To Boil Cauliflowers
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Trim off the outside leaves and cut the stems close to the cauliflowers.
Let them lie for an hour in plenty of cold water with a handful of salt to draw out insects.
Wash them very thoroughly.
Examine them well to ensure none remain.
Boil
Throw them into a large pan of boiling water salted as for asparagus, and clear off any scum.
Boil for 20 to 30 minutes until the stalks are tender.
Lift them out, dish them neatly, and serve with melted butter.
Cut the cauliflowers into small handsome tufts.
Boil them until three parts done.
Drain them well.
Batter and fry
Toss them for a moment in thick melted butter or white sauce.
Set them aside to cool.
When they are quite cold, dip them separately into the batter of Chapter V.
Fry them a light brown.
Arrange them neatly in a dish and serve them very hot.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
The step that matters
Boil only until three parts done. The cauliflower is partly cooked before frying so it finishes softening in the batter without turning mushy or falling apart in the hot fat.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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