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French Fritters

A batter of flour, eggs, water, salt, and olive oil fried into golden fritters.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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French Fritters

Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

French Fritters

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Combine the flour in a bowl.

  2. Beat the egg yolks, then add the cold water and gradually stir into the flour, beating vigorously.

  3. Add the salt and olive oil, then fold in the egg whites beaten to stiff peaks.

  4. Let the batter rest for at least 2 hours, but no longer than 10 hours.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat oil in a kettle to 360°F (182°C).

  2. Spoon the batter into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on one side, then turn to brown the other side.

  3. Remove with a skimmer; avoid using a fork to prevent steam from escaping.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + olivetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,871 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Egg + olivetop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the structure of the batter that holds the fritter together while frying.
Eggs
Egg whites beaten to stiff peaks add lightness and help the fritters puff and stay airy.
Cold water
Moisture that thins the batter; cold liquid keeps it light and crisp when it hits hot oil.
Olive oil
Adds fat to the batter, contributing tenderness and helping the surface brown.

The step that matters

Heat the oil to 360°F (182°C) before frying. Oil that is too cool lets the batter soak up grease and turn heavy, while the hot oil sets the crust quickly. Keeping the temperature steady gives golden, crisp fritters.

“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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