Fried gnocco is a typical food of central-western Emilia Romagna.
To tell the truth, the fried one has little to do with the gnocchi proper, but it is possible that the analogy between the two recipes refers to the similarity of the dough before cooking.
Some bibliographical sources mention the fried gnocco as a typical recipe of the whole area between Piacenza, Parma, Modena, Bologna and Ferrara; obviously, if this were the case, "gnocco fritto" would be synonymous with: crescentina, torta fritta, pinzino etc. Nothing could be more inaccurate. For the truth, these are formulas apparently similar to each other (to an inexperienced eye), which however offer extremely different end products. Some are friable, others are soft; some contain oil and other lard; some expect the addition of eggs and the remaining no.
It is then necessary to make a clarification; the term crescentine, which today is related to a preparation very close to the fried dumpling (the univocally interpreted one), would actually be the real noun of the tigelle. The misunderstanding arose from the attribution of the name "crescentina" to two different recipes, in Modena and Bologna respectively.
The fried dumpling is made from a mixture of wheat flour type 00, lard, carbonated water and salt. As a rule, fried dumplings are never based on natural yeast, but some recipes include the use of chemical yeast based on sodium bicarbonate and an acid source (eg apple vinegar).
The shape of the fried dumpling should be rectangular, more or less thin, which expands proportionally according to the raising agents.
It is cooked in frying and the fat in which to dip them should, by tradition, be lard. However, today we mainly focus on medium-low quality vegetable oils; the ideal would be peanuts but, due to its characteristic taste and high cost, it is often replaced by poorer products such as palm oil or palm kernel or sunflower or various seeds.
The fried Emilia dumpling is part of the traditional Italian food products (PAT).
Watch the Homemade Fried Dumpling Video Recipe
