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Petits Pates--Small Patties
A delicate sort of small patties have the crust made by frying the coating of batter that will adhere to a solid copper shape that is dipped into it, by immersion in hot lard. The shell can be shaken off when done and the copper wiped and dipped in the batter again for another. The batter will not adhere if the copper shape is made too hot. The German pancake batter or that made for waffles will answer; the best for the purpose is the French frying batter made with oil and wine. Fill the shells with chicken or partridge or other minced meat.
The copper shape will hardly be found ready made. Get a copper bolt made into the outward shape and size of a very small fluted tumbler but solid, and a handle a foot or two in length fastened in the top to dip it by.
This is a timbale-iron shell: a batter case fried on a solid metal form, then filled. Everything depends on the temperature of the iron, which the original states but does not quantify.
- The hinge: iron temperatureThe form must be hot enough to fry the batter into a shell but not so hot that the batter slides off on contact. In practice, heat the iron in the fat, lift it, let it drain for a second or two, then dip. If nothing clings, the iron is too hot; if the coating is thick and pale, it is too cool.
- The toolThe "copper bolt" turned to the shape of a fluted tumbler is a timbale iron, still sold under that name alongside rosette irons. Handles on modern ones are six to eight inches, not the foot or two specified here; a deep pot and long tongs make up the difference.
- Fat and temperatureLard was standard; any neutral frying fat works. Hold it at 360-375F, deep enough to submerge the form to just below its rim so the shell has an open top.
- Dip depthDo not let batter run over the top edge of the form. If it does, the shell locks on and will tear rather than shake off. Wipe the form clean between shells as directed.
- The batter"French frying batter made with oil and wine" points to a pate a frire: a thin flour batter loosened with wine and a little oil, roughly the consistency of heavy cream. Period versions differ over whether egg is included. Waffle or German pancake batter is thicker and gives a sturdier, less delicate case.
- The fillingCook the mince fully and separately, bind it with a thick veloute or cream sauce, and fill the shells at the last moment. Filled shells soften quickly and are best not held.
- PartridgeWild partridge is not a supermarket item in the United States; farmed guinea fowl, quail or dark chicken meat gives the same effect. Any cooked poultry, veal or ham mince suits.
- Yield and servingA tumbler-sized form gives shells of about two bites. Count four to six per person as a first course or pass them as hot hors d'oeuvre.
- Holding the shellsUnfilled shells will keep for a short time in an airtight tin and can be crisped again in a low oven; they do not keep well in the refrigerator.
Timbale and rosette irons belong to a family of fried-batter work that runs through European pastry cooking, and the same principle produces Scandinavian rosettes, Indian achappam and the fluted cases sold in nineteenth-century American cookbooks as "timbale cases." That the author has to explain how to have the form made at all is the useful detail here: the irons were evidently not simply to be ordered, and one improvised from a copper bolt turned by a metalworker. Copper was the trade's default because it takes and gives up heat quickly, which is exactly what this technique needs. The filling instruction, minced chicken or partridge, marks the patty as a savoury dish.