The Fried Dough Ho

Bugia is an Italian cookie, also known as Liar’s Cookies.Why? Because when your Italian grandmother made a batch and hid them away in a cookie jar, if you stole one she would know because the ample powdered sugar which coated the cookies would leave a tell-tail trail. Grandma would know when the kids were lying about stealing cookies.

Classically, it is a pasta dough that has the addition of orange juice added to the dough. That is what makes Bugia different than Zeppole – that addition of orange.  Rolled and deep fried, the subsequent thin, light cookie is dusted with powdered sugar. A company known as Dolce Italia Cookies in North Beach are producing these for sale. For a mass-produced, deep-fried cookie, they aren’t that bad. Not exceptional, but unless you are at the store on Folsom when they are being packaged and sold and one knows what they taste like fresh, you are bound to experience a slightly stale, wimpy offering. Also, there is not enough orange flavor in Dolce’s version to entice me. But they certainly are popular and I can understand why they sell out early every day.

Instead, I offer Michael Chiarello’s recipe for a much more satisfying and authentic Bugia.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled briefly
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brandy
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon ground anise seeds
• 4 to 6 cups peanut or vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• About 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Bob’s Donut and Pastry Shop is one of those establishments that is a stalwart landmark in San Francisco. It the place that my darling Lisa acquired my giant Birthday Doughnut. Not only do that have giant doughnuts as novelties, Bob’s provides the best quality, hand-made, classically-prepared doughnuts in the city. These are not gourmet doughnuts with unusual flavors like Voodoo or Gourdoughs. You won’t find anything with bacon or childrens cereal as a topping.

The interior is incredibly old fashioned; just a plain counter with a handful of two-seater chairs lining the wall. There is an old sign on the back wall worth looking at which reads “Cheaper by the Dozen – Plain, Powered, Maple, Glazed, Raised, Crullers, Crunch, Brownies. Take Home a Dozen. 2 for 15¢” I would have thought earlier, but they have been in existence since the 1960s. And the bulk of their business is not the morning crowd, but the late-night club-hoppers.

This is a stalwart favorite for a reason. The quality of their doughnuts is exceptional. Slightly misshapen indicates they are hand formed. The cake offerings are dense and rich with a moist crumb. The crullers are light and eggy and ethereally enticing. And then there is the apple fritter. Outside of Randy’s Doughnuts in Los Angeles, this is the best apple fritter I have experienced. It is a tad thicker than I prefer, but it has all the requisite dark crunchy bites that make a fritter fabulous.

Like Mrs Johnsons in Austin, if you go late at night, you can get these doughnuts fresh and warm. Many doughnut shops are preparing doughnuts throughout the evening for sale in the morning, but there are few establishments that enable you to acquire these warm, decadent morsels as they are being made. Kudos for Bob’s for staying open, for longevity, and for excellence.

When it comes to my fried dough adventures, I am beginning to discover there are two very distinctive avenues of exploration. First, there are the must-try, pre-determined establishments, such as when I happened to be in Seattle and made sure I visited Top Pot, or part of the birthday celebration of going to Frances just for Bacon Beignets. These are very particular destination trips for me in my never-ending search for the epitome of fried dough.

Then there are the surprises — those trips to highly acclaimed restaurants like my visit to Bottega in Yountville and stumbling on the fact that they offer both a savory and sweet fried dough. Or a trip to England where the intent was to search for grouse at an acclaimed gastropub, Harwood Arms, and instead finish an amazing meal with delectable Bramley Apple Doughnuts.

So it was on this cool Monday afternoon. Dashing home from a last-minute appointment, that I realize I had barely eaten a breakfast and lunch was already upon me. Rumblings in my stomach coaxed me to debate the offerings of the neighborhood where I found myself, the corner of Fillmore and California. La Boulange is a standard choice for me as their Niçoise for under $10 is always satisfying. There is a new Mexican which I have yet to try, but I am really not a fan of south-of-the-border flavors. It was just nigh on 11:30 and fortunately for me, there were still seats to be had at the bar at Delfina Pizzeria and a broccoli rabe pizza with Hen of the Wood mushrooms with my name on it.

I wasn’t even that hungry and was only one slice into eating my pizza when I glanced over my shoulder and saw the dessert menu printed on the mirror behind me, “Zeppole de San Guiseppe.” O.M.Y.G.O.S.H. There was to be an unexpected fried dough treat in my future! I confirmed with the waitress what THEY believed Zeppole to be (because I certainly have ordered things called doughnuts before which proved to be anything BUT doughnuts). She held her hands out to start describing the size of the plate, “Zeppole is this large fried dough….” I held up my hand with a knowing smile, stopping her in mid-stence. “Perfect,” I confirmed. “I’ll be packaging up the bulk of my pizza to save room for dessert.”

