Istrian kroštule: Bale fiochi made from thin fried pastry

In a recipe recorded in Bale, kroštule are thin strips of dough with eggs, sugar, oil and rakija. They are cut from a rolled sheet, folded inward like bows and fried until they rise.

In the Istriot record from Bale they are called crostoli or fiochi. The second name describes their shape: the ends of a thin strip are turned inward so that the pastry resembles a bow.

What goes into the Bale dough

For half a kilogram of flour, the recipe lists four eggs, two tablespoons of sugar and four tablespoons of oil for each egg, a small glass of rakija and a little salt. Oil or lard is used for frying.

This older base is set apart from later additions such as butter, vanilla sugar, citrus zest, yeast, icing sugar and rum. Those versions are not wrong, but they should not be presented as the only old Istrian recipe.

A thin sheet is cut into strips

The eggs are beaten first, then sugar, oil and rakija are added. Flour is worked in gradually and a little salt goes in at the end. The dough is made thick but still slightly soft, then rolled into a thin sheet.

The sheet is cut into strips and their ends are folded inward. The shaped kroštule fry for a few minutes in hot fat, until they rise to the surface. The Bale recipe does not call for a final dusting of icing sugar, although it is common today.

Fiochi and fritule are not the same

Kroštule begin with thinly rolled and cut dough. Fritule are made from soft risen dough dropped from a spoon, so they are fuller and softer. Both sweets are fried, but their dough and shaping are different.

In Istria, kroštule are associated with weddings and other celebrations, and they now also appear at traditional-sweets events. The occasion changes, but the thin rolled sheet and cut strips remain the essential difference from fritule.