No. 3045

Orange Fritters a la Talleyrand

Beignets d'Oranges a la Talleyrand

For one-third.—Cut two oranges into six pieces, leaving on the rind, then peel them closely and remove the seeds; besprinkle with fine sugar and drain on a cloth; dip each separate piece in frying batter (No. 137), and plunge into hot fat, and when of a fine color and very crisp drain these six pieces on a baking sheet and glaze the surfaces under a salamander (Fig. 123).

For one-third.-Peel a medium-sized orange, divide it as for orange glacees with caramel and immerse them in frying batter (No. 137), plunge into very hot fat, and when they have attained a fine color drain and besprinkle with vanilla sugar.

For one-third.—Peel three oranges to the pulp and pass a knife between the sections; take off all the skin and suppressing the seeds macerate in a little prunelle and sugar; wrap two pieces of orange in a rissole made of very thin brioche paste (No. 130), having it two and a quarter inches in diameter; fold the paste over and fasten the edges together, then put to rise in a mild temperature; fry to a fine color, drain well, dry and glaze with a light flavored icing (No. 102). Dress these three kinds of fritters on a napkin, all on the same dish, but in separate groups.

← No. 3044 Mundane Fritters Hot Entremets — Puddings, Fritters & Soufflés No. 3046 Singapore Fritters →

For the Modern Kitchen

Three separate fritters that share one platter, each supplying a third of the service. Ranhofer assumes you have his batter, brioche paste and icing numbers to hand; the notes below cover what those are and what the shorthand means.

"For one-third"Not a scaling instruction but a plating one: each of the three preparations makes one third of the finished dish, and they are grouped side by side on a napkin-lined platter.
Frying batter (No. 137)A cross-reference to Ranhofer's fritter batter, of the usual nineteenth-century type: flour slaked with a tepid liquid, a little oil and salt, rested, with stiffly beaten egg whites folded in at the last minute. Any light beer or tempura-style batter will behave similarly; fold the whites in shortly before frying.
Fat temperatureRanhofer distinguishes only "hot fat" for the first fritter from "very hot fat" for the second, and gives no figure for either. Fry the brioche rissoles more moderately than the battered pieces, since the enriched dough needs time to cook through before the outside colours.
SalamanderAn overhead radiant grill. A domestic broiler set high, with the tray close underneath, does the same work. Ranhofer sugars the orange pieces before they are battered and does not specify a further dusting before glazing. Watch it continuously, as sugar goes from glazed to burnt very quickly.
Cutting the first batchThe wording is compressed. Cut through the peel so the segments stay intact, then pare peel and pith away closely from each piece before sugaring. Ranhofer's "six pieces" matches the six pieces he drains later, so the two oranges yield six pieces in all.
PrunelleA sloe liqueur, still made in France and sometimes sold as prunelle de Bourgogne. Sloe gin is the nearest thing on most shelves; a good kirsch or Grand Marnier will do the same job of perfuming the macerated segments.
Brioche paste and risingNo. 130 is a yeast-raised brioche dough. Roll it very thin, cut 2 1/4-inch rounds, enclose two orange segments in each, seal firmly with a damp edge, and let them prove in a warm place until visibly puffed before frying. Seal them well: leaking syrup will spit in the fat.
Light flavoured icing (No. 102)A cross-reference; "light flavored" points to a thin water icing rather than a heavy one. Brush it on while the rissoles are still warm so it sets to a glaze.
Drain and serve at onceFried fruit collapses as it cools. Drain on a rack rather than paper so the undersides stay crisp, glaze, and send the platter out immediately.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's summary of thirty-odd years running the kitchen at Delmonico's in New York, and it is organised as a chef's reference rather than a home cookbook, which is why so many steps here are cross-references to numbered batters, pastes and icings elsewhere in the volume. The Talleyrand name attaches to a long list of nineteenth-century garnishes and preparations honouring Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, the diplomat whose table under Carême became a byword for French gastronomic prestige; as with most such dedications, the link is honorific rather than a record of anything the man himself ate. Oranges had also become far less of a rarity by the 1890s: rail and steamship freight from Florida, California and the Mediterranean made fresh fruit reliable enough for a restaurant to use several at once on a single platter. Serving three variations in separate groups on one napkin is characteristic of Delmonico's presentation.