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Oyster Kromeskies
Make a batter with one cupful of flour, one-half cupful of water, one-half teaspoonful salt, a dash of pepper, tablespoonful of melted butter, the yolks of two eggs. Beat well, cut in the stiffly beaten whites and stand in a cool place two hours. For each kromeskies take a moderate sized oyster and one thin slice of lemon, pin together with a wooden toothpick, dip in the batter and fry in smoking hot fat. Remove the skewer before serving.
A fritter batter with beaten whites folded in, used to jacket a raw oyster and a slice of lemon. The whole thing succeeds or fails on the fat temperature and on how dry the oysters are.
- Dry the oystersDrain shucked oysters and blot them firmly between towels before dipping. Any liquor clinging to the surface will make the batter slide off in the fat and spit.
- "Smoking hot fat" means 375F"Smoking hot fat" -- the book gives no temperature. Modern deep-frying practice for fritters is around 375F, and a thermometer is more reliable than judging by eye. Fat that is genuinely smoking is past its smoke point and will taste scorched.
- Two minutes, not moreDo not overcook -- the recipe gives no time, but the oyster inside needs only brief cooking. Held longer it tightens into rubber, and the coating goes from crisp to hard.
- Why the batter restsThe two hours in a cool place is usually understood to let the flour hydrate so the coating clings and fries smooth. Note that the recipe folds the whites in before the rest, not after; folding them in just before frying instead is a departure from what is written.
- Slice the lemon paper-thinA thin slice of whole lemon, rind and all, is meant to season the oyster from inside the fritter. Cut it thick and you get a mouthful of bitter pith.
- ToothpicksSoak the wooden picks in water first so they do not char, and count them out before frying so you can be sure every one is retrieved. The instruction to remove the skewer before serving is not optional.
- Frying mediumThe recipe says only "smoking hot fat"; lard or another rendered fat would have been usual for the period, and any neutral oil with a high smoke point behaves the same. Fry only a few at a time so the temperature does not crash.
- YieldThe recipe gives no yield; this quantity of batter would coat something on the order of two dozen oysters. Serve immediately.
Kromeskies are usually traced to the Polish and Russian kromeski or krokiety, a croquette-type mixture wrapped in something thin -- classically a strip of blanched bacon or calf's udder -- then dipped in batter and deep-fried; the form entered English cookery through the Franco-Russian repertoire of nineteenth-century professional kitchens and appears in Victorian manuals in oyster, chicken and lobster versions. This one abandons the wrapper altogether in favor of a lemon slice pinned to a raw oyster.