Fritelli di Castagne — Chestnut Fritters with Brocciu

Corsica — festival preparation; carnival, All Saints, Christmas Eve traditions island-wide.

Fritelli di castagne are Corsica's fried chestnut-flour fritters — small, round, golden, and filled with fresh brocciu or left plain and served with chestnut honey. The batter is enriched with egg and a small quantity of eau-de-vie de châtaigne or brandy, which lightens the dense chestnut flour and adds aromatic lift. Formed into rounds or oblongs with a dessert spoon, they are fried in neutral-frying-oil (or lard, in traditional preparation) until the exterior is crisp and golden, then drained and eaten immediately — they do not hold. Fritelli are festival food: carnival (febbraio), All Saints, and Christmas Eve are the traditional occasions. The brocciu-filled version is the richer of the two — the fresh cheese softens further in the heat of the oil, creating a molten interior against the crisp chestnut shell. Plain fritelli dusted with icing-sugar and drizzled with dark chestnut honey are the simpler, everyday form.

Crisp golden shell; chestnut sweet and nutty; brocciu-filled version has molten fresh-dairy centre; honey and icing-sugar finish.