On the Jennifer Zamparelli Show, foodie duo The Gastro Gays – Russell Alford and Patrick Hanlon – spoke with Jen about their new book, Hot Fat, which is all about the joys, the secrets and the challenges of deep fat frying.
Talking about the ancient cooking method, Russell said the pair have "an obsession over how to add joy to the eating process, and I think frying is the only thing that can achieve that delicious crunch that all of us crave".
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"Perfect chips, spicebags, scotch eggs, frying only achieves that incredible crisp." He says the pair have spent years trying to perfect the method, and have shared their tips in their new cookbook.
The book is part of a series called Blasta Books, which is a series that aims to "disrupt the food scene and the food writing scene because it was all getting big clunky things, you had to have a huge following, a big name out there in order to get published", they say.
Their book, however, "is not prescriptive" and won't tell you what to eat and how. "It's a treat, it's a special occasion."
And if you're worried about boiling a massive pot of oil, that isn't necessary for many of their recipes as some would only need a little bit in a saucepan. The book runs through safety measures for the kitchen as well, so newbies need not worry.
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"We've all heard of horrible things happening to people, so it's good to have a thermometer, it's good to be able to regulate your temperature and know how to deal with fires if that happens. Now, it has to get to a very very high point in order for that to happen, but it's good to be aware of it."
Recipes range from sweet and savoury ones, from bacon and cheese croquettes and sesame prawn toasts, to deep fried ice cream and apple pies.
If that doesn't whet your appetite enough, Nigella Lawson herself has fallen in love with one of their recipes – deep friend lasagne nuggets.
For the full foodie chat, listen back to their interview here.
