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To Fry Celery
Cold boiled celery will answer for this purpose. Split 3 or 4 heads, dip the pieces into clarified butter, and fry them until they are lightly browned; lay them on some blotting-paper for a minute to drain off the fat, and pile them like sugar biscuits on a napkin. Garnish the dish prettily with parsley. They may be dipped in batter before frying, and served with melted butter, or with good brown sauce made with the gravy in which they were boiled. Time to fry, ten minutes.
A way of using up celery already boiled from a previous meal, turned into a fried side dish or garnish. The technique is sound; only the vessels, the draining paper and the frying time need adjusting.
- "Heads" of celeryA head here is the whole bunch, not a single rib. Celery of the period was commonly earthed up and blanched to keep the stalks pale, and heads were probably smaller than a modern supermarket bunch; two of today's bunches, trimmed of their coarse outer ribs, are a reasonable stand-in for three or four of the originals.
- Start from properly cooked celeryThe celery must be tender before it goes near the fat, since ten minutes of frying will not soften a raw rib. Simmer the split heads in salted water or stock until a knife slips in easily, then drain and cool completely so they are dry enough to brown.
- Clarified butterButter with the milk solids removed, which will take frying heat without blackening. Melt unsalted butter gently, skim the foam and pour off the clear fat, leaving the milky residue behind; ghee is made the same way but cooked longer, and can be bought ready-made as a close substitute.
- Frying timeTen minutes is longer than already-boiled celery needs on a modern hob, and risks collapsing it. Three to four minutes over medium-high heat, turning once, is usually enough; stop when the edges have taken colour.
- Blotting-paperKitchen paper on a rack does the job. Blotting paper is unsized, which is what makes it absorbent; plain white kitchen towel is the modern equivalent, and a minute is enough before the pieces begin to steam.
- "Piled like sugar biscuits"An instruction about arrangement rather than shape: stack the drained pieces in a low pyramid on the napkin, as the recipe's own comparison to a pile of biscuits suggests. Serve at once, as fried celery goes limp as it cools.
- The batter and sauce variantsA thin frying batter suits the second version; make it slack enough to coat rather than cling. The brown sauce is built on the celery cooking liquid, so reserve and reduce it rather than pouring it away.
- YieldThe original gives no quantity; two modern bunches should serve about four as a side dish, or stretch further as a garnish.