At Delfina, the Zeppole is created from their famous pizza dough, rolled out extra thin and fried very crisp in an elongated, misshapen form. Dusted with powdered sugar and topped with a Bavarian-style mascarpone cream, this is both incredibly light and delightfully tasty. Delfina serves two to the order, one so large that it spills over the edge of the plate. With the pizza dough rolled so thinly, when fried the subsequent zeppole is full of large air holes making it that much lighter. There is no hint of greasiness and the sweetness is added afterward, with the powdered sugar and the rich, mascarpone-based cream, drizzled atop almost haphazardly. The dessert was served with clean silverware and an additional plate. For me, it was easier to pick up and consume like your standard slice of pizza, with your hands.

The surprise happenstance of stumbling on such an enticing form of fried dough in my own neighborhood was not only happy synchronicity, but also makes Delfina more a destination spot for me in the future. I admit to craving those heavy, cakey fried dough offerings, but to enjoy something so light and different than their heavier counterparts which have been my norm lately, was a special treat.

As part of the planned events surrounding the Birthday of The Ho was my abject desire to fry my own dough for the first time. At first, I thought of just trying some basic recipe just for experimentation purposes. Then I stumbled upon a Polish festival and learned about a glorious fried dough known as Pączki. I learned that the incredibly rich, egg-based, alcohol-laden pastries are rarely seen these days, even in “the old country.” The Poles I spoke with told me that because of the need for mass-production, very few pastry shops even bother with the authentic recipe and I knew that I had to. I hunted around and found what seemed a fairly decent recipe…

Ingredients
12 egg yolks (or six whole eggs)
1 teaspoon salt
2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup room temperature butter
1/2 cup fine granulated sugar
4 1/2 cups all purpose flower
1/3 cup rum or brandy
1 cup scalded whipping cream
1 1/2 cups preserves or cooked prunes, cooked apples, or poppy seed filling

oil for deep frying

1. Whisk egg yolks with salt with electric mixture on high until it lightens, approximately 7 to 10 minutes.

2. Please yeast in warm water to soften.

3. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until sugar completely dissolves and mixture is light and fluffy.

4. Slowly add in the softened yeast.

5. Stir in one cup of flour with the rum/brandy and half the cream. Continue stirring until smooth.

6. Add another cup of flour and the remaining cream, beat until smooth.

7. Add another cup of flour with the egg mixture and beat until well-blended, at least two minutes.

8. Continually add in the remaining one-and-one-half cup of flour while blending until the dough begins to blister.

9. Cover and set in a warm place to rise, until dough has doubled in bulk.

10. Punch down and let rise again, until doubled in bulk.

11. Roll the dough out to 3/4 of an inch thick and cut into 3″ rounds.

12. Place a tablespoon of filling the center of one circle and top with a second circle. Seal with a bit of water.

13. Place on a lightly floured surface, cover, and let rise another 20 or 30 minutes.

14. Heat oil to 350º and fry the paczki  until they are golden brown on both sides.

15. Drain and sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle with honey.

(more…)

Last week was a sad one for me; I had to put down a beloved feline companion after 18 years together. To cheer me up, my Best Foodie Friend, Lisa, took me out for cocktails and to get my mind off the deed. We actually started off at 1300 Fillmore, so I already had some savory fried dough and a cocktail in me when we arrived at Gitane. Located in a secluded and atmospheric alley, getting to Gitane feels like traveling down an historic pathway in Europe with its speckled lights and al fresco setting.

We dined at Gitane’s bar and had a great time and a great meal with just their appetizers. Starting with sardines, moved on to the quail, and finished up with beignets. All served with fabulous cocktails which were innovative and paired well with the food. With the sardines, I had a Sin Nombre (Van Gogh gin, creme de gingembre, cucumber, lemon, egg white, and cracked pepper). With the quail, I had a Gypsy (right gin, green chartreuse, St. Germain, and lime juice).

But this is about their beignets, which we also paired with a cocktail, a Castillan cup (bierzo roble wine, Pimm’s no. 1, sliced cucumber & strawberry, ginger beer, mint). Their beignets are very light with no hint of grease, and served with three different sauces; honey, lemon curd, and a rich, creamy chocolate. Dusted with a bit of powdered sugar, the perfectly-formed pillows of puffed dough provide a not-too-heavy finish to a great meal. The pairing with the cocktail was surprisingly successful; a bright and fruity concoction balances well with the doughy goodness and was not too harsh against the powdered sugar or any of the dipping sauces.