Welcome to Celtnet's Eliza Acton's Chapters 2 (Fish) Page — Here you will find the full text from the second chapter: Fish of Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery As well as the full text this page also provides links out to the overall index of the book and links to modern redactions of each and every recipe (where practicable). This site builds a complete library of Eliza Acton recipes, allowing the modern cook to make them at home today. Enjoy...
CHAPTER II.
Fish
TO CHOOSE FISH.
The cook should be well acquainted with the signs of freshness and good condition in fish, as they are most unwholesome articles of food when stale, and many of them are also dangerous eating when they are out of season. The eyes should always be bright, the gills of a fine clear red, the body stiff, the flesh firm, yet elastic to the touch, and the smell not disagreeable. When all these marks are reversed, and the eyes are sunken, the gills very dark in hue, the fish itself flabby and of offensive colour, it is bad, and should be avoided. The chloride of soda, will, it is true, restore it to a tolerably eatable state, * if it be not very much over-kept, but it will never resemble in quality fish that is fresh from the water.
A good turbot is thick, and full fleshed, and the under side is of a pale cream colour or yellowish white; and when this is of a bluish tint, and the fish is thin and soft, it should be rejected. The same observations apply equally to soles.
The best salmon and cod fish are known by a small head, very thick shoulders, and a small tail; the scales of the former should be bright, and its flesh of a fine red colour; to be eaten in perfection it should be dressed as soon as it is caught, before the curd (or white substance which lies between the flakes of flesh) has melted and rendered the fish oily. In that state it is really crimp, but continues so only for a very few hours; and it bears therefore a much higher price in the London market then, than when mellowed by having been kept a day or two.
The flesh of cod fish should be white and clear before it is boiled, whiter still after it is boiled, and firm though tender, sweet and mild in flavour, and separated easily into large flakes. Many persons consider it rather improved than otherwise by having a little salt rubbed along the inside of the back-bone and letting it lie from twenty-four to forty-eight hours before it is dressed. It is sometimes served crimp like salmon, and must then be sliced as soon as it is dead, or within the shortest possible time afterwards.
Herrings, mackerel, and whitings, unless newly caught, are quite uneatable. When they are in good condition their natural colours will be very distinct and their whole appearance glossy and fresh. The herring when first taken from the water is of a silvery brightness; the back of the mackerel is of a bright green marked with dark stripes; but this becomes of a coppery colour as the fish grows stale. The whiting is of a pale brown or fawn colour with a pinkish tint; it appears dim and leaden-hued when no longer fresh.
Eels should be alive and brisk in movement when they are purchased, but the "horrible barbarity," as it is truly designated, of skinning and dividing them while they are so, is without excuse, as they are easily destroyed "by piercing the spinal marrow close to the back part of the skull with a sharp pointed knife, or skewer. If this be done in the right place all motion will instantly cease." We quote doctor Kitchener's assertion on this subject; but we know that the mode of destruction which he recommends is commonly practiced by the London fishmongers. Boiling water also will immediately cause vitality to cease, and is perhaps the most humane and ready method of destroying the fish.
Lobsters, prawns, and shrimps are very stiff when freshly boiled, and the tails turn strongly inwards; when these relax, and the fish are soft and watery, they are stale; and the smell will detect their being so instantly even if no other symptoms of it be remarked. If bought alive, lobsters should be chosen by their weight and "liveliness." The hen lobster is preferred for sauce and soups, on account of the coral; but the flesh of the male is generally considered a finer flavour for eating. The vivacity of their leaps will show when prawns and shrimps are fresh from the sea.
Oysters should close forcibly on the knife when they are opened : if the shells are apart ever so little they are losing their condition, and when they remain far open the fish are dead, and fit only to be thrown away. Small plump natives are very preferable to the larger and coarser kinds.
TO CLEAN FISH.
