Cooking Sambuca Kisses

Asked by wolshouse. Answered on 17th May 2015

Full question

I love making and eating the Sambuca Kisses. However, I cook them in rapeseed oil and find a rather unpleasant after-taste. Which type of oil would you recommend for cooking them? Thank you.

Our answer

Nigella's Sambuca Kisses (from Nigellissima) are small fritters made from ricotta and eggs and delicately flavoured with orange zest and sambuca. They are deep fried and Nigella suggests using a flavourless oil for frying. We assume that you are using fresh oil. If the oil has been used for frying other foods then it can be slightly tainted by other flavours and you will notice this when you eat the Kisses.

Also there are two types of rapeseed oil. The expeller pressed type of oil (in the UK sold as vegetable oil and in North America sold as canola oil) is usually light yellow in colour, flavourless and is normally suitable for this type of frying. However the darker yellow cold-pressed type has a stronger, slightly peppery, flavour and is not usually used for deep fat frying but is good as an alternative to olive oil in recipes such as salad dressings. It may be that you are using the cold-pressed rapeseed oil and should switch to a different oil. Other flavourless oils that would be suitable for frying the Sambuca Kisses are corn oil, sunflower oil and corn/groundnut oil.