The average individual entertains the idea that when meat, vegetables, and other edibles are cooked in grease they are fried. And, with that idea in mind, writers and lecturers on cookery and hygiene have for a good many years been denouncing fried food and heaping anathemas upon the frying pan. There is no doubt that food of any kind that becomes saturated with grease while being cooked is unhealthful and productive of disease. But it does not, therefore, follow that articles of food properly fried are less healthful than the same articles cooked in any other manner. And until it is proven that they are, it is unjust to hold the frying pan responsible for the evils that arise from its misuse, or are incident to its abuse, by ignorant or unskilled cooks. Are not the under-baked rolls, the leathery pan-cakes, the soggy boiled vegetables, the wretchedly roasted meats, the half- broiled fish, the insipid stewed fruit, the smoky-tasting tea, the sloppy coffee, and the other badly-cooked articles that are served every day at a majority of tables equally as detrimental to health as the denounced prod- ucts of the frying pan ? And would it not be wiser to endeavor to improve the methods, rather than to at- tempt to abolish the process, of frying ? Frying is the cooking of food in oil or fat, and is one 136 Frying. 137 of the most convenient and appetizing methods of pre- paring many articles of diet. But for the performance of the process three things should be carefully consid- ered : I St, the temperature of the oil or fat ; 2d, the quantity of grease to be used ; 3d, the form or shape of the article to be fried. In order to fry properly the grease must be hot enough to instantly sear the surface of the article put into it. This instantaneous searing or cooking of the surface retains the juices and flavors inside the article being cooked, and prevents the absorption of grease. Butter cannot be used for frying, as it will burn before reaching a sufficiently high temperature to cook the food. And olive oil or cotton-seed oil can be heated to a much higher temperature without burning than lard or beef drippings. The temperature of grease should always be tested before there is danger of its burning, by drop- ping a slice of raw potato into it. As soon as the po- tato becomes brown the grease is hot enough for frying most things. The quantity of grease used should be sufficient to entirely submerge the article put into it. The most desirable shape or form for articles of food that are to be fried, if reference is had only to perfect frying, is the spherical or round, as articles of that shape can touch each other at but few points, while nearly their entire surface is at once exposed to the direct action of the hot grease. Thin slices of potato, if the potato is sliced lengthwise, given a twist and dropped into ice water, will fry more perfectly than without the twist. All articles of food that have been wet should be freed from water by shaking in a sieve or towel before they 138 The Art of Cookery,

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The average individual entertains the idea that when meat, vegetables, and other edibles are cooked in grease they are fried. And, with that idea in mind, writers and lecturers on cookery and hygiene have for a good many years been denouncing fried food and heaping anathemas upon the frying pan. There is no doubt that food of any kind that becomes saturated with grease while being cooked is unhealthful and productive of disease. But it does not, therefore, follow that articles of food properly fried are less healthful than the same articles cooked in any other manner. And until it is proven that they are, it is unjust to hold the frying pan responsible for the evils that arise from its misuse, or are incident to its abuse, by ignorant or unskilled cooks. Are not the under-baked rolls, the leathery pan-cakes, the soggy boiled vegetables, the wretchedly roasted meats, the halfbroiled fish, the insipid stewed fruit, the smoky-tasting tea, the sloppy coffee, and the other badly-cooked articles that are served every day at a majority of tables equally as detrimental to health as the denounced products of the frying pan ? And would it not be wiser to endeavor to improve the methods, rather than to attempt to abolish the process, of frying ? Frying is the cooking of food in oil or fat, and is one Frying. 137 of the most convenient and appetizing methods of preparing many articles of diet. But for the performance of the process three things should be carefully considered : I St, the temperature of the oil or fat ; 2d, the quantity of grease to be used ; 3d, the form or shape of the article to be fried. In order to fry properly the grease must be hot enough to instantly sear the surface of the article put into it. This instantaneous searing or cooking of the surface retains the juices and flavors inside the article being cooked, and prevents the absorption of grease. Butter cannot be used for frying, as it will burn before reaching a sufficiently high temperature to cook the food. And olive oil or cotton-seed oil can be heated to a much higher temperature without burning than lard or beef drippings. The temperature of grease should always be tested before there is danger of its burning, by dropping a slice of raw potato into it. As soon as the potato becomes brown the grease is hot enough for frying most things. The quantity of grease used should be sufficient to entirely submerge the article put into it. The most desirable shape or form for articles of food that are to be fried, if reference is had only to perfect frying, is the spherical or round, as articles of that shape can touch each other at but few points, while nearly their entire surface is at once exposed to the direct action of the hot grease. Thin slices of potato, if the potato is sliced lengthwise, given a twist and dropped into ice water, will fry more perfectly than without the twist. All articles of food that have been wet should be freed from water by shaking in a sieve or towel before they 138 The Art of Cookery,

The art of cookery