will fry without one overlapping the other. Very few
minutes will brown them beautifully, if your fat was hot
enough, and as a minute too long toughens and shrinks
them, be yery careful that it browns a cube of bread al-
most directly, before you begin the oysters. Egg and
bread-crumb may be used instead of cracker dust, but it
is not the proper thing, and is a great deal more trouble.
Should you be desirous of using it, however, the oysters
must be carefully wiped dry before dipping them; while
for cracker dust they are not wiped, but only drained
well.
Fish of any kind, fried in batter a la Careme (see
recipe), is very easy to do, and very nice.
Carefully save veal, lamb, beef, and pork drippings.
Keep a crock to put it in, and, clarified as I shall direct,
it is much better than lard for many purposes, and for
frying especially ; it does not leave the dark look that is
sometimes seen on articles fried in lard. The perfection
of ^^friture,'^ or frying-fat, according to Gouffe, is equal
parts of lard and beef fat melted together.
Yet there are families where dripping is never used —
is looked upon as unfit to use — while the truth is that
many persons quite unable to eat articles fried in lard
would find no inconvenience from those fried in beef fat.
It is as wholesome as butter, and far better for the
purpose. Butter, indeed, is only good for frying such
things as omelets or scrambled eggs ; things that are
cooked in a very short time, and require no great degree
of heat.
The same may be said of oil, than which, for fish,
nothing can be better. Yet it can only be used once,
and is unsuitable for things requiring long-sustained
heat, as it soon gets bitter and rank.
On Frying and Broiling. 59
Do not be afraid to put a pound or two of fat in your
pan for frying ; it is quite as economical as to put less
for it can be used over and oyer again^ a pail or crock
being kept for the purpose of receiving it. Always in
returning it to the crobk pour it through a fine strainer,
so that no sediment or brown particles may pass which
would spoil the next frying.
To clarify dripping, when poured from the meat-pan,
it should go into a bowl, instead of the crock in which
you wish to keep it. Then pour into the bowl also some
boiling water, and add a little salt, stir it, and set it
away. Next day, or when cold, run a knife round the
bowl, and (unless it is pork) it will turn out in a solid
cake, leaving the water and impurities at the bottom.
Now scrape the bottom of your dripping, and put it in
more boiling water till it melts, then stir again, another
pinch of salt add, and let it cool again. When you take
off the cake of fat, scrape it as before, and it is ready to
be melted into the general crock, and will now keep for
months in cool weather. If you are having frequent
joints it is as well to do all your dripping together, once
a week ; but do not leave it long at any season with wa-
ter under it, as that would taint it. Fat skimmed from
boiled meat, pot-au-feu, before the vegetables, etc., go
in, is quite as good as that from roast, treated in the
same way.
Frying in batter is very easy and excellent for some
things, such as warming over meat, being far better
than eggs and crumbs. Careme gives the following
recipe, which is excellent : ✪ Frying in Batter a la Careme
Page 33 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1885. 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
will fry without one overlapping the other. Very few minutes will brown them beautifully, if your fat was hot enough, and as a minute too long toughens and shrinks them, be very careful that it browns a cube of bread almost directly, before you begin the oysters. Egg and bread-crumb may be used instead of cracker dust, but it is not the proper thing, and is a great deal more trouble. Should you be desirous of using it, however, the oysters must be carefully wiped dry before dipping them; while for cracker dust they are not wiped, but only drained well.
Fish of any kind, fried in batter a la Careme (see recipe), is very easy to do, and very nice.
Carefully save veal, lamb, beef, and pork drippings. Keep a crock to put it in, and, clarified as I shall direct, it is much better than lard for many purposes, and for frying especially ; it does not leave the dark look that is sometimes seen on articles fried in lard. The perfection of ^^friture,'^ or frying-fat, according to Gouffe, is equal parts of lard and beef fat melted together.
Yet there are families where dripping is never used—is looked upon as unfit to use — while the truth is that many persons quite unable to eat articles fried in lard would find no inconvenience from those fried in beef fat. It is as wholesome as butter, and far better for the purpose. Butter, indeed, is only good for frying such things as omelets or scrambled eggs ; things that are cooked in a very short time, and require no great degree of heat.
The same may be said of oil, than which, for fish, nothing can be better. Yet it can only be used once, and is unsuitable for things requiring long-sustained heat, as it soon gets bitter and rank.
On Frying and Broiling. 59
Do not be afraid to put a pound or two of fat in your pan for frying ; it is quite as economical as to put less for it can be used over and over again a pail or crock being kept for the purpose of receiving it. Always in returning it to the crobk pour it through a fine strainer, so that no sediment or brown particles may pass which would spoil the next frying.
To clarify dripping, when poured from the meat-pan, it should go into a bowl, instead of the crock in which you wish to keep it. Then pour into the bowl also some boiling water, and add a little salt, stir it, and set it away. Next day, or when cold, run a knife round the bowl, and (unless it is pork) it will turn out in a solid cake, leaving the water and impurities at the bottom. Now scrape the bottom of your dripping, and put it in more boiling water till it melts, then stir again, another pinch of salt add, and let it cool again. When you take off the cake of fat, scrape it as before, and it is ready to be melted into the general crock, and will now keep for months in cool weather. If you are having frequent joints it is as well to do all your dripping together, once a week ; but do not leave it long at any season with water under it, as that would taint it. Fat skimmed from boiled meat, pot-au-feu, before the vegetables, etc., go in, is quite as good as that from roast, treated in the same way.
Frying in batter is very easy and excellent for some things, such as warming over meat, being far better than eggs and crumbs. Careme gives the following recipe, which is excellent :
Records on this page
Frying in Batter a la Careme