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03/12/2004 Archived Entry: "Farina Dolce"

A listener called to ask if I had a recipe for farina croquettes. Not only didn’t I have a recipe, I had never heard of them. Within minutes, another listener directed me to the recipe below, on the website of a Berta’s Chateau, 7 Grove St., Wanaque, New Jersey (973) 835-0992. It’s under third-generation management, and I hear from listeners it is quite good. (I haven’t eaten there myself, but the menu looks enticing).

Yet another listener – this brought quite an email response – told me that these were served with all the savory dishes, not as dessert.

Sure enough, Peter Bernstein, the chef-owner and grandson of Santina and Pietro Berta, who opened the restaurant in 1925, says he does not serve the croquettes as dessert, but with main courses. He doesn’t know how this evolved. He doesn’t know why his grandmother made them a signature of the restaurant. He speculates, however, that they may have been a festival food in his grandmother’s hometown of Ivrea, on the Piedmont-Val d’Aosta border of northwest Italy. He says they have an orange festival in Ivrea, and these, as you can see, have orange zest in them.

In Italy, they might be made with semolina, which is the flour of hard winter wheat, but is also coarsely milled for puddings and such things as the famous Gnocchi di Romano. Farina, which is milled from soft wheat, has a similar texture. (In Ivrea, its possible they make them with cornmeal. I say this only because Ivrea is famous for a few cornmeal sweets.) When Peter’s grandmother came to America, there was no semolina available. She rightly thought farina is a fair substitute.

Farina Dolce
Makes about 40 pieces

1 quart milk
¾ cup farina
2 tablespoons sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated zest 1 orange
2 teaspoons butter
Flour, for dredging
Eggs, beaten for dredging
Dry unseasoned bread crumbs, for dredging
Vegetable oil, for frying

Boil the milk with the sugar and the lemon and orange peels.

Slowly whisk in the farina. Lower the heat and continue to cook for 3 to 4 minutes until quite thick.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, stirring until well blended.

Pour into as greased 13-by 9-inch baking dish and smooth with a rubber spatula until an even thickness.

Let cool several hours, until at room temperature.

Cut into 1- by 3-inch strips.

Working with just a few pieces at a time, dredge in flour. Then dip in the beaten egg, coating thoroughly. Then coat thoroughly with breadcrumbs.

Fry in oil until golden brown.

Serve hot, either plain with savory dishes, or sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar for a dessert.

Arthur’s Two Cents: I would add a big pinch of salt to the batter. Peter says he uses salted butter and that provides a little salt. Even if you serve these as a sweet, they need a bit more salt – to my taste, at any rate.