Home › Potatoes › Potato Fritters
Potato Fritters
2 cups hot riced potatoes 2 tablespoons cream 2 tablespoons wine 1 teaspoon salt Few gratings nutmeg Few grains cayenne 3 eggs Yolks 2 eggs 1/2 cup flour Add cream, wine, and seasonings to potatoes; then add eggs well beaten, having bowl containing mixture in pan of ice-water, and beat until cold. Add flour, and when well mixed, drop by spoonfuls in deep fat, fry until delicately browned, and drain on brown paper.
A light potato fritter of the Fannie Farmer school, closer to a savoury beignet than to a hash-brown. The whole trick is temperature control: the batter must be cold going into hot fat.
- Chill the batterSetting the bowl in ice water while beating is not optional. A cold, stiff batter holds its shape when it hits the fat; a warm one slumps and drinks grease.
- Riced potatoesA ricer or food mill gives dry, fluffy strands with no gluey texture. Use a dry, mealy baking potato, and press it while hot. A food processor will turn potato to paste and ruin the fritters.
- The wineThe recipe specifies only 'wine'. A dry sherry or Madeira suits the savoury seasoning; two tablespoons is a seasoning, not a liquid measure, so avoid a sweet wine.
- EggsThe list gives three whole eggs plus the yolks of two more. Beat them thoroughly before adding, and add them with the bowl already set in ice water as directed, so the hot potato does not set them.
- Frying fatThe recipe gives no temperature; in modern terms deep fat of roughly 370-375F suits this batter. Fry in small batches so the temperature does not crash, and give the spoonfuls room; they puff. A few minutes is enough for a delicate brown.
- DrainingBrown paper was the period's paper towel. Any absorbent paper or a wire rack over a tray works better, since paper directly under the fritters traps steam and softens the crust.
- Yield and servingTwo cups of potato makes roughly 18-20 spoon-sized fritters, enough for four to six as a side. Serve immediately; they collapse as they cool.