Home › Sect. 1.-Frying or Sauteing › Sect. 1.-Frying or Sauteing

Sect. 1.-Frying or Sauteing

497. THIS method of cooking is universally adopted among all classes, and in all nations where iron vessels are to be obtained. The French sauté is nothing more than their method of frying, but carried out with rather more care than usual. Whether in French or English cookery, however, frying is boiling in oil or fat; the chief difference being, that in our country only a little of this material is put into a shallow pan, while in France they half fill a somewhat deep iron vessel with oil or lard, and when this is hot enough they immerse the article to be fried in the oil till sufficiently brown. In French kitchens a vessel is set apart to receive this oil from day to day, and the same quantity serves for months together by straining it through a sieve-so that none is lost excepting that which is absorbed by the food in the process. In point of economy, therefore, the French beat us here, as in our method the fat left in the pan is seldom preserved till the next time, but it goes into a wash-tub or some other waste receptacle. Besides this loss, there is a still greater one occasioned by the mode in which the frying is conducted. In the French plan the fat or oil is first heated to such a temperature that it will convert water into steam directly a drop falls upon it, making it "spit," as the cooks say, At this stage the meat, or other article, is immersed, by which a coating of coagulated albumen is immediately made, soon to be partially carbonized or browned, but so rapidly formed that scarcely any juice is allowed to escape, and therefore the nourishing particles are not wasted; and, as the whole is immersed, the action is simultaneous on all sides. Contrast this with the English method, and it will be found that here, as soon as the lard is melted, the steak or other article is put into the pan, which is soon raised to a very high temperature, and contracts the fibrinous matter on the lower side, squeezing the gravy out on the upper, from which it may be seen to ooze in a full stream; and it is not until it is turned downwards that this is at all checked. The consequence of this is, that not only is there a great waste of nutritious matter, but the lard is mixed with a great quantity of good gravy, which is so rich that it is generally mixed with a little flour and spice, and eaten with the steaks. It is from this custom that the French do not understand dressing a beefsteak in the English fashion; but when frying it they do it to perfection in every respect but the gravy, which, being deficient from the nature of the process, is supplied by some sauce or other poured over it. A broiled steak they can accomplish if they can get the meat; but beef in Paris fit for such a process is rather rare. Hence it is that for steaks, when they are to be fried, the English method is really to be preferred; while for every other operation done in the frying-pan, the French plan will be found vastly superior, especially for fish, missolles, fritters, and every dish which is required to be served dry, as this cannot be accomplished unless they are completely immersed in boiling butter, lard, or oil. 98. THE FRYING-PAN should be, in some measure, proportioned to the size of the article to be fried, especially on the English plan; but for the French method, one large enough for a full-sized sole will equally serve for a sprat or a single cutlet. The English frying-pan is generally round and shallow, that is, about two inches deep. On the other hand, the French pan should be six or eight inches deep, and Fig. 129 131 133 132 135 134 136