Perhaps better known, even in Britain (where we have too much ancient respect for the classic chip to deem anything else worthy of the name) as courgette fries, these have piggybacked on the neverending burger trend to become the side dish de jour – an ersatz healthy option for those for whom a slice of beef tomato and gherkin isn’t enough in the way of roughage.
But, the thing is, while courgette spaghetti is a cruel joke on anyone who has ever tasted actual pasta, courgette fries are really rather nice. Not quite as nice as a chip, perhaps, but definitely nicer than a green salad – and, from experience, good courgette fries are a hell of a lot easier to make at home than their potato-based equivalent.
So, if you’ve got squash coming out of your ears as summer comes to an end, forget courgette carbonara – treat it with respect and deep fry it instead. Just think of it as insulation for the long cold months ahead.
The courgettes
Antonio Carluccio specifies baby courgettes, and Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley large ones – the virtue of smaller fruit is, of course, that proportionally they have more flesh than older specimens, though Carluccio still removes the seedy core, which he says is “too watery for frying”. He’s right; too much moisture will cause the batter to steam, rather than fry, which is why I’m also going to salt the flesh, as in the recipe from Ben Tish’s Salt Yard, both to draw the liquid out and to season the fries from the inside out.
The cut
Instructions vary from the 2cm-wide whoppers favoured by Stevie Parle to the tangle of spindly strips preferred by Tish and Gizzi Erskine’s Kitchen Magic. The larger pieces have a more distinct courgette flavour and texture, but the slimmer fries are definitely crisper, presumably because they contain less moisture. I’m torn, but in the end decide to go for Erskine’s matchsticks; slightly thicker than Tish’s noodles, but more delicate than the batons favoured by the others, they make a good compromise between crisp and courgette.
Better with batter?
The coating ranges from the very simple – Erskine’s well-seasoned flour – to the elaborate, such as Parle’s, aerated by sparkling water and whisked egg whites, and the time-consuming, like Jane Baxter’s version in the Riverford Farm Cook Book, which requires resting for 20 minutes before use. Baxter’s airy tempura-like recipe wins the prize for crispness, though Tish’s milk and flour also gives a pleasingly crunchy result if you don’t happen to have any eggs in the house. The Hemsleys go completely off-piste with a ground almond, parmesan and herb crust bound with egg, which, though as tasty as nuts and cheese, are wont to be, steals the show from the courgettes themselves.
Cooking
The sisters also bake their courgette fries, which feels like a Trade Descriptions Act violation for anyone expecting a crisp chip substitute: they’re a bit floppy, to be honest and, like oven chips or baked doughnuts, a definite second best to the real thing. Tish and Carluccio fry theirs in olive oil while Parle uses neutral vegetable oil, which would generally be my first choice for anything deep fried. In this case, however, the flavour of the courgettes is delicate enough for the more assertive olive oil to be worth the investment if you can run to it, complementing and enhancing, rather than competing with the main ingredient. But they will still taste good in vegetable oil, if using an entire bottle of expensive stuff on your dinner seems an extravagance – hot, crisp and salty: perhaps the three most beautiful words in the English language.
Felicity Cloake’s perfect courgette chips
Serves four as a side
2 medium courgettes
Salt
150g plain flour
2 egg whites
Olive or vegetable oil, to fry
Slice the courgettes laterally about 0.5cm thick (a mandolin would be useful), then lengthwise into long matchsticks, then cut these in half. Toss with a little salt and drain in a colander for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a wide, shallow dish stir together the flour with enough lukewarm water (roughly around 250ml) to give the consistency of double cream. Season lightly and leave to rest for 20 minutes. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks then fold this into the batter.
Heat a large pan a third full of oil to 170C and put the oven on low. Squeeze the courgettes and dry on kitchen paper, then tip into the batter and toss to coat.
When the oil is at temperature, add a handful of the courgette strips a few at a time and stir gently to separate, then fry until golden. Scoop out with a slotted spoon on to kitchen paper and season lightly, then put in the oven to keep warm while you fry the rest in batches. Serve immediately.
Courgette chips: an irritating distraction from proper chips, or a valid alternative? And, if you are a fan, do they work in any situation a chip would, or are they a different proposition altogether? And, lastly, where on the high street can you find the best versions?
