Culture

I saw my breath this morning and I fear that what has been a glorious summer may now be ending. And along with it, the season of cheap and fresh summery produce. Tomatoes! Oh how I will miss your abundance. You really rock my world. Courgettes! Can I still convince the flatties to buy you when you’re $14 a kilo? Avocados! I think we can all agree this is autumn’s biggest tragedy. Asparagus! I’m not really your biggest fan so do what you like. Berries! What will I sandwich in a Victoria sponge now? And nectarines. Farewell sweet, sweet nectarine. I will see you next year.
But before I tumble into a pit of complete despair, curable only by an overdose of Nigella-inspired comfort food, I can be consoled by the knowledge that there is still time! For the moment, most of the above are still affordable and available. Obviously the best way to consume summer veg is fresh. In the case of the tomato, I’m not averse to eating them like apples, and avocado I will happily eat by the spoonful.  But there are lots of fun ways to cook summer veg too.
 
Today I bring you a recipe (I use that term loosely) inspired largely by a slightly manky-looking courgette I found in the fridge and my lunchtime desire for fried cheesy yum things. The courgette fritter is a classic, and very easy. This is the height of makeshift student cooking – really, you can put anything in these. In my case I have a courgette, some cheese (even a wee bit of feta!), flour, an egg, salt and pepper…yeah, the cupboards are reasonably bare. You could also do the same thing with a can of creamed corn, or grated potato. You could add olives, tomato, Nigella suggests lime - it’s totally up to you and your fridge. Inventiveness is a very useful student skill. Key things that you must have, however, to make a fritter: cheese, flour, egg, and oil/butter for frying. So, to business!
 
This will make about five jam-jar lid sized fritters, so increase quantities if you intend feeding a whole flat. Grate a courgette into a bowl. Add some grated cheese, maybe 1/2 cup. Add an egg – this with the cheese will bind your fritters into fritter-like shapes. Also add 1/2 cup of flour and a pinch of baking power. I added a wee bit of crushed garlic and 1/2 tsp of paprika too and a decent amount of salt and pepper. Num.  You are aiming for a gloopy batter-y consistency.
 
Put some oil in a frying pan and heat ‘til reasonably hot. Get your fish slice ready. Put a dollop of batter in the pan and fry both sides until golden. As you take the fritters out of the pan, place them on a paper towel to get rid of excess oil. Serve hot or at room temp with some sweet chilli sauce if that’s your thing.
 
This is a very slap dash approach but I assure you, it’s very hard to fuck up. Go forth and fry!