin’s summer, a spell of warmth that arrives briefly and miraculously around November 11, Saint Martin’s Day,” Granof writes. “Martin was a Roman soldier who became a saint for acts of generosity; one of which, it is said, caused god to make a shaft of bright sunlight cleave through the cloudy skies – and that, it is also said, is what causes a Saint Martin’s summer.

“Saint Martin’s Day is also an auspicious day to taste the new wine and eat sausages and roasted chestnuts to celebrate the harvest. (There’s a proverb about overtaking a pig on Saint Martin’s Day, but I’ll spare you that here.) The real fun starts when the casks are open and the novello, or new wine, is tasted. The rather young-tasting wine is helped along by these frittelle, or fritters.”

Makes 25–30 fritters
Preparation time: 35 minutes, plus 2 hours rising, 1 hour soaking, 10 minutes standing
Cooking time: 1 hour

75g golden raisins
60ml Marsala or orange juice
1 medium russet potato (about 255g)
240ml milk
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp active dry yeast
½ tbsp fine sea salt
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp fennel seeds
250g plain flour, or 210g 00 flour
Canola, sunflower or other neutral oil, for deep-frying
Icing or granulated sugar, for dusting

At least 1 hour and up to a day before you begin this dough, soak the raisins in the Marsala or orange juice until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Peel the potato and cut it into quarters. Place it in a small saucepan and cover with water; the potato should be fully submerged. Bring the water to a boil, then turn the heat down, cover the pan and simmer until the potato is tender, about 30 minutes. Drain the potato quarters and mash them or put them through a ricer, then allow them to cool.

In a small bowl, stir together the milk, honey and yeast. Set this aside until it begins to get foamy, about 10 minutes. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl and, with a wooden spoon, stir in the cooled mashed potatoes, salt, zest, fennel seeds and soaked raisins. Combine well. Now stir in the flour, a handful at a time, until a very soft dough forms. Lift the dough with your hand and slap it back down into the bowl with some authority. Do this another 10 times, then cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled.

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring 10 cm of oil to 177˚C. In the absence of a deep-fry thermometer, test the oil by inserting the handle of a wooden spoon into it. If bubbles quickly form against the handle, the oil is ready for frying.

Now grab two soup spoons. Dip both in the hot oil for a second, then scoop up a spoonful of dough with one and push it off the spoon into the oil with the other. Continue with more dough, but don’t crowd the pan. Fry the frittelle until they are nicely browned on both sides, about 4 minutes total. They should turn over in the oil by themselves, but you may have to coax them. Remove them from the oil and drain on paper towels or on a rack set over a baking sheet. Put the sugar in a paper lunch bag and add the frittelle a few at a time. Close the bag and shake until they are coated with sugar. Serve warm.

This is an edited extract from Sicily, My Sweet by Victoria Granof, published by Hardie Grant Books. Available in stores nationally from October 15, 2024, RRP $49.99. Photography by Louise Hagger.