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Potatoes, Broiled
Take some cold potatoes; cut them lengthwise into slices half an inch thick, dredge a little flour lightly over these, and lay them on a hot gridiron over a clear but not very fierce fire. Turn them about that they may be equally coloured on both sides, and serve very hot. The slices must not be allowed to get hard, or they will be spoilt. Time, till browned. Allow two or three potatoes for each person. Probable cost, 1d. or 1 1/2d. per pound.
A leftovers dish that depends entirely on the potatoes being cooked, cooled and firm before they go near the heat. Warm or freshly boiled potatoes will collapse on the bars.
- Start with the right potatoesThe recipe asks only for cold potatoes; boiled or steamed ones, thoroughly cooled and firm, are what is wanted. A waxy variety holds its shape on a grill; floury bakers tend to crumble when turned.
- The gridironA gridiron is a grate of parallel bars set over coals. A ridged cast-iron grill pan over medium heat, or an outdoor grill once the flames have died to steady coals, does the same job. "Clear but not very fierce" means glowing embers with no smoke or flare-up.
- Grease the barsThe recipe says nothing about fat. In practice, brushing the bars and the potato slices lightly with oil or dripping will stop the flour coating sticking to the metal.
- The flourA very light dredge only, patted off. Its purpose is a thin crust that colours quickly; a heavy coating stays pale and pasty because there is no fat to fry it in.
- Time"Till browned" is about 3-4 minutes a side over steady medium heat. The warning against letting them harden is the hinge of the recipe: pull them while the outside is coloured and the inside still soft, and serve at once, as the recipe directs.
- SeasoningNone is specified. Salt and pepper the slices before they go on, and they take well to a scrape of butter at the table.
- Yield and costTwo or three potatoes per person as a side dish. The "1d. or 1 1/2d. per pound" is Victorian pre-decimal pricing and is of historical interest only.
Cassell's belongs to a generation of British household dictionaries that made frequent use of cold cooked potatoes, and the book carries a long run of ways to use them up: rissoles, cakes, hashes, and this one. Broiling over a gridiron was among the oldest methods in the English kitchen, predating the closed range, and it survived in these books long after the coal range arrived. The careful note of a probable cost per pound is a recurring feature of Cassell's and some other manuals of the period, and it reflects how cheap potatoes had become in Britain by the end of the nineteenth century.