Let this be done always with the most scrupulous nicety, for nothing can more effectually destroy the appetite, or disgrace the cook, than fish sent to table imperfectly cleaned. Handle it lightly, and never throw it roughly about, so as to bruise it; wash it well, but do not leave it longer in the water than is necessary ; for fish, like meat, loses its flavour from being soaked. When the scales are to be removed, lay the fish flat upon its side, and hold it firmly with the left hand, while they are scraped off with the right; turn it, and when both sides are done, pour or pump sufficient water over to float off all the loose scales; then proceed to open and empty it; and do this without opening it more than is absolutely necessary for the purposes of cleanliness. Be sure that not the slightest particle of offensive matter be left in the inside; wash out the blood entirely, and scrape or brush it away, if needful, from the back-bone. This may easily be accomplished, without opening the fish so much as to render it unsightly when it is sent to table. When the scales are left on, the outside of the fish should be well washed and wiped with a coarse cloth, drain gently from the heat to the tail. Eels to be wholesome should be skinned, but they are sometimes dressed without; boiling water should then be poured upon them, and they should be left in it from five to ten minutes before they are cut up. The dark skin of the sole must be stripped off when it is fried, but should be left on it like that of turbot when the fish is boiled, and should be dished with the white side upwards. Whitings are skinned before they are egged and crumbed for frying, but for boiling or broiling, the skins are left on them. The gills of all fish (the red mullet sometimes excepted) must be taken out. The fins of a turbot, which are considered a great delicacy, should be left untouched; but those of most other fish must be cut off.
TO KEEP FISH.
We find that all the smaller kinds of fish keep best if emptied and cleaned as soon as they are brought in, then wiped gently as dry as they can be, and hung separately by the head on the hooks in the ceiling of a cool larder, or in the open air when the weather will allow. When there is danger of their being attacked by flies, a wire safe, placed in a strong draught of air, is better adapted to the purpose. Soles in winter will remain good a couple of days when thus prepared; and even whitings and mackerel may be kept so without losing any of their excellence. Salt may be rubbed slightly over cod fish, and well along the back-bone, but it injures the flavour of salmon, the inside of which may be rubbed with vinegar, and pepper instead. When excessive sultriness renders all of these modes unavailing, the fish must at once be partially cooked to preserve it, but this should be avoided if possible, as it is very rarely so good when this method is resorted to.
TO SWEETEN TAINTED FISH.
The application of strong vinegar, or of acetic acid (which may be purchased at the chemists'), will effect this when the taint is but slight. The vinegar should be used pure; and one wineglassful of acetic acid should be mixed with two of water. Pour either of these over the fish, and rub it on the parts which require it; then leave it untouched for a few minutes, and wash it afterwards well, changing the water two or three times. When the fish is in a worse state the chloride of soda, from its powerful anti-putrescent properties, will have more effect: it may be diluted, and applied in the same manner as the acid.
Obs.—We have retained here the substance of the directions which we had given in former editions of this book for rendering eatable fish (and meat) tainted by being closely packed or overkept; and it is true that they may be deprived of their offensive flavour and odour by the application of strong acids and other disinfecting agents, Mr Beaufoy's chloride of soda more especially—but we are very doubtful whether they can by any process be converted into unquestionably wholesome food, unless from some accidental circumstance the mere surface should be affected, or some small portion of them, which should be entirely cut away. We cannot, therefore, conscientiously recommend the false economy of endangering health in preference to restricting them from the table altogether.
THE MODE OF COOKING BEST ADAPTED TO DIFFERENT KINDS OF FISH.
It is not possible, the reader will easily believe, to insert in a work of the size of the present volume, all the modes of dressing the many varieties of fish which are suited to our tables ; we give, therefore, only the most essential receipts in detail, and add to the such general information as may, we trust, enable even a moderately intelligent cook to serve all that may usually be required, without difficulty.
There is no better way of dressing a good turbot, John Dory, or cod's head and shoulders, than plain but careful boiling. Salmon is excellent in almost every mode in which it can be cooked, or used. Boiled entire or in crimped slices; roasted in a cradle-spit or Dutch oven; baked; pickled and soused (this is the coarsest and least to be recommended process for it, of any); made into a raised or common pie, or a potato-pastry ; served cold in or with savoury jelly, or with a Mayonnaise sauce; or laid on potatoes and baked, as in Ireland, it will be found Good.
Soles may be either boiled, or baked, or fried entire, or in fillets; curried; stewed in cream; or prepared by any of the directions given for them in the body of this chapter.
Plaice, unless when in full season and very fresh, is apt to be watery and insipid; but taken in its perfection and carefully cooked it is very sweet and delicate in flavour. If large, it may be boiled with advantage either whole or in fillets; but to many tastes it is very superior when filleted, dipped into egg and bread crumbs, and fried. The flesh may also be curried; or the plaice may be converted into water-souchy, or soupe-maigre : when small it is often fried whole.
Red mullet should always be baked, broiled, or roasted : it should on no occasion be boiled.
