I love summer. For me, there is nothing better. You can walk around so free with no restrictive clothing on. No coats, no itchy sweaters, no socks, perhaps not even shoes. Summer is light, bright, and bountiful.
Here, there is so much bounty, it’s almost an embarrassment of riches. Vines heavy with grapes, olive trees, peaches, cherries, figs, pomegranates, tomatoes, garlic, herbs, eggplants, potatoes, and pretty much any other fruit or vegetable one can imagine. It grows here, it all grows extremely well here.
Not only are there weekly markets dotted all over the region, but there are also hundreds of small farm stands along the roads, not to mention, personal potagers or gardens. With all of this, there is enough food to feed the world, or so it seems. I often can’t stop myself, it all looks so wonderful, it’s extremely easy to eat vegetarian if you so choose. Gratin of courgettes, tomato tart, gazpacho, eggplant parmesan: these have all been on the menu as of late.
The other day I was kindly given a handful of goodies from the overflowing garden, and it inspired me. There is so much at this time of year, it can be difficult to think of what to do with the endless bounty. One thing I have always wanted to try making but never had the raw material to work with is zucchini blossoms fritti. I have enjoyed them when in Italy and they seem like such an extravagance. I mean, you pluck off the flowers just to eat them? Craziness! But, when you have pounds upon pounds of fully grown zucchini, perhaps plucking a few flowers might be a way of keeping things in control.
I thought how silly it would be to make batter for just five blossoms, but then I thought, why not? I only had petit épeautre flour on hand, but it actually resulted in a lovely batter. So simple, just a quick fry in olive oil and some crunchy fleur de sel, and you have a perfect apéro with a glass of local white wine. I was delighted I made the effort. Cannot wait to see what other deliciousness this abundance inspires.
