Frying means cooking by _immersion_ in hot fat, butter, or oil. There is
no English word for what is called frying in a spoonful of fat, first
on one side, and then on the other. _Sauté_ is the French word, and
should be Anglicized. Ordinary cooks, instead of frying, invariably
_sauté_ every thing. Almost every article that is usually _sautéd_ is
much better and more economical _fried_; as, for instance, oysters,
fish, birds, cutlets, crabs, etc.
The fat should always be tested before the article is immersed. A little
piece of bread may be thrown in, and if it colors quickly, the fat is
ready, and not before. The temperature of hot grease, it will be
remembered, is much greater than that of boiling water, which can not
exceed a certain degree of heat, whether it boil slow or fast. Hot
grease reaches a very high degree of heat, and consequently the surface
of any thing is almost instantaneously hardened or crisped when thrown
into it. The inside is thus kept free from grease, and is quickly
cooked. An article first dipped in egg and bread-crumbs should be
_entirely_ free from grease when thus cooked, as the egg is hardened the
instant it touches the hot grease, and the oyster, croquette, cutlet, or
sweet-bread is perfectly protected. The same fat can be used repeatedly
for frying the same thing. The fat in which fish is fried should not be
again used for any thing except fish. Professional cooks have several
frying-kettles, in which fat is kept for frying different things. A
little kettle for frying potatoes exclusively should always be at hand.
One will see that this style of cooking is economical, as there is very
little waste of fat; and then fried articles need no other dressing.
After frying fish, meat, or vegetables, let the fat stand about five
minutes; strain, and then return it to the kettle, which should always
be kept covered, after it is once cold.
Beef suet, salted, is quite as good for frying as lard, and is much
cheaper. It is well to purchase it by the pound, and have it rendered in
the kitchen.
TO PREPARE GREASE FOR FRYING (_Professor Blot_).
Take beef suet, the part around the kidneys, or any kind of fat, raw or
cooked, and free of fibres, nerves, thin skin, or bones; chop it fine;
add to it whatever you may have of fat skimmed off the top of meat
soup; put it in a cast-iron or crockery kettle; set it on a moderate
fire; boil gently for fifteen minutes; skim it well during the process;
take from the fire, leave it five minutes, and then strain it; after
which, put it in pots, and keep them in a dry and cool place; cover the
pots well every time you have occasion to use, but never cover them
while the grease is warm. This grease is as good, if not better than any
other to fry fish, fritters, and other similar things, which require to
be entirely covered with grease.[A]