Zucchini Flowers, Truffle Honey, Pecorino from Nomad

Ingredients

12 zucchini flowers

250g tapioca flour

250g rice flour

450ml sparkling water

25g egg white

Small jar truffle honey (I buy from Simon Johnson)

100g pecorino

Fleur de sel to taste

Black pepper, freshly ground

Canola oil to shallow fry

1 cotechino sausage

Method

To clean the zucchini flowers, trim the base and gently remove the stigma by pinching with your fingers, being careful not to break the flower off.

To stuff the flowers, break the cotechino apart in a bowl until it’s pliable then gently open the flowers and stuff the sausage inside, twist the tops to secure.

To prepare the batter, combine the tapioca and rice flours in a bowl and set aside.

Whip the egg whites to soft peaks and set aside.

Pour half of the sparkling water into the flour mix and whisk until smooth.

Pour the remaining water in and gently whisk through.

Add the egg whites and gently fold through the batter, being mindful not to knock too much air out of the mix. Keep refrigerated until required, but keep in mind it will deteriorate over time, so try to make it just before you need it.

Heat approximately 2cm of oil in a frying pan to 180c.

Dip the flowers into the batter then into the hot oil, rotate until crispy on all sides.

Remove from pan and drain well on paper towels.

Season with salt and liberally with the black pepper.

Transfer to serving plate, drizzle with the truffle honey and microplane the pecorino over the top.

Serves 4 as a snack

Nomad

187 Flinders Lane, Melbourne