Home Today Is An 1802 Recipe Says Deep Fry Battered Onion Rings In Lard

An 1802 Recipe Says Deep Fry Battered Onion Rings In Lard

June 22nd recognizes a batter dipped and deep fried bite of deliciousness that runs rings around other appetizers.  It’s National Onion Rings Day!

Also found in Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and some parts of Asia, onion rings exact origin are unknown.

  • A recipe called “Fried Onions with Parmesan Cheese” is included in John Mollard’s 1802 cookbook The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined.  Within the recipe, it suggests cutting onions into 1/2 inch rings, dipping them into a batter made of flour, cream, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese then deep frying them in boiling lard. It recommends serving them with a sauce made of melted butter and mustard.
  • Some believe that a recipe for French Fried Onions (not claiming to be the originator of the recipe) appeared in the Middletown, NY Daily Times on January 13, 1910.
  • The Pig Stand restaurant chain, founded in Oak Cliff, Texas in the early 1920s is one of the claimants to the onion rings invention.
  • A recipe for deep-fried onion rings that are dipped in milk then dredged in flour appeared in a 1933 Crisco advertisement in The New York Times Magazine.  
  • In the 1960′s, the A&W restaurant is credited with popularizing the onion rings in fast food restaurants.
  • Eating parsley will help get rid of onion breath.
  • The fastest time to peel 50 pounds of onions is 2 minutes 39 seconds.
  • According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest onion ever grown weighed 10 lbs 14 oz and was grown by V. Throup of Silsden, England.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

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