FoodNetArchive

A guide to modern cookery

1909

Page 78 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1909. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
1. If the objects in question are panés a l’anglaise, i.e., 9” 126 GUIDE TO MODERN COOKERY dipped in beaten eggs and rolled in bread-crumbs, the sudden ~ contact of the hot grease converts this coating of egg and bread- crumbs into a resisting crust, which prevents the escape of the substances and the liquefied sauce contained within. If these objects were plunged in a fat that was not suffi- © ciently hot, the coating of egg and bread-crumbs would not only imbibe the frying medium, but it would run the risk of breaking, thereby allowing the escape of the very substances it was intended to withhold. 2. The same holds with objects treated with batter. Hence the absolute necessity of ensuring that setting which means that the covering of batter solidifies immediately. As the sub- stances constituting these various dishes are cooked in advance, it follows that their second heating and the colouring of the coating (cgg and bread-crumbs or batter) take place at the same time and in a few minutes. The third temperature, ‘‘ very hot,’’ is used (1) for all objects that need a sharp and firm setting; (2) for all small objects the setting of which is of supreme importance, and whose cooking is effected in a few minutes, as in the case of whitebait. 265—FRYING MEDIUM FOR FISH Every frying medium, used for work on a large scale, which has acquired a too decided colouring through repeated use, may serve in the preparation of fish even until its whole strength is exhausted. Oil is best suited to the frying of fish, especially the very small kind, owing to the tremendous heat it can withstand with- out burning, for this heat guarantees that setting which is so indispensable. Except in this case, however, the temperature of the frying medium should be regulated strictly in accordance with the . size of the fish to be fried, in order that its cooking and colour- ing may be effected simultaneously. Except Nonats and whitebait, which are simply rolled in flour, fish to be fried are previously steeped in slightly salted milk and then rolled in flour. From this combination of milk and flour there results a crisp coating which withholds those particular principles that the fish exude while cooking. When finished, fried fish are drained, dried, slightly salted, and dished on a serviette or on paper, with a garnish of fried parsley-sprays and sections of channelled lemonFried Fish. 266—THE QUANTITY OF THE FRYING MEDIUM This should always be in proportion to the quantity or size . ; LEADING CULINARY OPERATIONS P27 of the objects to be fried, bearing in mind that these must always be entirely submerged. Without necessarily exaggerating, the quantity should in- variably be rather in excess of the requirements, and for this reason, viz., the greater the amount of fat, the higher will be the temperature reached, and the less need one fear a sudden cooling of the fat when the objects to be treated are immersed. This sudden cooling is often the cause of great trouble, unless one be working over a fire of such fierceness that the fat can return in a few seconds to the temperature it was at before the objects were immersed. 267—THE CARE OF THE FRYING MEDIUM Every time a frying fat is used it should, after having been melted, be strained through a towel, for the majority of objects which it has served to cook must have left some particles behind them which might prove prejudicial to the objects that are to follow. Objects that are ‘‘ panés’’ always leave some raspings, for instance, which in time assume the form of black powder, while those that have been treated with flour likewise drop some of their coating, which, in accumulating, produces a muddy pre- cipitate on the bottom of the utensil.