Clam Fritters

The proportions here are given by ratio rather than by cup, which is workable once you fix a single quantity. Start from the liquid: one pint of combined clam juice and milk, four eggs, and flour added until the batter just holds its shape on a spoon.

• The hinge: batter thickness"Flour sufficient to stiffen" means a drop batter thick enough that a spoonful sits up rather than spreading. The recipe gives no flour quantity, so it has to be added by eye; with a pint of liquid and four eggs that will take several cups, depending on the flour and the wetness of the clams. Too thin and the fritters flatten and soak fat; too thick and the centres stay raw while the outsides brown.
• Clam juiceThe "juice" is the liquor released when the clams are shucked and chopped, strained of grit. Shucked clams often will not yield enough liquor for the quantity wanted, in which case bottled clam juice makes up the difference. The recipe wants equal parts juice and milk.
• Sweet milkSimply fresh unsoured milk, as distinct from the buttermilk or sour milk called for elsewhere in this book. Whole milk is the closest match.
• Chop, do not grindChopped fine means roughly the size of a pea. A food processor turns clams into a grey paste that makes the batter slack and gluey; a knife on a board is worth the few minutes.
• Seasoning and leaveningThe original assumes the cook will salt to taste; clam liquor is already saline, so season the batter lightly and taste a test fritter first. There is no baking powder called for, and the four eggs are the only lift. A teaspoon of baking powder is a common period-appropriate addition if you want them lighter.
• Frying"Fry like other fritters" points to deep fat rather than a shallow pan; the book itself gives no temperature, judging the fat by eye. In modern terms about 365F works. Drop by tablespoons, no more than six or seven at a time so the fat does not drop below 350F, and turn once. Three to four minutes total gives a cooked centre; the clams themselves need almost no time and will toughen if the fritters are held in the fat waiting for colour.
• YieldA pint of liquid makes a large batch of tablespoon-sized fritters, enough for a table of six to eight at breakfast. Drain on a rack rather than paper so the undersides stay crisp.