Venice Recipes and Curiosities
from the Venetian Cuisine

El Franfraniche

Venetian Caramel

Ingredients:

5 Kgs caster sugar

water

the whites of 5 eggs

food colours

tooth pics

Modus Operandi

Zanmaria used to take five chilos of sugar, and to cook it just covered with water. When cooked, he stirs in it the five whites beated stiff and lays the paste down to a marble to cool down.

Once warmed, he rolls the paste in a thick cylinder, drawing along lenght inside stripes of colours: red, green, yellow.
Then he would take this sugar salami and start stretching it: he grabs the two ends and ply at half the salami on a hook fixed at the workbench base. Then he would moist his hands with his own spittle, not to stick on the warm sugar, and start pulling the ends.
When enough long, the ends were plyed again in the middle and the operation iterated..

Wise kids were often volunteers in pulling the warm sugar; a lot of hands licking, indeed!

When well stretched, with the colours lined up and interwovened, the sugar, now very long and narrow, was setted again on the marble, and cutted in pieces of different prices (five or ten liras); a tooth pic was driven in each and all in a plate they would be displayed to public.

When I grew up, i discovered that "the lords" use to call the franfraniche "lecca-lecca" ("lick-lick", lollypop in Italian), not probably knowing how much they were true!

El Franfraniche

Zucchero Caramellato

To make the franfraniche was quite a heavy job…

Zanmaria, the one of the franfraniche in Santa Margherita, near "Vecchio" cinema, used to give, to those between us kids helping him in pulling the sugar, a generous slice of gardo (chestnut cake). He was grandchild of the famous Zanmaria de le fritole (Johnmary of the Doughnuts) and was carrying on the family tradition.

Versione Originale in Veneziano:

Ma anca par far el “franfraniche” la jera ´na fadiga…
El Zanmaria, quelo del “franfraniche” a S.Margherita, arente al cine vecio, a chi che ghe dava da man a tirar el “franfraniche” el ghe donava ‘na slepa de gardo.
El Zanmaria el jera el nevodo del famoso “Zanmaria de le fritole” de antica memoria, e el portava ancora avanti la tradission.

El toleva 5 chili de zucaro e lo cucinava in te l´aqua apena coverto, col jera coto lo destirava sora la tola de marmo che el se rafredasse, ma prima el ghe meteva dentro 5 ciare de vovo montae a neve.
El lo fava suzo come un grosso salame e in mezo el ghe zontava par la so longhessa i colori de anilina che serviva: rosso, verde, zalo.
Dopo el vantava sto salame de zucaro e el scominsiava a tirarlo.

Par tirarlo el lo vantava par le do estremità, lo passava par un grosso ganso che el aveva tacà su la piantana del banchetto, e se dava ‘na spuaciada ne le man acciò che el zucaro no se tacasse, e lo tirava, po’ lo fava suzo come par piegarlo, nantra spuaciada e nantra tirada dei di pinzi sora el ganso.

Noantri putei che gavevimo zà visto come che el fava, se ofrivimo volontari par tiralo fin che el jera beo caldo. E zò ste spuaciae ne le man…

Col jera ben tirà e che tuti i so bravi colori i jera ben alineai, lo destirava da novo sora el marmo, lo tarava a tocheti secondo i pressi (da 5 o da 10 lire), el ghe impirava un steccadente e li meteva sul piato in bea mostra.

Co so deventà grando (se fa par dir…) go savùo che i siori lo ciamava – e i lo ciama ancora – el leca leca!