When did deep frying come along?

[LME]

Interesting question.
Apparently frying or deep frying may be older than European settlement in the Americas. So, I guess the question is why it doesn't seem to have been a common thing here until post-revolution? Could it be a lack of large volumes of suitable oil/fat?
I recall a quote from something related to English Army practices in the American Colonies suggesting that all food be boiled to minimize illness. Related? I don't know...

I've always wondered how the fish was cooked when Christ performed his loaves and fishes miracle....

I would think the reason for boiling food as opposed to frying it in oil is for convenience? I can't imagine the amount of oil needed to fry food for an army. Water , on the other hand is usually easy to find, plus they needed to carry a certain amount of water to Drink and fill canteens.

 

[BillinOregon]

Made 1736 drumsticks this evening. I am a rookie deep fat fryer and my Presto cooker said not to use lard or shortening, so I caved and used peanut oil topped up with canola, which I despise and did it in the garage to keep the grease stink out of the house. It still came out very good, with great flavor. That marinade is the bomb, almost 300 years later, and that light flour, egg yolk and white wine batter was surprising light. I'll do this again in the cast iron dutch oven with lard.

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

Made 1736 drumsticks this evening. I am a rookie deep fat fryer and my Presto cooker said not to use lard or shortening, so I caved and used peanut oil topped up with canola, which I despise and did it in the garage to keep the grease stink out of the house. It still came out very good, with great flavor. That marinade is the bomb, almost 300 years later, and that light flour, egg yolk and white wine batter was surprising light. I'll do this again in the cast iron dutch oven with lard.

Bill, what did you use for the "sack"? I have no idea what that even is! The rest of it, and your statement, indicate it is indeed very tasty.
I am good for tasting/eating almost anything that has no danged bell peppers or an abundance of garlic. My very own mother made me sit at the table until I had eaten her stuffed bell peppers, even knowing I would break out in hives and have trouble breathing for several hours. Even the oil of it on other foodstuffs (i.e., pizza) will provoke the same reaction today.
Garlic - on my short leave following Navy bootcamp, I returned home to take my HS sweetie to her Senior Prom. Her mother graciously invited me to enjoy dinner with them before we left to go to the prom. Everything, including the peas, was heavily soaked with garlic, apparently with the thought that with that much garlic, the ***-starved Navy man would not be kissing her lovely virginal daughter.
Heck, both of us had eaten the meal! Good kisser she was!
But while I was in Vietnam, some lucky college guy jumped in...

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Bill, what did you use for the "sack"? I have no idea what that even is!

Historic "Sack" was a sweet, fortified sherry from Spain, and was very popular for a number of centuries. As far back as Elizabeth I, for in Shakespear's Henry V we find Falstaff saying,
If sack and sugar be a fault, God help the wicked! if to be old and merry be a sin, then many an old host that I know is damned: if to be fat be to be hated, then Pharaoh's lean kine are to be loved.

I too would like to hear what sort of substitute was used.

I would think the reason for boiling food as opposed to frying it in oil is for convenience? I can't imagine the amount of oil needed to fry food for an army. Water , on the other hand is usually easy to find, plus they needed to carry a certain amount of water to Drink and fill canteens.

Actually it was a health benefit. While germ-theory was not known to any but perhaps a handful of proto-scientists in the 18th century, the people of the 18th century and earlier did understand cause-and-effect, and had observed when all foods prepared in camp were boiled by the soldiers, various ailments did not often appear. The same was true for the sailors of the time. In fact historic analysis has shown there is a distinct drop in ailments, in many parts of the world, whenever tea and coffee appear as beverages, for the same reason. The water got sanitized in the preparation.

LD

 

[springfield art]

Did they deep fry him?

I think they turned him over a spit.

 

[Mina]

Did they deep fry him?

Plobly roasted 'em on a spit.

 

[Jay Templin]

Plobly roasted 'em on a spit.

And to this day his descendants all have a stick up their…
Jay

 

[BillinOregon]

I simply used some pinot grigio I keep on hand when white wine is called for in cooking.
I think this marinade would be also great for shrimp destined for the kebab skewer.

 

[Master Blaster]

I simply used some pinot grigio I keep on hand when white wine is called for in cooking.
I think this marinade would be also great for shrimp destined for the kebab skewer.

Wine is frequently called for in my recipes. I use Peter Vella's Delicious Red and I pour it into the cook at random intervals.

 

[BillinOregon]

MB, that means you are cooking like Graham Kerr ...