Worldwide Fried Pastries
- Pat Aguilar
- Sep 15, 2022
- 3 min read
Doesn’t matter where you are in the world or where you come from, one thing is certain: you will always find a fried pastry from that country. Yes, my friends, because who doesn’t love something fried? Here we review trends and the best fried pastries worldwide, plus a must-try “sopaipillas” recipe you’ll love.
By Pat Aguilar
The first thing that comes to mind when we say fried is probably potatoes. And I know that for many when I say fried dessert it probably makes you go “what”!? Is she crazy? While already imagining a strawberry cake getting deep-fried. But hey, come on, what about a doughnut? Aha! I bet you changed your mind now, haha.
Don’t worry, let me explain what delights you’ll be learning about today. This month, I bring you a recipe for a fried pastry from my country, Chile –well, we actually eat it as a savory pastry or as an anytime-of-the-day kind of snack food. And, as always, a little trip around the world to find which countries have a similar dish or any type of fried dessert.
Let’s start with the sweet one, the beloved and known-worldwide one: the doughnut.
We love doughnuts
It says that the main recipe comes from our friends in the Netherlands. They brought it to New York in the 1600s. It was called olykoek ("oil(y) cake”) and it didn’t have the ring shape we can find now.
That ring shape was instated in the 1800s, apparently to help the dough cook better. The centre was always less cooked than the middle. Being ring-shaped, every bit gets cooked evenly.
Nowadays, we can still find round doughnuts when they are filled. Our German friends call this Berliners, and it consists of a pastry made of sweet, fried dough. They are filled with a marmalade or jam filling and topped with plenty of powdered sugar. Berliners used to be cut in half and filled with jam, but today, the jam is typically inserted with a piping bag.
We can find a similar pastry in Italy called Bomboloni, which is filled with pastry cream, chocolate, Nutella, or jam.
In Poland, they are called Paczki. The difference is that they add a splash of Polish vodka called Spiritus in the dough – I guess I cannot bring this doughnut to the kids at school haha.
Our friends in Portugal and Brazil call them Sonhos (which means dreams). They're typically soaked in syrup and then dusted in a cinnamon-sugar mix, and sometimes they are filled with some sort of cream.
Staying in South America, we can find the Bonuelos, bite-size dough balls popular in South American countries like Venezuela, Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba and Puerto Rico.
This one is traditionally a sweet dessert, but sometimes can be filled with cheese, according to our Colombian friends. You’ll find it usually around Christmas time.
Staying on this side of the world but moving to the savory side, we find our wonderful sopaipillas. These are traditional in Central and South America. You can eat them pretending they are bread, adding jam, avocado, tomato, or any topping you like.
In Chile, we eat them with pebre ( a mix similar to what’s known as “pico de gallo”, with finely-chopped tomato, onion, chilli, coriander, salt and pepper. It really is delicious! The most curious part is that we add pumpkin to our dough, giving it that slight orangey color, but you can hardly taste it in it.
Our French friends also have something similar called Panisse. They’re made with chickpea flour and are cut in little circles. This dish started in Italy though, but now it’s quite traditional in the south of France.
For today, and to honor the Chilean national holiday this Sunday 18th of September, I bring you a recipe for sopaipillas.
Fried pastries' recipe: Chilean Sopaipillas
INGREDIENTS
1 cup pumpkin purée (I use canned in the USA)
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine salt
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, lard, or butter, melted
INSTRUCTIONS
Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and start mixing.
Then add the remaining ingredients, and keep mixing until the dough forms, should be smooth and pliable.
Take it out of the bowl and knead it a couple of times. Let it rest covered with a tea towel for 20 minutes.
After the waiting time, roll the dough out into a floured even-surfaced counter and knead until it is at the desired thickness; I prefer thin, 1/2 cm or 1/4′.
Heat oil to 180C or 350F.
Fry for 1-2 minutes per side. They should be golden brown.
Remove to a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Serve hot.
Remember to tag us @lifeloversmag when you tried this recipe out.
And, ¡Buen provecho! (Enjoy!)
