‘ Broiling ’ is the ancient word for grilling ; though both words
are still used they really signify the same thing. Broiling is derived
from the French word ‘ br tiler ’ — to burn. On the Continent
grilling has become very popular.
A charcoal furnace is considered the best heat for grilling or
broiling purposes.
Although one of the simplest forms of cookery, it is seldom wTell
carried out. The process is similar to that of roasting, with the
difference that only small pieces or slices of meat are used. Broiling
or grilling is always done before, or over, a fire (a clear bright fire).
It is a process which is always quickly performed. By broiling meats
evaporation is prevented by the sudden closing of the fibres, so the
78
THE NEW CENTURY COOKERY BOOK
cut side of the meat is quickly hardened and the surface browned.
A chop, steak, cutlet, or fillet, properly broiled, should have a thin,
nicely browned crust, the inside
of which must be cooked to suit
the requirements and taste of
the person for whom it is pre-
pared, viz. underdone, raw and
juicy, medium, or well-cooked.
A gridiron, cleaned and well
greased, is the proper utensil
for broiling, though some cooks
use the frying-pan more often
than the gridiron. In broiling
on or between a gridiron, special
care must be exercised to keep
the fat from falling into the fire,
as the sudden blaze is likely to
impart a smoky and objection-
able flavour to the meat. A
clear bright fire, not the re-
mainder of a good fire, is essen-
tial to perfection in grilling.
On no account must the meat
be pierced with a fork or skewer, or the juices will run out of the
holes made, and much of the flavour will thereby be lost. An
average-sized chop or steak will require from ten to twelve minutes
to broil or grill, during which time it should be turned at least five
times.
The value of the gridiron, its advantages as well as its abuses, is
perhaps nowhere better known than in England, especially in re-
lation to chops, cutlets, steaks, kidneys, fish, chicken, bones, mush-
rooms, tomatoes, &c. If properly managed by careful and competent
hands, nothing can be made more tasty than a grillade.
Frying’. — The process of frying is in the truest culinary sense
‘ boiling in fat or oil.’ Eat is but oil solidified, and oil is liquid fat ;
nevertheless the conditions of boiling in
oil are altogether different, and the
effects to a certain extent contrary to
the mode of boiling in other liquids. For
frying,' the fat must be 360 degrees, but
boiling oil is about three times as hot as
boiling water. In consequence of this, if
articles of food are plunged into boiling
fat or oil, they offer the very opposite
results to what they do in boiling. By
the latter method, meat, vegetables, fish, &c., become soft and in
some cases dissolved, they become solid boiled meats, &c., or are
COOKING PROCESSES AND THEIR EFFECTS
7.9
reduced to the condition of purees (pulp) ; while in frying they
become firm, and ultimately brown on their outside, and if left too
long in boiling fat they become black.
Fat is incapable of dissolving the internal juices of frying food.
When anything becomes dry through long frying, the cause is that
the continued heat of the fat drives out all the moisture in the state
of vapour.
Page 45
Presented as published in 1901. 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
‘ Broiling ’ is the ancient word for grilling ; though both words are still used they really signify the same thing. Broiling is derived from the French word ‘ br tiler ’ — to burn. On the Continent grilling has become very popular.
A charcoal furnace is considered the best heat for grilling or broiling purposes.
Although one of the simplest forms of cookery, it is seldom wTell carried out. The process is similar to that of roasting, with the difference that only small pieces or slices of meat are used. Broiling or grilling is always done before, or over, a fire (a clear bright fire). It is a process which is always quickly performed. By broiling meats evaporation is prevented by the sudden closing of the fibres, so the
cut side of the meat is quickly hardened and the surface browned. A chop, steak, cutlet, or fillet, properly broiled, should have a thin,
nicely browned crust, the inside of which must be cooked to suit the requirements and taste of the person for whom it is prepared, viz. underdone, raw and juicy, medium, or well-cooked.
A gridiron, cleaned and well greased, is the proper utensil for broiling, though some cooks use the frying-pan more often than the gridiron. In broiling on or between a gridiron, special care must be exercised to keep the fat from falling into the fire, as the sudden blaze is likely to impart a smoky and objectionable flavour to the meat. A clear bright fire, not the remainder of a good fire, is essential to perfection in grilling.
On no account must the meat be pierced with a fork or skewer, or the juices will run out of the holes made, and much of the flavour will thereby be lost. An average-sized chop or steak will require from ten to twelve minutes to broil or grill, during which time it should be turned at least five times.
The value of the gridiron, its advantages as well as its abuses, is perhaps nowhere better known than in England, especially in relation to chops, cutlets, steaks, kidneys, fish, chicken, bones, mushrooms, tomatoes, &c. If properly managed by careful and competent hands, nothing can be made more tasty than a grillade.
Frying’. — The process of frying is in the truest culinary sense ‘ boiling in fat or oil.’ Fat is but oil solidified, and oil is liquid fat ;
nevertheless the conditions of boiling in oil are altogether different, and the effects to a certain extent contrary to the mode of boiling in other liquids. For frying,' the fat must be 360 degrees, but boiling oil is about three times as hot as boiling water. In consequence of this, if articles of food are plunged into boiling fat or oil, they offer the very opposite results to what they do in boiling. By the latter method, meat, vegetables, fish, &c., become soft and in some cases dissolved, they become solid boiled meats, &c., or are
7.9
reduced to the condition of purees (pulp) ; while in frying they become firm, and ultimately brown on their outside, and if left too long in boiling fat they become black.
Fat is incapable of dissolving the internal juices of frying food. When anything becomes dry through long frying, the cause is that the continued heat of the fat drives out all the moisture in the state of vapour.