Frico with potatoes and onion

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water with their skin for about 30 minutes, until they are tender but not falling apart. Drain them, let them cool just enough to handle, then peel them and crush them roughly with a fork or cut them into thick slices.
2. Cut the onion into thin slices. Soften it over medium-low heat in a 26-28 cm non-stick pan with the butter, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes until it is soft and lightly golden.
3. Grate or cut both types of cheese into thin shavings and mix them together.
4. Add the crushed potatoes to the onion in the pan, mix well, adjust for salt and pepper and spread the mixture in an even layer.
5. Cover with the cheese evenly. Let it cook over medium-low heat, without stirring, for 10-12 minutes, until the cheese is completely melted and a golden crust forms on the bottom.
6. Flip the frico onto a large plate, then slide it back into the pan on the other side. Cook for another 8-10 minutes until an even crust forms on the second side as well.
7. Transfer to a cutting board, let it rest for 2-3 minutes and serve cut into wedges, ideally accompanied by polenta gialla.

Frico with potatoes and onion is one of the symbolic dishes of Carnic cuisine, that high-altitude land occupying the northern edge of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is not a cake in the conventional sense of the term, nor an omelette: it is something in between and irreducible, a thick and golden sheet of melted cheese that envelops boiled potatoes and stewed onion, with a crispy crust on the outside and a soft, stringy heart on the inside. The simplicity of its ingredients is only apparent, because the result depends entirely on the quality of the cheese and the patience of whoever cooks it.

In the Carnic tradition frico was pasture and mountain hut food, prepared with leftover cheese, the kind too aged or irregular to be sold, grated or cut into pieces and melted directly in the pan. Potatoes, probably introduced between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a substantial ingredient, made it a complete dish, capable of feeding mountain workers during the coldest months. Today frico is present in the menus of Friuli inns and country festivals, where it is served in slices accompanied by polenta gialla, which balances the decisive flavor and the richness of the melted cheese. The ideal wine is a dry Friuli white, with good acidity, that cuts through the richness of the dish without overpowering it.

Frico knows variations that follow the geography of Friuli and the seasonal availability of ingredients.

• Crispy frico without potatoes: the oldest and driest version, prepared with only cheese melted in a pan until a thin and crumbly disc is obtained. It cools quickly and is served crumbled as an appetizer or accompaniment.
• Frico with wild herbs: in some areas of Carnia wild herbs such as young nettle or blanched dandelion are added to the mixture, providing a bitter note that balances the richness of the cheese.
• Frico with mushrooms: autumn variant widespread in mountain valleys, in which trifolati porcini mushrooms replace or accompany the onion, enriching the aromatic profile of the dish.
• Frico with Latteria cheese: in the plains areas of central Friuli, Montasio is replaced or accompanied by local Latteria cheese, with a more delicate and less pronounced result.

• Friulano (Tocai Friulano) DOC: the white wine symbol of the region, with its bitter almond note and soft structure, holds the fatness of the cheese well without overpowering it. - Ramato del Friuli DOC: a Pinot Grigio grape vinified in contact with the skins, with light tannins and copper colour, balances the flavour of Montasio and accompanies the golden crust without weighing it down.

• Unfiltered Friulian Lager craft beer: carbonation cleanses the palate between bites, and the delicate bitterness of hops pleasantly counteracts the persistence of fat.

• Natural sparkling water with lemon slice: for those who prefer non-alcoholic, minerality and mild citric acid perform a similar function of cleansing the palate.

• Refrigerator: the leftover frico is kept covered with food film or in an airtight container for a maximum of 2 days. - Regeneration in the pan: heat over low heat in a non-stick pan with a veil of butter for 4–5 minutes on each side, so as to reform the crust without drying out the inside. - Oven: alternatively, heat to 170 degrees for 8–10 minutes on a grill, not in a pan, to maintain crunchiness. - Freezing: not recommended.

The cheese tends to separate and the potato becomes watery on thawing, compromising the texture of the dish.

The roots of frico lie in the system of Friulian alpine huts, where cheesemakers had to manage surplus cheese and find ways to consume the less regular pieces of the production.

The first written attestations of the term date back to the fifteenth century: Martino de Rossi, a cook of Como origin active at the court of the Patriarch of Aquileia Ludovico Trevisan, describes in his culinary treatise a preparation based on fried cheese that scholars identify as a direct ancestor of frico.

The addition of potatoes is subsequent and linked to the diffusion of the tuber in the Friulian countryside during the eighteenth century, when cultivation stabilised in the hilly and mountainous areas of Carnia. This step transformed the frico from a simple cheese pod to a complete and substantial dish, capable of feeding a family with poor ingredients.

The version with potatoes and onions was consolidated in the nineteenth century as a dish of peasant cuisine, and in the twentieth century it found its stable place in the taverns and trattorias of the Friulian plain and mountains, becoming a symbol of regional gastronomic identity.