3 apples
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup flour
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups home-made breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Peel, core and slice the apples.

Drizzle the apple slices with lemon juice (so they don't brown).

Beat the eggs. Add the salt.

Roll the apple slices in flour.

Dip the floured apple slices in the beaten eggs, then roll them in home-made (or unseasoned) breadcrumbs.

Fry in hot oil a few pieces at a time until they are golden.

Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a kitchen towel to drain excess oil.

Serve at room temperature.

This is NOT an apple fritter, nor is it a dessert. In the old days it might have been served as a snack, but nowadays it's only served as an entre in finer restaurants in Northern Italy. Most (if any) North American Italian restaurants do not include "fried breaded apple slices" in their "fritto misto" platters. You might see fried zucchini slices along with pieces of breaded shrimp and squid, but apples -- no way! After all, most Italians in North America come from the South, so their food dominates in this part of the world. In any case, this traditional recipe from Piemonte is very easy to do. The results might not appeal to everyone, still, it's a very interesting way of preparing apples. Serve it to guests as an entre and ask if they can identify the food they're eating -- it wouldn't surprise me if the majority will mistake the fried apple slices to be zucchini or cucumber slices (or maybe even shrimp!). Photo: Mary Melfi.

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