Recipes

From A Tale of 12 Kitchens by Jake Tilson, this is a lovely way to use up the delicate flowers on a courgette, if you can get hold of them.

Serves 5 as a starter

For the batter

    4 tbsp olive oil
    110g (4oz) Italian ‘00' flour, sifted
    Generous pinch salt
    1 glass tepid water
    1 egg white, whisked

To fry

    15 courgette flowers
    5 sage bush tips, the four top leaves joined with the stem
    5 fennel plant tips, top 6cm (2½ inches)
    Olive oil for frying

Method

Add the olive oil to the flour and salt and mix together. Slowly add the water until the batter is the consistency of heavy cream, not too thin or the batter won't stick. Leave covered for at least 2 hours. Whisk an egg white and gently fold in the rested batter.

To reduce the amount of frying oil needed, use a small frying pan. The oil needs to be hot, test with the occasional drip of batter. Generously drench the flowers, sage and fennel tips in batter one at a time and place carefully in the hot oil. When the ragged edges of the frying batter become golden, turn and cook the other side until pale golden. Drain well on many paper towels.