Scotland’s love for fried foods includes deep-fried pizza, which is often coated in batter and double-dipped before frying. In Italy, fried pizza is made by topping a small pizza with another dough disk and sealing the edges before frying. Scotland also offers deep-fried candy bars, ice cream, and fruit.
In Scotland, fried foods are a way of life, from the national meal of fish and chips to the national dessert of deep-fried mars candy bars. Pizza isn’t forgotten either, as many so-called chip shops across the country have been selling deep-fried pizza alongside other more common items for at least four decades — with or without batter. This invention has a relative in the house of pizza, the fried pizza of Naples, Italy, which is a filled pizza topped with another round of dough before being fried to a crisp with no batter in sight.
Fried pizza is made in a few ways throughout Scotland. While some are deep-fried and others brown more quickly in a deep fryer, a common thing is to use batter to coat slices, or even whole pizzas, before frying. Many chefs double dip the pizza, which should already be cooked before the process. For this reason, many use leftover pizza.
The type of batter used can greatly affect the final product. According to the FX Cuisine recipe website, most chefs will use batter that’s already been put together to make fish and chips. While ingredients can vary widely, a typical batter will be made from flour, water, yeast, salt, pepper, and other seasonings such as Old Bay®.; Perhaps the most popular substitution is beer for water.
Sometimes chefs dip a whole oven-baked pizza in batter to make a deep-fried pizza that doesn’t look all that different from a regular pizza, except for the coating of the batter. More often than not, however, fish and chip establishments coat and fry one slice at a time to order. Another variation is to quickly pound and fry a calzone, which takes up half the space in the fryer. Available with various traditional toppings such as peppers, mushrooms and onions, the Scottish version of deep-fried pizza is often served with chips, just like fish.
According to National Geographic, Scotland is whacking and frying enough foods to fill a menu. Fish and chips, pizza and candy bars are just notable examples. Perhaps even more obscure, but just as unusual, are deep-fried ice creams or fried fruit.
In Italy, the batter isn’t even considered when making fried pizza; leftover pizza doesn’t even enter the equation. Instead, the chefs create a new small pizza, then top it with another disk of dough. After the edges are sealed, this deep-fried pizza can be gently dropped into the oil for a quick crisp.
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