Fritti di latte are among the most widespread and beloved sweets of Abruzzo’s culinary tradition, and, in the province of Teramo, they are also known as cremini or fritti di crema. Their preparation begins with a firm milk custard, cooked over heat and then left to cool until fully set, cut first into broad slices and finally into diamond shapes. Monica Di Gaetano, cook in Castel Castagna, describes the following stages with precision: the diamonds are coated in flour, dipped into beaten egg — to which she adds a small amount of water so that too many bubbles do not form during frying — and then fried in a pan; once golden, they are gently rolled in sugar previously mixed with powdered cinnamon. It is an apparently simple preparation, yet one that is laborious and delicate, whose success depends on achieving the proper consistency of the custard and the right oil temperature, together with a good measure of patience.

This sweet belongs to a broad family of fried custard preparations found throughout Italy, ranging from Ligurian fried sweet milk to Emilian fried custard and Sicilian fried milk. It is probably related to the Spanish dessert leche frita. It is therefore not surprising that Pellegrino Artusi, in his singular work Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (1891), codified “fried custard” in two versions: one more restrained, intended to be served as part of fritto misto, and one sweet version, with slight variations, conceived specifically as a dessert.

Fritti di latte are traditionally associated with Carnival, together with castagnole, zeppole and frappe. Yet their function has always been broader: Monica recalls preparing them for weddings and, in everyday life, delighting children. They are, in other words, both a sweet reserved for special occasions and a homemade dessert, equally at home on festive tables and at afternoon snack time. In her restaurant activity, Monica mainly prepares them upon request, alongside more “fashionable” desserts such as pizza dolce, tiramisù and panna cotta, recognising their value as a typical local dessert and the desirability of always including them in the offering — workload permitting.

In the territory of the Sicilian Valley and the Mavone area, where Castel Castagna is located, shepherding and livestock farming have made milk an everyday ingredient: in fritti di latte, this simple food is skilfully transformed into a festive dessert, although its deepest and most enduring roots remain within the domestic enclosure, at the heart of family knowledge transmitted from mother to daughter.