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EGGS, FRIED (another way)
Break the eggs into a pan of boiling fat, one by one, and fry them, taking care that the yolks do not harden. Serve them with white sauce or gravy, or with a forcemeat of sorrel.
A terse Victorian note on deep-frying eggs rather than pan-frying them. The method works, but it depends entirely on the fat being at the right heat and on the eggs going in one at a time.
- "Boiling fat" means hot, not bubblingFat does not boil; the phrase describes the shimmering, faintly rippling stage of lard or dripping at roughly 350-375F. Below that the white spreads and greases; much above it the edges brown and blister before the white sets.
- Depth and quantityUse enough fat that the egg floats free rather than sitting on the pan bottom, about an inch in a small deep pan. Fry no more than one or two at a time or the temperature drops and they weld together.
- The hinge: the yolk"Taking care that the yolks do not harden" is the whole instruction. In fat this hot the white sets in 30-45 seconds, so lift the egg out as soon as the white is opaque and firm at the edges; the yolk should still be liquid.
- Shaping the eggBreak each egg into a cup first, slide it in close to the surface of the fat, and use a spoon to fold the loose white back over the yolk as it sets.
- Fat to useThe recipe does not say which fat; lard or clarified beef dripping would be the likely household choices. Any neutral fat with a high smoke point behaves the same way; butter will not, as its milk solids burn well below the working temperature.
- Forcemeat of sorrelSorrel is the sharp, lemony leaf sold at farmers' markets in spring; 'forcemeat' here means a soft seasoned stuffing mixture, though the recipe gives no composition for it. Spinach with a squeeze of lemon is a common substitute when sorrel cannot be had.
- YieldCassell's gives none. Reckon two eggs a person as a light dish, one apiece if they are set on sauce as a garnish to something else.
The recipe is one of several methods filed under the plain heading of fried eggs. Eggs dropped into deep hot fat give the puffed, ragged-edged oeufs frits that French cookery books distinguish from oeufs sur le plat, cooked gently in a dish. The suggestion of white sauce, gravy or a sorrel forcemeat points to a sauced and garnished dish rather than a plain breakfast egg. Sorrel with eggs is a long-standing pairing in French and English kitchens, the acid of the leaf standing in for the lemon or vinegar that a modern cook would reach for, and sorrel was a common kitchen-garden crop.