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Corn Fritters
1 tablespoonful melted Crisco 1 can crushed corn 1 cupful flour 1 teaspoonful baking powder 2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/4 teaspoonful white pepper 3 tablespoonfuls milk Put corn into bowl, add Crisco, salt, pepper, flour, baking powder, and milk. Mix well and drop in spoonfuls on a Criscoed griddle. Fry brown on both sides. These fritters are a palatable accompaniment to roast chicken.
Sufficient for twelve fritters.
Corn, Okra and Tomatoes 2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 2 tablespoonfuls sugar Salt and pepper to taste 6 ears corn 6 okra pods 6 tomatoes 2 cupfuls water Cut corn from cob, put into saucepan, cover with water and bring to boil. Scald and skin tomatoes and cut okra into cross sections half inch long. Add both to corn with Crisco and seasonings. Stir and cook until tender.
Serve hot.
A plain griddle fritter of the batter-bound sort, closer to a savory drop pancake than a deep-fried fritter. It comes together in one bowl and cooks in minutes.
- CriscoCrisco is a vegetable shortening, still sold, though the modern product has been reformulated (trans fats removed in 2007) and is not identical to the 1910s article. Any neutral oil or melted butter works in the tablespoon called for; use a thin film of oil or shortening on the griddle rather than butter, which will brown before the fritters set.
- Canned crushed corn"Crushed corn" of the period appears to correspond broadly to what is now sold as cream-style corn; the recipe gives no can size, so a standard modern can (about 14-15 oz) is a reasonable substitution, though period cans were often larger. Whole kernel corn will work but gives a looser batter, so hold back a little of the milk.
- The saltTwo teaspoonfuls of salt for a single cup of flour and one can of corn is very heavy by modern palates, particularly with canned corn that is already salted. A half teaspoon is closer to the mark; taste a test fritter before cooking the rest.
- Griddle heatThe recipe specifies none; medium heat, in the region of 350-375F, suits a batter this thick. Give the fritters enough time per side to cook through to the center, since a hot griddle will color them before the interior sets.
- Batter consistencyThree tablespoons of milk is a guide, not a rule, since cream-style corn varies in liquid. The batter should mound on the spoon and spread only slightly on the griddle.
- YieldTwelve fritters, as stated, which serves four as a side. They hold in a 200F oven for the time it takes to cook the remaining batches.
The Story of Crisco was published by Procter & Gamble in 1913 to explain a product no cook had used before: a solid, shelf-stable fat made by hydrogenating cottonseed oil, introduced two years earlier. The recipes function largely as demonstrations, which is why a tablespoon of Crisco appears in the batter and the griddle is "Criscoed" rather than simply greased. Corn fritters themselves long predate the book and are firmly American, generally traced to the same tradition of corn cookery that produced johnnycake and corn oysters; the note that they suit roast chicken places them squarely as a vegetable side.