tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post2372426944087335286..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: “A Dish of Fryed Clams”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-50487671177925295332010-05-11T17:24:22.121-05:002010-05-11T17:24:22.121-05:00I would disagree with the idea that 18th century f...I would disagree with the idea that 18th century frying did not involve battering. Hannah Glasse, one of the most popularly published cooks in 18th century England (the Colonial Betty Crocker, if you will) describes frying battered fish in her book "The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy" (page 38 of the 1805 reprint). It may not be the thick, heavy, "more batter than meat" product that massmarket fryers sell today, but it is indeed a description of battering and frying fish for, as Mrs Glasse puts it, "Some love fish in a batter..."Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07430151102779191991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-45029192621976208732010-05-11T11:15:52.521-05:002010-05-11T11:15:52.521-05:00I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a difference ...I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a difference in the recipe, and perhaps some culinary historians have evidence from cookbooks or from the folks in Essex who claimed primacy. <br /><br />The Essex claim might have to be more narrowly expressed: “invented deep-fried clams” (except we don’t like to say “deep-fried” anymore, we just like to eat it) or “invented the modern fried clams we know and love.”J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-7695960340548290992010-05-11T06:30:18.768-05:002010-05-11T06:30:18.768-05:00I'm guessing what Dr. Alexander called 'fr...I'm guessing what Dr. Alexander called 'fryed' we likely would call sauteed or pan-fried, as opposed to battered and deep-fried like the clams of Essex.<br /><br />Washington Irving in his 'History of New York' from 1809 does note that the local Dutch made "balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat" (proto-donuts called olekoeks, or oil cakes), but to my knowledge there's no early 19th century description involving anthing being battered first and then fried.George Lovelynoreply@blogger.com