If too many things are put into the frying-basket
they will be badly fried, because the temperature of
the fat will fall below the point necessary for proper
frying. The most successful frying is when the tem-
perature rises four or five degrees during the frying.
Fried things should be of a golden-brown colour, crisp,
and free from fat. The surface fat is removed by
placing the things fried on kitchen paper as they are
taken from the kettle. Use your fat first for frying
delicate things such as rissoles, fritters, croquettes,
and vegetables, and never fry anything but fish in fat
after it has been once used for fish. Fresh fat must
now be taken for rissoles, and used up for fish. This
involves two lots of frying-fat, which is the most
economical plan to adopt. The fat when not in use
should be kept in clean glazed earthenware jars or
white basins.
If we had a thermometer protected by a cage or
basket, and the words Rissoles, Croquettes, and so on,
Frying.
59
legibly printed on the side opposite the temperature,
and if the mercury never varied more than five
degrees from these points, a child could fry perfectly
in hot fat. If the quantity or nature of the things
in the frying-basket lower the temperature too rapidly, “
remove the basket for a time and let the fat recover
its temperature. It will always fall a little as soon as
you begin to fry, especially with potato chips and all
watery substances. As frying properly in fat is of
much importance, and of constant use, no pains
should be spared in thoroughly understanding it. If
you attempt to fry at too low a temperature, or allow
the temperature to fall more than five degrees, the
things are not fried but soaked and soddened and of
a dirty white colour. If the temperature is too high,
then the thing is charred, burnt, and blackened, but
not fried. We have at our command the power of
frying in fat with all the exactness of a scientific
experiment. Sprigs of parsley and drops of water will
never give you exactness — the most experienced cook
cannot tell within io or 15 degrees by any of these
methods ; and guessing should never be substituted
for certainty. A difference of 10 degrees is often
sufficient to spoil the frying. Let me impress on you
the necessity of learning to fry properly. Fish require
greater care than meat : their flesh is much softer and
more liable to break. They should be thoroughly
dried between the folds of a clean cloth sprinkled
with a little flour. With care you may fry pretty well
without egging and bread-crumbing, but you cannot
fry as things ought to be fried.
FISH.
“For with the sounds aijd seas, each creek and bay;
With frie innumerable swarme, and shoals
Of fish, that with their fumes and shining scales
Glide under the greene wave, in sculles that oft
Bank the mid sea.” — Milton, Paradise Lost.
Page 26
Presented as published in 1887. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
If too many things are put into the frying-basket they will be badly fried, because the temperature of the fat will fall below the point necessary for proper frying. The most successful frying is when the temperature rises four or five degrees during the frying. Fried things should be of a golden-brown colour, crisp, and free from fat. The surface fat is removed by placing the things fried on kitchen paper as they are taken from the kettle. Use your fat first for frying delicate things such as rissoles, fritters, croquettes, and vegetables, and never fry anything but fish in fat after it has been once used for fish. Fresh fat must now be taken for rissoles, and used up for fish. This involves two lots of frying-fat, which is the most economical plan to adopt. The fat when not in use should be kept in clean glazed earthenware jars or white basins.
If we had a thermometer protected by a cage or basket, and the words Rissoles, Croquettes, and so on,
Frying.
legibly printed on the side opposite the temperature, and if the mercury never varied more than five degrees from these points, a child could fry perfectly in hot fat. If the quantity or nature of the things in the frying-basket lower the temperature too rapidly, “ remove the basket for a time and let the fat recover its temperature. It will always fall a little as soon as you begin to fry, especially with potato chips and all watery substances. As frying properly in fat is of much importance, and of constant use, no pains should be spared in thoroughly understanding it. If you attempt to fry at too low a temperature, or allow the temperature to fall more than five degrees, the things are not fried but soaked and soddened and of a dirty white colour. If the temperature is too high, then the thing is charred, burnt, and blackened, but not fried. We have at our command the power of frying in fat with all the exactness of a scientific experiment. Sprigs of parsley and drops of water will never give you exactness — the most experienced cook cannot tell within io or 15 degrees by any of these methods ; and guessing should never be substituted for certainty. A difference of 10 degrees is often sufficient to spoil the frying. Let me impress on you the necessity of learning to fry properly. Fish require greater care than meat : their flesh is much softer and more liable to break. They should be thoroughly dried between the folds of a clean cloth sprinkled with a little flour. With care you may fry pretty well without egging and bread-crumbing, but you cannot fry as things ought to be fried.
FISH.
“For with the sounds aijd seas, each creek and bay; With frie innumerable swarme, and shoals Of fish, that with their fumes and shining scales Glide under the greene wave, in sculles that oft Bank the mid sea.” — Milton, Paradise Lost.