KASIA'S GREAT COOKBOOK: FAWORKI

One of the interesting things I discovered in Galicia was that Galician people made - just like in Poland! - a faworki-type dessert during the carnival. They call them orellas, which is the Galician word for ears, the name coming from the shape of the actual thing. Obviously, the superiority of Polish faworki is indisputable: not only is their shape sophisticated and sports a pretty hole, but also they lack anise, of which Galician orellas are full. Being so far away from home makes you miss these little things: the French have pancakes in the carnival season and I've tried some home-made ones and they were not great (nothing to do with their exquisite Galician counterpart, filloas!) and I'm not sure if the Gabonese prepare anything out of ordinary in this time of year. So, being as I am on holidays and with a lot of time on my hands, I decided to bring Poland to Africa and sent a quick e-mail to my Mom, the official culinary lifesaver, saying How on earth does one go about preparing faworki?! Up till two days ago, I had only assisted in their production, professionally sprinkling the icing sugar on top. Do not be distressed, my Mother answered, for it is but the easiest recipe in the world. Right she was. Takes up some time, you make a huge mess and you die of sweating if you happen to be in Africa, but they're not difficult to make. This lengthy introduction inevitably leads to another recipe: here come faworki aka orellas aka never-deep-fry-stuff-in-the-African-heat.

You make the dough out of merely three ingredients: eggs (yolks), beer and flour. You should take the same amount of beer as yolks (for example a cup of beer for a cup of yolks) and mix them with flour, until the dough is elastic and soft. It should be similar to pierogi dough. Roll it out until it's very very thin (it should be practically transparent). Cut it into stripes and make a hole in the middle of each stripe. Flip one end of the stripe through the hole and your faworek is ready!


Heat the oil in a frying pan (use vegetable oil rather then olive oil: it is too expensive and you will need a lot!). Deep fry your faworki until they turn gold and pretty. Leave them on some paper to get rid of the oil and sprinkle with icing sugar. They are ready to serve! Have a great carnival!