Barbagiuan is the national dish of Monaco, a deep-fried pastry fritter that is usually filled with Swiss chard, spinach, ricotta cheese, or pumpkin. It is traditionally served as an appetizer both in Monaco and parts of Northern Italy.
The small, tasty snack is especially popular on 19th of November, the National Day of Monaco.
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Croquetas con cecina is a traditional croquette variety. It's usually made with a combination of butter, leeks, cecina (air-dried beef), milk, flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg, eggs, breadcrumbs, and olive oil. The leeks and cecina are sautéed in butter, seasoned with salt and pepper, and then mixed with a bechamel sauce consisting of flour, butter, milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
The mixture is chilled, shaped into croquetas, dipped in eggs, rolled in breadcrumbs, and then fried in olive oil until golden brown.
Soldaditos de Pavía is a traditional dish that's a staple of Madrid's tapa bars, but it's also often found in Andalusia. The dish consists of strips of battered and deep-fried cod that are served with a strip of roasted red pepper wrapped around them.
Before the frying, the cod is typically marinated in a combination of pimentón and lemon juice. The name of the dish means soldiers of Pavía, referring to the fact that the dish resembles the orange-red uniforms worn by the Hussars of Pavía regiment.
MOST ICONIC Soldaditos de Pavía
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Panisses are deep-fried chickpea cakes originating from the French regions of Provence and Côte d'Azur. They can be consumed as snacks or served as a side dish, and consist of chickpea flour batter, oil, boiling water, and salt. Their flavor is creamy, crunchy, and savory, and it is said that they taste like something between French fries and hummus.
Panisses are best paired with rosé wines, while the children's version of these snacks might be additionally dusted with confectioners' sugar. In the 1930s, panisses were especially popular around Marseille's Old Port, when they were paired with various salads as a complete meal.
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Croquetas de chorizo is a traditional croquette variety. It's usually made with a combination of chorizo, butter, flour, milk, nutmeg, eggs, breadcrumbs, and olive oil. The chorizo is chopped and fried over medium heat. It is then shortly simmered with a bechamel sauce consisting of flour, butter, milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
The mixture is chilled overnight, shaped into croquetas, dipped in eggs, rolled in breadcrumbs, and then fried in hot olive oil until golden brown.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Croquetas caseras de espinacas is a traditional croquette variety. It's usually made with a combination of spinach, butter, salt, flour, milk, crumbled blue cheese, eggs, breadcrumbs, and olive oil. The spinach is cooked, drained, sautéed in butter, and then mixed with the flour and milk until a creamy sauce forms.
The crumbled cheese is added to the hot sauce until it melts. The mixture is chilled, shaped into croquetas, dipped in eggs, rolled in breadcrumbs, and then fried in hot olive oil until golden brown.
Arancini al pistacchio is a traditional variety of arancini originating from Catania and the area around Mount Etna. These rice balls are stuffed with a delicious pistacchio bechamel sauce made with Bronte pistachios that are grown near Etna. The filling is made with bechamel sauce, cream, and chopped pistachios.
Once stuffed, the arancini are breaded and deep-fried in oil until golden and crunchy. Salt and pepper are traditional seasonings, while cheese such as parmesan or fontina is a welcome addition to arancini al pistacchio.
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Flamenquín is a Spanish dish consisting of jamón serrano slices that are wrapped in pork loin cutlets. The concoction is dipped in eggs, coated in breadcrumbs, and it is then deep-fried in hot oil. The name can be translated as little Flemish, referring to the fact that the golden color of the dish (coming from the eggs) is reminiscent of the blond hair of Flemish assistants to the Emperor Charles V.
Flamenquín is traditionally served with french fries and mayonnaise. Its place of origin is disputed between the cities of Andújar and Bujalance, but what is surely known is that the dish was invented in the 1950s.
MOST ICONIC Flamenquín
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Tortillitas de camarones are a traditional Spanish dish particularly popular in the province of Cadiz and especially associated with the city of San Fernando.
These are fritters made with a batter of chickpea flour (though sometimes a mix of wheat and chickpea flour is used), water, fresh shrimp, onion, and parsley. The mixture is fried in olive oil until crisp. The shrimp used in this dish are often tiny, and they are used whole, including the shell.
Hailing from Piedmont, fritto misto alla piemontese is a rich, traditional gourmet specialty that consists of a wide range of ingredients (both sweet and savory), which have been dipped in eggs and then breaded before being deep-fried until nicely colored and crispy.
Typical food items used in this dish include meat and offal, chicken croquettes, porcini mushrooms, semolina fritters, amaretti di Monbaruzzo, and various types of vegetables and fruits such as apples, pears, zucchini, eggplants, and artichokes. Associated with the time of animal slaughter in the area, this specialty is believed to have been created as a flavorful way to use every single part of the slaughtered animals.
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