"Of course it would," said Mary.
"Then this is what we will do. We will provide a quantity of fat, as much as will half fill a good-sized iron saucepan. When we use this for frying, we shall find that if we are careful of it—that is, if we lift it from the fire as soon as it is done with, do not let it burn, and strain it—we can use it again and again and again. In fact, it may be used any number of times, and we keep adding fresh fat as we get it."
"But we could not fry pancakes in that way," said Margaret.
"No; I told you just now that pancakes and omelettes must be fried in a little fat. This process is generally called by cooks dry frying. When plenty of fat is used, and the food is boiled in the fat, the process is called wet frying."
"And how are we to tell which way is suitable for what we have to cook?" said Margaret.
"Ah, Margaret! you want to get on too quickly. To know which is the best way of treating different kinds of food is a large subject, and can only be learnt with time. I may tell you, however, that nearly all small things which can be quickly cooked, and can be covered with fat, may be wet fried. Things which need longer cooking, such as uncooked meat, bacon, sausages, &c., should be dry fried. Chops and steaks, too, are often dry fried, but they are best when broiled; and of broiling I must speak to you another day."
"We shall easily remember that wet frying is using plenty of fat, and dry frying is using very little fat," said Mary.
"Of course you will. And now for the kind of fat you are to use. There are four kinds of fat used in frying—dripping, oil, butter, and lard. Of these, dripping is the best and lard is the worst."
"But please, ma'am, lard is generally used, is it not?" said Mary, looking astonished.
"Indeed it is," replied Mrs. Herbert, "and this is the mistake which is made. Those who do not know have a great scorn for dripping. They sell it for a small sum to get it out of the way, and when they have done so they buy lard. Yet lard is more apt to make food taste greasy than any fat which can be used."