I Zeppoli

If a food could be a moment in time, one of those moments would be a strong, sweet thimbleful of coffee with a hot zeppole; since we taste with smell, I have to include the breeze and the fig tree.

That’s my status on facebook right now, and it’s true.

If you drop the word “zeppole” into Google Translate, it comes up with “doughnut,” which is more or less what a zeppole is, but- like everything- it’s so much more.The word, by the way, predates the term “zeppelin” by several hundred years.

There are many occasions in the life of a yeast baker to have leftover dough: an extra pizza crust; or a too-full oven or baking stone; or maybe even an extra bit of dough saved for this purpose. I’ve never seen someone make dough specifically for zeppoli, though I am sure it has happened. Zeppoli are a happy accident of yeast baking. So what, exactly, are they?

A zeppole is a bit of yeast dough, anywhere from 1-3″ in diameter, fried and usually rolled in sugar. Sometimes a rolled up anchovy filet goes inside, or a dried fig, but usually they are plain. In sicily, the sugar coating is often cinnamon sugar, but vanilla sugar and jasmine sugar are certainly options (as is plain sugar). Vanilla sugar, I’m sure all you foodies know, is made by stuffing a whole vanilla bean inside a few cups of sugar, a great way to store your vanilla beans and get a freebie in the process. Jasmine sugar is made the same way, only with jasmine flowers, easy enough to get if you live in California. If you live in the east, I bet honeysuckle sugar would be awesome, too, though I can’t say from experience.

Pieces of dough are fried in moderately hot oil (325 neighborhood) until they puff and turn as golden as you like them: I keep mine a shade darker than beach sand. The darker they are the crustier the outside, which, if you ask me, becomes a diminishing return after about 2 minutes or so in the oil. After a quick rest on some paper towels, roll them in your sugar of choice. The sooner they’re eaten, the better.

As you might imagine these are an incidental goody more than anything else, so I hope some serendipitously find their way into your merenda, or afternoon snack. By the way, the memory of the fig tree is that of the one growing out of a crack in the pavement, that I’ve mentioned before.

Listening: Laurie Lewis, “Stealing Chickens” from the album Restless Ramblinbg Heart

Oatmeal

I’ve been eating a lot of oatmeal lately. It’s ostensibly good for you, but you know what? It just tastes good. I’ve even been eating the instant stuff sometimes….shhhhhhhhhhhhh – don’t tell anybody.

Thought for the day

Do vegetarian moms pour cans of black bean soup all over everything?

Moving Again: It’s Official

At long last and after much conjecture, I am here to tell you that I am moving to the Bay Area.

Sorry, Seattle, you’re too far from work, a little too dark and rainy and P would probably end up working at Tully’s.

And I have to admit that even though Los Angeles makes me want to stab myself in the eye somtimes, I feel very much a Californian these days.

So I’m headed to the city by the bay this weekend. I’m looking up some old friends and acquaintances, and hope to meet some new ones. I’ll be analyzing cities, neighborhoods and restaurants, and sniffing around the food microcosms I know are all over the place up there.

If anybody wants to have coffee or has a recommendation, as always, click “contact me” at the top of the page.

Listening: Whatever hipster music is playing here at Groundworks Coffee in Hollywood. They played “Fade Into You” earlier; very nostalgic.