Recipe no. 95 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 55.
Ingredients
- bread
- oil
- salt
- sugar
- olive oil
Preparation
- General theoryFrying provides cooks with many ways to disguise what appeared the day before, and gives them, when needed, help for unforeseen situations; for it takes no longer to fry a 4-pound carp than to boil an egg.
- The concept of surpriseThe whole merit of good frying comes from the surprise; that is what is called the invasion of the boiling liquid which, at the very instant of immersion, chars or browns the outer surface of the body submitted to it.
- Effect of the processBy means of the surprise, a sort of vault forms which contains the object, prevents the fat from penetrating it and concentrates the juices, which thereby undergo an inner cooking that gives the food all the flavour it is capable of.
- Right temperatureFor the surprise to take place, the burning liquid must have acquired enough heat for its action to be sudden and instantaneous; but it only reaches this point after having been exposed long enough to a lively, blazing fire.
- Temperature testOne knows, by the following method, that the frying fat is hot to the desired degree: cut a piece of bread in the shape of a dipping finger and dip it into the pan for 5 to 6 seconds; if you take it out firm and coloured, proceed immediately with the immersion, otherwise the heat must be increased and the test repeated.
- Moderating after the surpriseOnce the surprise has taken place, moderate the heat so that the cooking is not too rushed and so that the juices you have enclosed undergo, through prolonged heat, the change that binds them together and heightens their flavour.
- Seasoning in fine powderThe surface of well-fried objects can no longer dissolve either the salt or the sugar that they nonetheless need. So you will not fail to reduce these two seasonings to a very fine powder, so that they gain a great ease of adherence and the fried food can be seasoned by simple contact.
- Choice of oilThe most delicate fish, like the most tender vegetables, should be fried with the finest olive oil available. Experience has taught us, moreover, that one should use olive oil only for operations that can be finished quickly or that do not require great heat, because prolonged boiling develops an unpleasant taste in it.
Reboul's text
On the subject of frying we believe we should borrow a few lines from Brillat-Savarin, the amiable author of the Physiologie du Gout; our readers will gain by it, for we have only the same things to say in substance, and we are far from claiming to express them as elegantly.
This passage is part of an address given by the author to his head assistant:
"Frying also provides cooks with many ways to disguise what appeared the day before, and gives them, when needed, help for unforeseen situations; for it takes no longer to fry a 4-pound carp than to boil an egg.
"The whole merit of good frying comes from the 'surprise'; that is what is called the invasion of the boiling liquid which, at the very instant of immersion, chars or browns the outer surface of the body submitted to it.
"By means of the surprise, a sort of vault forms which contains the object, prevents the fat from penetrating it and concentrates the juices, which thereby undergo an inner cooking that gives the food all the flavour it is capable of.
"For the surprise to take place, the burning liquid must have acquired enough heat for its action to be sudden and instantaneous; but it only reaches this point after having been exposed long enough to a lively, blazing fire.
"One knows, by the following method, that the frying fat is hot to the desired degree: cut a piece of bread in the shape of a dipping finger and dip it into the pan for 5 to 6 seconds; if you take it out firm and coloured, proceed immediately with the immersion, otherwise the heat must be increased and the test repeated.
"Once the surprise has taken place, moderate the heat so that the cooking is not too rushed and so that the juices you have enclosed undergo, through prolonged heat, the change that binds them together and heightens their flavour.
"You have no doubt observed that the surface of well-fried objects can no longer dissolve either the salt or the sugar that they nonetheless need, according to their various nature. So you will not fail to reduce these two seasonings to a very fine powder, so that they gain a great ease of adherence and the fried food can be seasoned by simple contact.
"The most delicate fish, like the most tender vegetables, should be fried with the finest olive oil available.
"Experience has taught us, moreover, that one should use olive oil only for operations that can be finished quickly or that do not require great heat, because prolonged boiling develops an unpleasant taste in it."
Small Provençal glossary for this recipe
Reboul writes in French: no Provençal word appears in this recipe, apart from the dish's name itself. The table below gives the Provençal equivalents of the words used, in mistralian spelling, translated by Lingua Nostra. Each form is attested in our Provençal-English dictionary; click to open the entry.
| Provençal | English |
|---|---|
| fregiduro | frying |
| bouiènt | boiling |
| trempo | immersion |
| sartan | pan |
| pan | bread |
| òli | oil |
| sau | salt |
| sucre | sugar |
| boui | boiling |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 95, page 55. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.