Frying is a process somewhat intermediate between roasting and boiling.
Indeed, in one sense, it may be termed boiling, as it is the application
of heat to the substance to be cooked, through the medium of melted fat,
raised to the boiling temperature. The effect on the meat is very
peculiar, and easily distinguished from every other mode of cooking. The
meat is prepared in the same way as in broiling, by cutting it into
chops, or slices, of not more than half an inch or three quarters in
thickness. A sufficient quantity of mutton or beef suet, butter, lard,
or oil, being melted in a pan, and made boiling-hot, the meat is laid in
it. It is not necessary that the meat be _wholly_ immersed in the
boiling fat; if it be immersed in part, it will be quite sufficient.
When flesh is the substance to be fried, the pieces, previously to their
being put into the pan, are sometimes brushed over with eggs and crumbs
of stale bread, flour, or any other farinaceous substance. This
application may also be made when the meat is nearly cooked. The
intention of it is to cover the meat with a thin brown crust, the savour
of which increases the relish of the dish. Fish are, for the most part,
treated in this manner when fried. It answers well with trout, whitings,
flounders, and soles. When this application is made to the meat
previously to its being put into the pan, the peculiar flavour of the
meat is more effectually retained. One of the best preparations for this
purpose is oatmeal, flour, or crumbs of stale bread, made into a liquid
paste with the yolk and white of eggs.
Vegetable, as well as animal substances, are subjected to this process,
though it is always at the expense of their wholesome and nutritive
qualities; and not always to the improvement of their taste and flavour.
As in the case of animal substances, all the juices are, by frying,
extracted from the vegetables; with this difference, however, that their
place is not supplied by the melted fat; for the starch of the
vegetables (potatoes for example) is rendered insoluble in water by the
fat, and exhibits a corneous appearance and texture. Fried potatoes are
the most familiar instance of the process. When cut into thin slices
and fried in oil, butter, or lard, they are rendered semi-transparent.
Cabbage, or the stalks, leaves, and fruits of other vegetable
substances, previously boiled and then fried, shrink, and become more
easy to break, in proportion as the water is driven off from them, as
this, during their previous boiling, dissolves the saccharine and
amylaceous matter which rendered them supple and juicy. These principles
are much better prepared and improved by boiling; they are very much
deteriorated by the boiling fat in the frying pan.
The melted fat, or oil, should always be brought to the boiling point,
or nearly so. The proper temperature is ascertained by putting into the
fat a few sprigs of parsley, a thin slice of turnip, or a piece of
bread, and if any of these substances become crisp without acquiring a
black colour, the fat is hot enough for frying; if it be made hotter,
it becomes blackened, and the meat acquires a burnt and unpleasant
flavour. Any sort of hard fat, such as beef suet, is the best fitted for
frying meat; because, fat of this description can be brought to a higher
temperature, without suffering decomposition, than either lard, butter,
or oil. There are, however, particular kinds of meat which answer better
with some one or other of these than with any of the rest. Fish, for
example, is best fried in oil.
A rich brown colour is communicated to the fried substance, by pressing
it, when nearly cooked, against the bottom of the pan.
The fire for frying should be kept sharp and clear, to keep the melted
fat at a sufficient high temperature, and without this precaution the
fried substance cannot be browned. If the temperature of the fat is not
hot enough, the fried meat will be sodden. Fish cannot be fried of a
good colour, and crisp, and firm texture, unless the fat is boiling hot.
Frying, though one of the most common culinary occupations, is one of
those that is least commonly performed.
Eggs are often fryed.
“Fresh butter, hissing in the pan, receives the yolk and white together
in its burning bosom. One minute or two and all the noise is over; and,
sprinkled with pepper, salt, and a few drops of vinegar, they appear
perfectly fit for the table. The _salamander_ is often held over them,
and accelerates the culinary process.”
_Rationale._--The process of frying is considerably different from those
which we have formerly been examining. In frying, the high temperature
of the melted fat has the effect of extracting (at least from the outer
surface) all the gelatine, osmazome and albumen, the place of which is,
in part, supplied by the melted fat entering between the fibres, and
gradually filling up the interstices. It is this circumstance which
prevents the fibres of fried meat from becoming hard and dry, and
preserves them in a tender and supple state. Meat which has been fried,
shrinks more in bulk than when boiled or roasted, in consequence of the
melted fat having a stronger influence in dislodging the animal juices.
It is this also which gives the meat the structure which has not unaptly
been compared to leather.
Taste informs us, independently of our _rationale_, that fried meat is
less gelatinous and less savoury than when simply boiled or roasted. It
is also less tender. The gelatine and other juices of the animal fibre,
which are extracted during the process may be discovered, after the
melted matter in the pan is suffered to settle, in the form of a rich,
brown, savoury jelly, which separates spontaneously from the rest of the
substance.