Frittelle di Granturco Friulane

Friuli-Venezia Giulia — widespread, Carnival and All Saints tradition

Corn fritters from Friuli — a simple but historically significant preparation using fine polenta flour (fioretto) mixed with water, eggs, and sugar to make a thick batter, then fried in lard or oil to make small, golden fritters dusted with powdered sugar. Eaten for Carnival (Carnevale) and All Saints Day. The fritters may include raisins or dried figs; some versions in the Gorizia area use a small amount of grappa in the batter for fragrance. These are peasant festival food — simple, abundant, and eaten warm from the fat.

• Both are fried cornmeal batter fritters — the American South version is savoury (onion, buttermilk) where the Friulian version is sweet (sugar, raisins) → Cornmeal fritters (hush puppies) American
• Fried polenta-based preparations are common across Eastern Europe and Northern Italy — the Friulian fritter tradition is the sweetened festival version of the broader polenta-frying tradition → Mămăligă prăjită (fried polenta) Romanian
• Fried corn batter fritters dusted with sugar — the Latin American version of the festival corn fritter tradition → Buñuelos de elote (corn fritters) Mexican

Sweet, cornmeal-scented, light from the batter's CO2 expansion in hot fat; the powdered sugar adds sweetness without heaviness; warm from the oil, these are the flavour of Alpine festival