Mackerel, for which many receipts will be found in this chapter, when broiled quite whole, as we have directed, or freed from the bones, divided, egged, crumbed, and fried, is infinitely superior to the same fish cooked in the ordinary manner.
The whiting, when very fresh and in season, is always delicate and good ; and of all fish is considered the best suited to invalids. Perhaps quite the most wholesome mode of preparing it for them, is to open it as little as possible when it is cleansed, to leave the skin on, to dry the fish well, and to broil it gently. It should be sent very hot to table, and will require no sauce: twenty minutes will usually be required to cook it, if of moderate size.
The haddock is sometimes very large. We have had it occasionally from the southern coast between two and three feet in length, and it was then remarkably good when simply boiled, even the day after it was caught, the white curd between the flakes of flesh being like that of extremely fresh salmon. As it is in full season in mid-winter, it can be sent to a distance without injury. It is a very firm fish when large and in season ; but, as purchased commonly at inland markets, is often neither fine in size nor quality. One of the best modes of cooking it is, to take the flesh entire from the bones, to divide it, dip into egg and bread-crumbs, mixed with savoury herbs finely minced, and a seasoning of salt and spice, and to fry it like soles. Other receipts for it will be found in the body of this chapter.
The flesh of the gurnard is exceedingly dry, and somewhat over firm but when filled with well-made forcemeat and gently baked, it is much liked by many persons. At good tables, it is often served in fillets fried or baked, and richly sauced : in common cookery it is sometimes boiled.
Portions only of the skate, which is frequently of enormous size, are used as food : these are in general cut out by the fisherman or by the salesman, and are called the wings. The flesh is commonly served here divided into long narrow fillets, called crimped skate, which are rolled up and fastened, to preserve them in that form, while they are cooked. In France, it is sent to table raised from the bones in large portions, sauced with beurre-noir (burned or browned butter), and strewed with well-crisped parsley.
Trout, which is a delicious fish when stewed in gravy, either quite simply, or with the addition of wine and various condiments, and which when of small size is very sweet and pleasant, eating nicely fried, is poor and insipid when plainly boiled. *
Pike, of which the flesh is extremely dry, is we think better baked than dressed in any other way; but it is often boiled.
Carp should either be stewed whole in the same manner as trout, or served cut in slices, in a rich sauce called a matelote.
Smelts, sand-eels, and white-bait are always fried; the last two sometimes after being dipped in batter.
THE BEST MODE OF BOILING FISH.
We have left unaltered in the following receipts the greater number of our original directions for boiling fish, which were found when carefully followed, to produce a good result ; but Baron Liebeg and other scientific writers explain clearly the principles on which the nutriment contained in fish or flesh is best retained by bringing the surface of either when it is cooked, into immediate contact with boiling water ; and then (after a few minutes of ebullition) lowering the temperature by the addition of cold water, and keeping it somewhat below the boiling point for the remainder of the process. This method is at least worthy of a trial, even if it be attended with a slight degree more of trouble than those in general use; but when fish is served with a variety of other dishes, the escape of some portion of its nutritious juices is of less importance than when it forms the principal food of any part of the community : in that case, the preservation of all the nourishment which can be derived from it, is of read consequence.
Directions.—Throw into as much water as will cover the fish entirely, a portion of the salt which is to be added in cooking it, and when it boils quickly take off the scum, lay in the fish, and let it boil moderately fast from three to ten minutes, according to its weight and thickness; then pour in as much cold water as there is of the boiling, take out a part, leaving sufficient only to keep the fish well covered until it is ready to serve; add the remainder of the salt, draw the fish-kettle to the side of the fire, and keep the water just simmering, and no more, until the fish is done.
The cook will understand that if a gallon of water be required to cover the fish while it is cooking, that quantity must be made to boil and that a gallon of cold must be added to it after the fish has been laid in, and kept boiling for a few minutes. For example :—A large turbot or cod's head for ten minutes; a moderate-sized plaice or John Dory, about five; and whitings, codling, and other small fish, from three to four minutes. That one gallon must then be taken out of the kettle, which should immediately be drawn from the fire, and placed at the side of the stove, that the fish may be gradually heated through as the water is brought slowly to the point of simmering.
The whole of the salt may be added after a portion of the water has been withdrawn, when the cook cannot entirely depend on her own judgement for the precise quantity required.
Obs.—This is the best practical application that we can give of Baron Liebeg's instructions.
BRINE FOR BOILING FISH.
