the English word for a small portion of deep-fried batter, usually but not always containing a piece of fruit, meat, fish, or vegetable. Fritters are generally eaten immediately after cooking, as, like all deep-fried foods, they taste best hot and fresh.
Many kinds of batter or dough are used to make fritters. An egg, milk, and flour batter is most usual in Europe; mixtures similar to that used for choux pastry are also popular. In English the latter are known as beignets (the French word carries both the English meaning of fritter and a specific culinary meaning of deep-fried choux pastry). Runny yeast-leavened batters are used in some areas, making fritters akin to doughnuts. Some fritter-like confections are made in twisted shapes, for example, the various kinds of cruller. Others are closer to deep-fried stuffed pastries of the samosa type.
Fritters are often sold at fairs, freshly cooked at special stalls. In several countries they are made as part of the carnival binge of rich foods, eaten before the fast of Lent begins; in Portugal, they are Christmas foods.
In Indian cuisines a mixture of besan flour, water, and spices is used to coat vegetables for fritters; see pakora. Plain flour and water, or flour and egg-based, batters are used in China and Japan to coat meat, vegetables, and fish before deep-frying, for instance when making Japanese tempura. Rice flour is not normally suitable for making fritters because it contains too little gluten to hold together.
The Roman scriblita, described by Cato in the 2nd century bc, was probably a precursor of both fritters and doughnuts. Lumps of a moist dough (leavened with sourdough) were spooned into hot fat, and allowed to stream in random shapes. Medieval ‘cryspeys’ were described in the Harleian MS of 1430; a liquid yeast batter using the whites of eggs only was run down the cook's fingers so that five narrow streams entered the hot oil, where they set into a tangle. They were served sprinkled with sugar. The modern Indian jalebi also uses a streaming method to form spirals.
Most medical writers considered that fritters were indigestible, but they were too good to refuse and have been popular ever since. They appeared regularly in menus, usually as part of the last course. C. Anne Wilson (1973) quotes John Russell, who observed that ‘apple fritter is good hot, but the cold ye [should] not touch’. Apple fritters have remained consistently popular through the ages. Other fruits, small pieces of meat or fish, slices of root vegetables (parsnip and skirret were much liked for their sweet flavour), almonds, small balls of mixed herbs, pieces of fresh curd, and fragrant flowers were all used for fritters in the medieval kitchen. A 14th-century recipe used apple blossom mixed with white breadcrumbs and egg yolks, white wine and spices. In the 17th century herb fritters developed into delicate small fritters of individual leaves or pieces of leaves. Spinach, lettuce, and vine leaves were also used. Flower and leaf fritters survive, for example in Italy, where zucchini flowers and small young globe artichokes are dipped in batter and deep fried.
Most medieval fritters were yeasted with ale-barm, the froth on the fermenting drink. This continued to be added to batter until, at the beginning of the 18th century, it was realized that a better lift could be produced by separating the egg whites, beating them, and folding them back in.
Medieval batters for sweet fritters, like those for pancakes, contained wine or ale, sometimes cream, and more eggs than are usual today. Choux paste mixtures were in use for making fritters in France by the end of the 16th century. New varieties of fritter introduced in the 18th century were of flavoured ground rice; a thin type in the shape of a true lover's knot (as in a pretzel) was piped with a forcing bag. This shape survives in the old French bugne and the American cruller.
A few types of fritter from around the world are described below, merely to exemplify the ubiquity and variety of forms which this item displays.
Apple and banana fritters, a popular dessert in Chinese restaurants in the West. A light batter containing whisked egg whites is used to encase the prepared fruit, and the fritters are coated with caramel and sprinkled with sesame seeds after cooking.
Churro, a Spanish fritter shaped like a long, curled sausage. The dough is made by boiling water and adding flour; sometimes an egg is added to enrich it. The soft batter is piped through a star nozzle into hot oil. When cooked, churros are sprinkled with sugar and served hot. Eaten with coffee or hot chocolate, they are a popular breakfast dish in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. Flavourings such as vanilla, lemon, or rum may be added.
Filho, one of various Portuguese types of doughy fritters, often made for Christmas (filhós de Natal). Aniseed and orange juice are popular flavourings.
Flädli, a German fritter made from flour and egg dough and fried in lard; eaten at Easter. Kücheli is a similar type.
Poffertje, a Dutch term for small round fritters, which are dusted with icing sugar after frying. See Witteveen (1995).
Sel, a Nepali ring-shaped fritter made from pounded, soaked rice, banana, sugar, and ghee mixed with water to a soft batter, which is poured in a circle into the hot oil to make the shape. It is eaten especially at weddings and festivals.
Sirnik, a Russian fritter made from curd cheese, egg yolks, and a little flour and sugar, used as a breakfast or supper dish. The mixture is worked into balls and fried. They may be served with jam or sugar, or, flavoured with nutmeg and herbs, dished up with melted butter or sour cream, as a savoury.
Laura Mason has written about several aspects of British food in books including Sugar Plums and Sherbet (1998), Farmhouse Cookery (2005), and Traditional Foods of Britain (1999), which she co-authored with Catherine Brown.
Witteveen, Joop (1995), ‘Poffertjes (aka Bollebuisjes)’, PPC 49.
