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Fried Shrimps
Shell and heat gently in a pan with a little butter, until the butter is melted and the shrimps heated through; season with pepper and send to the table encircled by thin slices of limes.
Barely a recipe by modern standards, and that is the point: the shrimp arrive already cooked, and the cook's whole job is to warm them without toughening them. Read it as a warm shrimp cocktail rather than anything fried.
- The shrimp are already cooked"Shell and heat gently" assumes shrimp that have already been boiled in the shell, as much market and canned shrimp of the period was. Use cooked shell-on shrimp, or poach raw ones for two to three minutes first, then peel.
- "Fried" is loose usageOlder cookbooks often used "fried" for anything cooked in a pan with fat, which would cover this gentle warming. There is no batter, no crumb and no hot fat here.
- Heat is the hingeCooked shrimp turn rubbery within a minute of real heat. Melt the butter over low heat, put the shrimp in off-boil, and toss for 60 to 90 seconds until just warm through. If the butter browns or sizzles hard, the pan is too hot.
- Butter quantity"A little butter" means enough to gloss the shrimp, roughly 1 tablespoon per half pound. Unsalted butter with a pinch of salt gives better control if the butter to hand is salted.
- Season more than pepperThe original calls only for pepper and relies on whatever salt the shrimp carry from boiling. Taste and salt as needed; cayenne is one option, though the recipe does not specify.
- Limes, not lemonsThin lime slices ring the dish as a garnish, and can be squeezed over. Cut them paper-thin so the rounds lie flat, and serve the shrimp hot with them cold.
- Yield and servingA pound of shell-on shrimp gives roughly 10 oz peeled and serves two as a small hot course, or four as a canape filling.
Shrimp in American cookbooks of this era sit awkwardly between luxury and convenience. Fresh shrimp spoiled fast and travelled badly, so outside the Gulf and Atlantic ports most households met them boiled and canned, which is why so many recipes of the period begin with shelling rather than cooking. That also explains the terseness here: the difficult part had been done by someone else, and the cook was buying a garnish and a squeeze of acid.