For the Love of Fried Dough
Growing up in a Croatian and Italian family meant a lot of things. It meant that there were big family get togethers where I may have been related to every person there or none. It meant that I got tan very easily in the summers. It meant that there was a lot of family history that I did not know. But most of all, it meant that wherever I went, there was good food. Growing up I may have taken this food for granted though, thinking it would always be there. Well it isn’t. Almost seven years ago my great grandmother died and that is where the food all began.
My great grandmother was the cook of all cooks. She always had food waiting for us when we came over, and she never knew when we were coming over. You never heard this woman say I love you, but man did you hear her yell at you to eat more and more until everything was gone. Since she has left, I have not tasted pasta like hers. I even went to Italy and there was nothing like it. It is commercialized and there is no love in the cooking. Her daughters surely can cook and they are incredible, but there is that missing piece.
This is where I come in. I have always been good at baking. I would say very good, but others would beg to differ. Cooking though I had never gotten in to. Until recently, I did not realize how much fun and how much history cooking really has in my life. Now I am more than eager to learn something other than my famous “Everything but the Kitchen Stove Pasta”, which is incredible by the way.
I am learning how to make my favorite dish. It is nutritious. It is hearty. It is all one needs to eat to be happy. It is fried dough. Now not just any fried dough. I have recently learned that fried dough is traditionally seen with powdered sugar. “Powdered sugar?!” I asked myself. Well yes powdered sugar. My great aunt told me then that her father also put powdered sugar on fried dough. My great grandmother though, oh no no no. That was too traditional. It took over all of the flavor of the dough. What really compliments it is... salt. Savory fried dough is the best meal through and through. Make the dough, fry it, add salt, and done.
While writing this, I finished my second attempt at making fried dough and let me tell you, I don’t think it is simply an attempt anymore; I think it is the real deal! It is a bit crispy on the outside, but very soft on the inside. It is salty and makes your lips tingle a little but from the salt. I think one more try and I will have gotten the practice almost perfect.
I also have now realized something. My great grandmother’s daughters are not doing anything wrong with their fried dough. It tastes almost identical to hers. What was missing all along was the story and the family behind it. The love and happiness that comes with making it. It takes patience to let the dough rise, which is learned. It tastes focus and caution to fry the dough, which is practiced. Lastly, it takes a lot of people and hungry stomachs to eat all of it, which is happiness. That fried dough tastes a lot like being a kid again and playing with the ceramic cat next to my great grandmothers fireplace. It tastes like love.
Ingredients:
-four cups of flour
-one packet of yeast
-one and one fourth cup of hot water
-a pinch of sugar
-tablespoon of olive oil
-vegetable oil
-salt
Directions:
In one bowl, put four cups of flour and a pinch or two of salt.
In a separate bowl, put one and one fourth cup of hot water. Put the yeast in this bowl as well. Stir carefully as to not damage the yeast. Let this set and rise for ten to twenty minutes.
Combine the flour and water/yeast mixture in one bowl and knead together to create the dough.
Once this is kneaded, in a wide rim bowl put about a tablespoon or less of olive oil. Set the dough in the bowl and rub the olive oil on the dough.
Cover the bowl lightly with a towel and let it rise for an hour. Take the dough out and lightly knead it. Recover it and let it rise for another hour.
Once your dough is done rising, get your oil ready to fry. Find a good frying pan and pour in vegetable oil until there is about three inches worth. Put the burner on medium-high and wait for it to heat up.
While the oil is heating up, separate the dough into smaller pieces. Flatten them out until they are around the size of your fist. Make sure they are very thin or they will get more of a bread consistency.
To check if the oil is ready, pull apart a very small piece of dough. If the oil bubbles, then it is ready. To start, pick one piece of dough and set it in the oil. Set it in by putting it away from your body.
Once the bubbles from the first side calm down, use tongs to flip it to the other side. Once the bubbles calm down on that side, flip again. Now press down on the middle of the dough so it is submerged for about ten seconds or less.
Hold up the dough to get any oil off, take a pinch of salt to each side, and let cool. I suggest setting a paper towel on a plate while they dry to soak up any oil.
Call the whole family in to enjoy deliciously fresh fried dough, or save it all for yourself. I won’t judge.
