Recipe of the Month: Fried Apples from Miss Parloa (1897)
Miss Parloa’s Young Housekeeper: Designed Especially to Aid Beginners : Economical Receipts for Those Who Are Cooking for Two or Three (1897) by Maria Parloa (Special Collections Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive Cookery 1897 Pa)
Miss Parloa was a household name in late 19th century America. As the author of numerous well-known cookbooks, teacher of cooking schools in Boston and New York, and the domestic editor for The Ladies’ Home Journal, Maria Parloa rose far above the obscurity of her origins as an orphan and domestic servant. Her recipe for fried apples is a winner, especially if you can obtain Northern Spy apples!
Miss Parloa's Young Housekeeper: Designed Especially to Aid Beginners: Economical Receipts for Those who are Cooking for Two or Three (1897) offers a wealth of advice for young women setting up house, from managing servants (or managing without servants), from a furnace to setting the table, and several hundred recipes to serve a small family. Among them is this recipe for “Fried Apples:”
Fried Apples 1 quart of tart apples 2 tablespoonfulls of drippings 1 tablespoonful of sugar Pare and slice the apples. Put the drippings in a frying pan and set on the fire. When hot, add the apples. Cover the pan and cook until the apples are tender, turning them often. Add the sugar, and cook ten minutes longer. These are particularly good when served hot with fresh pork.
Miss Parloa’s fried apples proved much more successful than last month’s experiment with avocado toast. A quart of apples is 4 cups, sliced, but this recipe is also easily halved for smaller quantities. If you would prefer to avoid drippings, you can substitute either butter or margarine.
