A few years ago I made donuts at home for the first time. To some, this may feel trivial, and to others, impressive. Personally, I was in awe. Moi? Me? I can make donuts at home?! It was as if I'd discovered how to print money on a 2002 LaserJet. I was surprised by how easy the process was and shocked by how judgmental or perhaps intimidated, I'd previously been by the idea of deep frying at home.
To some, this epiphany may sound basic. As a child of latkes, I wasn't a total stranger to frying food at home, but, growing up, frying was not in our regular repertoire, nor did I seek it out in early adulthood. Of course, I love a fried good — fried chicken, fried dumplings, samosas, katsu, empanadas, donuts — you name it, I love it. But for some reason, I compartmentalized these items as "things I eat out."
In reality, frying simply refers to cooking food in hot oils and fats and therefore encompasses everything from a light sauté to a shallow fry to deep frying. When you think of it that way, frying doesn't feel like such an unattainable home cooking experience — in fact, we're mostly all doing it already, even if we don't know it.
In 2014, I moved to Greece and lived there for a few years. Seasonality in Greece is very strong, especially during the summer. There's a specific air and expectation about summer in Greece — it's essential to be by the sea, enjoying oneself. We're talking sea, salt and sun on a national level. With that comes specific foods and drinks that orbit the days and nights: cold coffee in the morning, chilled fruit, cold drinks and ice cream in the afternoon and salty, heavier foods in the evening. As I noticed my own cravings adapt to this rhythm, I found that fried dishes became a very appealing treat after a day by the sea.
Years later, I reflected on this trend. I also made that donut. Stars aligned, I saw the figurative light and I realized that I could make so many of my favorite Greek fried dishes at home on demand, from oven-roasted potatoes swimming in olive oil to fried fritters, to doughy desserts (all of which indeed constitute fried food). The more I fried, the more confident I became and soon, any and all oil-based projects felt attainable.
Along my journey there were trials and tribulations — dense loukoumades, splattered oil, fallen feta — I experienced it all. But as with any cooking journey, practice, perseverance and intuition are key. What oils cook best for which frying project? How does different food react with different amounts of oil? Once I got comfortable with my newfound friend called oil, the more I pushed myself to explore its boundaries and all the delicacies it can offer.
And now here we are: Summer is in full swing and its produce is plentiful at farmers' stands. My mind (and stomach and skillet) are filled with kolokithokeftedes (zucchini fritters) and ntomatokeftedes (tomato fritters) as I dream of fried calamari with a cold beer by the sea in Greece soon. I hope that my fried food journey is an inspiration to explore the wealth of possibilities that frying food at home can offer.
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