coating of egg and breadcrumb or flour, sucb as Fisb, Cutlets, Rissoles, Croquettes, etc., needs a temperature of 380°. But if Parsley and some kinds of batter are fried in so bigb a temperature tliey will blacken, shrivel, and spoil. Patience and practice will soon show the cook when the frying medium is properly bot and ready for whatever is to be put into it. Lard is not to be recommended as a frying medium, for however carefully it may be used it always adheres to the article fried, and always imparts to it a taste of its own. One great French chef, Careme, always used for frying the fat skimmed from the surface of the pot-au-feu or stock-pot, carefully strained through muslin. A still more celebrated French chef, Coufte, preferred clarified beef suet. His method of preparing it will be found at the end of this chapter. If there are plenty of broken bones in the stock-pot the melted marrow will rise to the top, and is, as Careme found it, most valuable as a frying medium, although only a small quantity can be collected. But it must be recollected that no soup will be clear if the marrow has been left in the bones. If thick soup or broth is required Careme’s method may well be followed. There are two varieties of Frying ; the French or Wet Frying , in which the articles to be fried are immersed in a bath of properly heated oil or fat ; and the English or Dry Frying , in which the articles are frizzled in a shallow frying-pan. Both methods are most valuable in their different ways, and both should be carefully and patiently studied. In French or W et Frying, whatever the frying medium may be, it is essential that there should be plenty of it. A seamless steel stewpan, oval in shape, and with two handles, should be provided. It will be more expensive than iron, but it is more easily cleaned, and it lasts much longer. The pan should be six inches deep, eight inches across, and ten inches long. The pan has to be kept steady over the fire whilst in use, so that a long handle for shaking it is not required. If suet is used, from two to two and a half or three pounds will be needed for a pan or bath of this size. The fat must be quite three inches deep when it is melted. A wire basket, or frying basket, with !54 FRYING a long handle, is required. This should be quite an inch less in diameter than the pan, so that it may go into it quite easily and loosely. Fish must be fried in a fish kettle provided with a wire drainer. The most useful size is thirteen inches long by ten wide, oval measurement. French frying is better done on a gas-stove than over a fire, for it is very important to maintain the same degree of heat during the whole process. Sufficient space must be allowed above the fat to prevent it from boiling over ; but if the pan is six inches deep the fat should be three inches deep. For ordinary frying heat the temperature should be 345° ; for coated articles, 380° ; for whitebait and potato chips 400°.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

coating of egg and breadcrumb or flour, such as Fish, Cutlets, Rissoles, Croquettes, etc., needs a temperature of 380°. But if Parsley and some kinds of batter are fried in so high a temperature they will blacken, shrivel, and spoil. Patience and practice will soon show the cook when the frying medium is properly bot and ready for whatever is to be put into it. Lard is not to be recommended as a frying medium, for however carefully it may be used it always adheres to the article fried, and always imparts to it a taste of its own. One great French chef, Careme, always used for frying the fat skimmed from the surface of the pot-au-feu or stock-pot, carefully strained through muslin. A still more celebrated French chef, Coufte, preferred clarified beef suet. His method of preparing it will be found at the end of this chapter. If there are plenty of broken bones in the stock-pot the melted marrow will rise to the top, and is, as Careme found it, most valuable as a frying medium, although only a small quantity can be collected. But it must be recollected that no soup will be clear if the marrow has been left in the bones. If thick soup or broth is required Careme’s method may well be followed. There are two varieties of Frying ; the French or Wet Frying , in which the articles to be fried are immersed in a bath of properly heated oil or fat ; and the English or Dry Frying , in which the articles are frizzled in a shallow frying-pan. Both methods are most valuable in their different ways, and both should be carefully and patiently studied. In French or W et Frying, whatever the frying medium may be, it is essential that there should be plenty of it. A seamless steel stewpan, oval in shape, and with two handles, should be provided. It will be more expensive than iron, but it is more easily cleaned, and it lasts much longer. The pan should be six inches deep, eight inches across, and ten inches long. The pan has to be kept steady over the fire whilst in use, so that a long handle for shaking it is not required. If suet is used, from two to two and a half or three pounds will be needed for a pan or bath of this size. The fat must be quite three inches deep when it is melted. A wire basket, or frying basket, with !54 a long handle, is required. This should be quite an inch less in diameter than the pan, so that it may go into it quite easily and loosely. Fish must be fried in a fish kettle provided with a wire drainer. The most useful size is thirteen inches long by ten wide, oval measurement. French frying is better done on a gas-stove than over a fire, for it is very important to maintain the same degree of heat during the whole process. Sufficient space must be allowed above the fat to prevent it from boiling over ; but if the pan is six inches deep the fat should be three inches deep. For ordinary frying heat the temperature should be 345° ; for coated articles, 380° ; for whitebait and potato chips 400°.

Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book