18^th century

Curd Fritters

As I enjoy making cheese curd and using it in various dishes, curd fritters could not be missing from this book. The recipe below is from Eliza Smith and has been copied by Hannah Glasse in The Art of Cookery in 1747, along with many other of Eliza’s recipes. It must have been good for Glasse to include it.

To make Curd Fritters.

Take a handful of curds, a handful of flour, ten eggs well beaten and strained, some sugar, some cloves, mace, nutmeg, and a little saffron; stir all well together, and fry them in very hot beef-dripping; drop them in the pan by spoonfuls; stir them about till they are of a fine yellow brown; drain them from the suet, and scrape sugar on them when you serve.

Eliza Smith, The Compleat Housewife, 1727

Serves 2 (makes 20–22 fritters)

1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cups) milk, yields about 220–240 g (7¾–8¾ oz) cheese curd

1 tablespoon buttermilk or lemon juice

2 teaspoons vegetable rennet

5 eggs

a pinch each of sugar, ground cloves, mace, grated nutmeg and saffron threads

20 g (¾ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

butter or lard, for frying

Make the cheese curd by pouring the milk into a clean saucepan and heat to 37°C (98°F), otherwise known as body temperature or blood heat.

Turn down the heat and stir in the buttermilk or lemon juice, then the rennet in one large movement to spread it through the milk. Remove from the heat and allow to stand in the pan for 15–30 minutes until it has set, then transfer to a bowl lined with muslin (cheesecloth), tie the cloth at the top, and hang it up to drain for 5 hours. You can do this the day before, and keep the curds in the fridge.

To make the fritters, combine the cheese curd with the eggs and the spices and stir well. Now sift in the flour and whisk into a batter as for pancakes, yet slightly thicker.

Melt a generous knob of butter or lard in a heavy-based frying pan and scoop in the batter in small batches. Fry on both sides until golden.

Serve with fine sugar for a traditional flavour, with lemon juice, honey, or fresh or stewed fruit. A little raspberry vinegar would be very good too.

Instead of making your own cheese curds, substitute 240 g (8¾ oz) of unsalted ricotta cheese.