A guide to modern cookery

one be working over a fire of such fierceness that the fat can return in a few seconds to the temperature it was at before the objects were immersed. 267—THE CARE OF THE FRYING MEDIUM Every time a frying fat is used it should, after having been melted, be strained through a towel, for the majority of objects which it has served to cook must have left some particles behind them which might prove prejudicial to the objects that are to follow. Objects that are “_panés_” always leave some raspings, for instance, which in time assume the form of black powder, while those that have been treated with flour likewise drop some of their coating, which, in accumulating, produces a muddy precipitate on the bottom of the utensil. Not only do these foreign substances disturb the clearness of the fat and render it liable to burn, but they are exceedingly detrimental to the objects that are treated later. Therefore, always strain the fat whenever it is used—in the first place because the proper treatment of the objects demands it, and, secondly, because its very existence as a serviceable medium depends upon this measure. 268—GRATINS This culinary operation plays a sufficiently important part in the work to warrant my detailing at least its leading points. The various kinds of the order “Gratins” are (1) the Complete Gratin; (2) the Rapid Gratin; (3) the Light Gratin; (4) Glazing, which is a form of Rapid Gratin. 269—COMPLETE GRATIN This is the first example of the series; it is that whose preparation is longest and most tiresome; for its principal constituent, whatever this is, must be completely cooked. Its cooking must moreover be coincident with the reduction of the sauce, which is the base of the gratin, and with the formation of the gratin proper, _i.e._, the crimped crust which forms on the surface and is the result of the combination of the sauce with the raspings and the butter, under the direct influence of the heat. In the preparation of complete gratin, two things must be taken into account:—(1) The nature and size