Good Evening everyone! Grab your favourite glass of Sauv. Blanc and get ready to chow down on this mound of seafood delight. We're getting fancy tonight!
On the menu tonight : Fritto Misto made by me at Function Bar in Toronto, Ontario. The name fritto misto simply means pieces of meat or seafood and vegetables that are deep fried in a batter. This rendition of this dish is made with calamari, shrimp , chickpeas , onions and fennel in a house batter. I chose to do a sensory evaluation on this dish because it incorporates one ingredient that is new to me - Calamari Rings and one ingredient that I am giving a second chance to because as a kid I did not like at all - Fennel /Anise.
First Impressions : This is a savory and salty dish. At first glance, wafts of the crispy ,salty and crunchy deep fried batter fill your senses. It is a mouthwatering sensation. Each individual piece is coated and crispy on the outside with tender fillings and individual pops of different flavours of each harmonizing ingredient. The battered chickpeas ,shrimp and calamari have a salty and savory taste that surprisingly to me , compliments the sweet tastes of red onion rings and get this! , the fennel.
Focusing on the fennel , as a kid , fresh fennel to me tastes solely like black licorice not like a salad green at all . I absolutely hate black licorice to this day. All that I can saw was that fennel was a bitter lingering flavour in your mouth that makes me feel like a dark cold miserable winter day. After trying it in the Fritto Misto, also being older and with an expanded and more mature palate, this deep fried fennel was without a doubt more tolerable and quite enjoyable! The saltiness of the batter on the fennel brought out a sweet cooked note much like a onion ring . It was tender on the inside and not bitter at all. In fact , it was only until I ate it cold that I could taste a very mild tang and bitterness. In the end, I think I will stick to deep frying my fennel if I need to eat it , fresh is simply to bold of a licorice flavour to me. It was interesting to see that cooking the root vegetable allows to manipulate the flavours.
Let's get down to the fancy food - Calamari , or so I thought , its just squid rings! In the beginning I associated calamari with caviar, wines, steaks and lobsters , you know, the finer things in life. I have never tried it before but this fritto misto opened a whole new level of seafood to me . Straight out of the package it was frozen , and thawed and looked like a onion ring but rubbery like a thick elastic band. White in colour , and not transparent like some fishes and seafood , it felt like the consistancy of a peach ring. The smell was like any other seafood , fresh and fishy but not unbearable.
Once battered and cooked ready to eat, the squid rings were salted. I was advised not to overcook them in the fryer to avoid them turning into a tough dried rubber texture inside the batter. Tasting the calamari, was a strange unfamiliar texture in my mouth but it was very mild tasting itself and worked perfectly with the crunchy texture of the batter. I believe that is was weird textured because I am used to food breaking down instantly in contact in my mouth. The calamari rings definetely need to be chewed and processed before swallowing . Contrary to the fishy and straight off the harbour taste and smell I thought that it would have , the calamari had a subtly sweet note to it like scallop meat.
I loved the complex chemistry of flavours and textures of all of the ingredients in this dish. I would have liked to see a dipping sauce served with it. A lemon dill tartar, buttery herb garlic mayo or a cocktail sauce I think would pair nicely with this meal. I would most definitely have it again. Maybe I will try octopus.... hmm.
Until the next food adventure! Take the time to stop , relax and de-stress with a fritto misto and a glass of white wine! Remember whatever the problem, there will always be bigger fish to fry ! ;)
-Chef Raleeza "Rayray" Ougrah
