No. 682

Marrow Fritters Garnishing

Garniture de Beignets de Moelle

Cut some beef marrow in thick slices, and plunge them into boiling water, then drain and leave them to get cold. Dip each separate piece into bread-crumbs, then in beaten egg, and again in bread-crumbs, and fry them a fine golden color in very hot frying-fat. A separate sauce-boat of half-glaze sauce (No. 413) should be served at the same time.

← No. 681 Marrow and Chives Canapes Garnishing Garnishings No. 683 Marrow Fritters with Truffles Garnishing →

For the Modern Kitchen

A garnish from Ranhofer's The Epicurean, meant to be set around a roast or a braised joint rather than eaten alone. The whole thing turns on temperature: warm marrow liquefies, and a fritter made from soft marrow will empty itself into the fat.

Get the marrow firstAsk for beef femur bones cut into 2-3 inch lengths, or buy them already split. Soak them in cold salted water for several hours to loosen the marrow, then push it out in one piece with a thumb or the handle of a spoon. Two large bones give enough for a garnish for six.
Thick slices means thickCut rounds about three-quarters of an inch; the original gives no measurement. Thinner slices are more likely to melt away inside the crust during frying and leave a hollow shell.
The blanching is the hingeThe original says to plunge the slices into boiling water; a brief blanch is enough to firm the outside, and prolonged boiling will begin to render the fat. Drain, spread the slices on a plate, and chill them thoroughly — an hour in the refrigerator, or fifteen minutes in the freezer. They should be cold and stiff when they go into the egg.
Crumb, egg, crumbThe original does specify crumbs first, then egg, then crumbs again, though it gives no reason; a first dusting of dry crumbs plausibly gives the egg something to grip on a wet, fatty surface. Fine dry breadcrumbs suit the coating better than panko. Chill the breaded pieces again before frying.
"Very hot frying-fat"No temperature is given; around 375F is the usual modern equivalent. Lower than that and the marrow may melt before the crust sets; the fritters need only about a minute, until golden. Fry in small batches so the oil does not drop.
Half-glaze sauceRanhofer's No. 413 is what a modern kitchen calls demi-glace — brown stock reduced with espagnole. A good reduced beef stock, glossy and lightly thickened, stands in for it; serve it separately as directed, since sauce poured over the fritters softens the crust at once.
Quantity and useReckon two or three fritters per person as a garnish for grilled or roasted beef. They are rich enough that a larger portion becomes tiring.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York, published The Epicurean in 1894 as a full working manual of the French kitchen he ran, and its long Garnishings section reflects a style of service in which a roast arrived surrounded by small constructed items rather than plated as a single portion. Beef marrow was a standard luxury ingredient in that tradition — folded into forcemeats, spread on canapés (Ranhofer's No. 681, immediately preceding this one) — and its appeal was texture as much as flavor, since it turns to a warm cream on the tongue. Frying it in a crumb shell is a way of holding that softness in place long enough to reach the table. Marrow became less common on restaurant menus over the twentieth century, though it never left classical French preparations such as entrecôte à la bordelaise, and it returned to prominence roasted in the split bone rather than dressed up in a coating — a signature dish at St. John in London from the mid-1990s.