Fricadels
Mince any cold meat; measure an equal quantity of bread, soften it with cold water, add it to the meat, and season it highly with salt and cayenne; to each pint add I raw egg; put the frying-kettle, half full of fat, over the fire to heat; lay a skimmer on a dish with a sheet of coarse brown paper, slightly wet the hands with cold water and make up the meat and bread in little cork-shaped rolls, dropping them as they are formed into a dish of rolled cracker or bread crumbs. When the fat begins to smoke put in as many of the fricadels as will float, and fry them; when they are brown take them up with the skimmer, lay them on the brown paper for a moment to free them from fat, and then serve them hot. Parsley, cress or celery leaves, or sliced lemon may be used for a garnish, or fried parsley.
A leftover-meat croquette, stretched with an equal volume of soaked bread. The recipe assumes a deep kettle of fat and a cook who judges heat by eye; a thermometer does the same job more reliably.
- Fat temperature"When the fat begins to smoke" is past the ideal point for most modern frying fats. Aim for 365-375F and hold it there; smoking lard or oil will darken the crumb coating before the centres warm through.
- Equal quantity of breadThe measure is by volume, not weight. Soak it in cold water, then squeeze it nearly dry before mixing, or the rolls will be too slack to shape.
- To each pint, one eggA pint is two cups of the combined meat-and-bread mixture. One egg is the minimum binder; if the mixture will not hold a cork shape on the palm, add a second egg or a spoonful more crumbs rather than more liquid.
- Season it highlyCold cooked meat tastes flat, and bread dilutes it further, hence the instruction. Salt assertively and taste a small pinch fried off in a skillet before rolling the whole batch.
- Brown paper and skimmerCoarse brown paper is a grease blotter; paper towels over a rack do it better. A skimmer means a flat perforated spoon or spider, not a slotted spatula, so the rolls can be lifted without breaking.
- Frying timeThe meat is already cooked, so the frying is only to set the egg and colour the crumbs: roughly 2-3 minutes, turning once, until deep gold. Longer and the bread interior dries to a paste.
- Fried parsleyFor the garnish, dry the sprigs thoroughly and drop them into the fat for a few seconds only. Wet parsley in hot fat spatters violently.
- YieldA pint of mixture makes a batch of small cork-shaped rolls, enough for three or four as a main dish with potatoes. Fry in batches so the fat temperature does not fall.
The name travels: the Dutch frikandel, German Frikadelle and Danish frikadeller all came to mean a seasoned patty or roll of minced meat, and the word has been linked to French fricandeau (a larded veal cushion), though the derivation is disputed. English and American cookbooks of the later nineteenth century borrowed the word loosely, and here it does precise work: a way to bring Monday's cold roast back to the table looking like something made on purpose. The equal measure of soaked bread is the economy at the heart of it, doubling the bulk, and the deep kettle of fat and the coarse brown paper place the recipe in a kitchen where frying was done in quantity and grease was blotted, not poured away.