Cooking With Hot Fat

Of the three mediums of conveying heat to food, namely, hot air, hot water, and hot fat, that of hot fat renders food the least digestible. Much of this difficulty, however, can be overcome if an effort is made to secure as little absorption of the fat as possible. If the ingredients of the food are properly mixed before applying the fat and if the fat is at the right temperature, good results can be obtained by the various methods of cooking with hot fat, which are frying, sauteing, and fricasseeing.

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Fracasseeing

A combination of sauteing and stewing results in the cooking process known as fricasseeing. This process is used in preparing such foods as chicken, veal, or game, but it is more frequently employed for cooking fowl, which, in cookery, is the term used to distinguish the old of domestic fowls from chickens or pullets. In fricasseeing, the meat to be cooked is cut into pieces and sauted either before or after stewing; then it is served with a white or a brown sauce. Ordinarily, the meat should be browned first, unless it is very tough, in order to retain the juices and improve the flavor. However, very old fowl or tough meat should be stewed first and then browned.

Frying

By frying is meant the cooking of food in deep fat at a temperature of 350 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Any kind of fat that will not impart flavor to the food may be used for frying, but the vegetable oils, such as cottonseed oils, combinations of coconut and cottonseed oils, and nut oils, are preferable to lards and other animal fats, because they do not burn so easily. Foods cooked in deep fat will not absorb the fat nor become greasy if they are properly prepared, quickly fried, and well drained on paper that will absorb any extra fat.

Sauteing

Browning food first on one side and then on the other in a small quantity of fat is termed sauteing. In this cooking process, the fat is placed in a shallow pan, and when it is sufficiently hot, the food is put into it. Foods that are to be sauted are usually sliced thin or cut into small pieces, and they are turned frequently during the process of cooking. All foods prepared in this way are difficult to digest, because they become more or less hard and soaked with fat. Chops and thin cuts of meat, which are intended to be pan-broiled, are really sauted if they are allowed to cook in the fat that fries out of them.