Fish is exceedingly insipid if sufficient salt be not mixed with the water in which it is boiled, but the precise quantity required for it will depend, in some measure, upon the kind of salt which is used. Fine common salt is that for which our directions are given; but when the Maldon salt, which is very superior in strength, as well as in its other qualities, is substituted for it, a smaller quantity must be allowed. About four ounces to the gallon of water will be sufficient for small fish in general; and additional ounce, or rather more, will not be too much for cod fish, lobsters, crabs, prawns, and shrimps; and salmon will require eight ounces, as the brine for this fish should be strong : the water should always be perfectly well skimmed from the moment the scum begins to form upon the surface.
Mackerel, whiting, and other small fish, 4 ounces of salt to a gallon of water. Cod fish, lobsters, crabs, prawns, shrimps, 5 to 6 oz. Salmon, 8 oz.
TO RENDER BOILED FISH FIRM.
Put a small bit of saltpetre with the salt into the water in which it is boiled : a quarter-ounce will be sufficient for a gallon.
TO KNOW WHEN FISH IS SUFFICIENTLY BOILED, OR OTHERWISE COOKED.
If the thickest part of the flesh separates easily from the back-bone, it is quite ready to serve, and should be withdrawn from the pan without delay, as further cooking would be injurious to it. This test can easily be applied to a fish which has been divided, but when it is entire, it should be lifted from the water when the flesh of the tail breaks from the bone, and the eyes loosen from the head.
TO BAKE FISH.
A gentle oven may be used with advantage, for cooking almost every kind of fish, as we have ascertained from our own observation; that it must be subjected to a mild degree of heat only. This penetrates the flesh gradually, and converts it into wholesome succulent food; whereas, a hot oven evaporates all the juices rapidly, and renders the fish hard and dry. When small, they should be wrapped in oiled or buttered paper before they are baked ; and when filleted, or left in any other form, and placed in a deep dish with or without any liquid before they are put into the oven, a buttered paper should still be laid closely upon them to keep the surface moist. Large pieces of salmon, conger eel, and other fish of considerable size are sometimes in common cookery baked like meat over potatoes pared and halved.
FAT FOR FRYING FISH.
This, whether it be butter, lard, or oil should always be excellent in quality, for the finest fish will be rendered unfit for eating if it be fried in fat that is rancid. When good, and used in sufficient quantity, it will serve for the same purpose several times, if strained after each frying, and put carefully away in a clean pan, provided always that it has not been smoked nor burned in the using.
Lard renders fish more crisp than butter does; but fresh, pure olive-oil ( salad oil, as it is commonly called in England) is the best ingredient that can be used for it, and as it will serve well for the same purpose, many times in succession, if strained and carefully stored as we have already stated, it is not in reality so expensive as might be supposed for this mode of cooking. There should always be an ample quantity of it (or of any other friture*) in the pan, as the fish should be nearly covered with it, at the least; and it should cease to bubble before either fish or meat is laid into it, or it will be too much absorbed by the flesh, and will impart neither sufficient firmness, nor sufficient colour.
TO KEEP FISH HOT FOR TABLE.
Never leave it in the water after it is done; but if it cannot be sent to table as soon as it is ready to serve, lift it out, lay the fish-plate into a large and very hot dish, and set it across the fish-kettle; just dip a clean cloth into the boiling water, and spread it upon the fish; place a tin cover over it, and let it remain so until two or three minutes before it is wanted, then remove the cloth, and put the fish back into the kettle for an instant that it may be as hot as possible; drain, dish, and serve it immediately : the water should be kept boiling the whole time.
TO BOIL A TURBOT.
[In season all the year.]
A fine turbot, in full season, and well served, is one of the most delicate and delicious fish that can be sent to table; but it is generally an expensive dish, and its excellence so much depends on the manner in which it is dressed, that great care should be taken to prepare it properly. After it is emptied, wash the inside until it is perfectly cleansed, and rub lightly a little fine salt over the outside, as this will render less washing and handling necessary, by at once taking off the slime; change the water several times, and when the fish is as clean as it is possible to render it, draw a sharp knife through the thickest part of the middle of the back nearly through to the bone. * Never cut off the fins of a turbot when preparing it for table, and remember that it is the dark side of the fish in which the incision is to be made, to prevent the skin of the white side from cracking. Dissolve in a well-cleaned turbot, or common fish-kettle, in as much cold spring water as will cover the fish abundantly, salt, in the proportion of four ounces to the gallon; wipe the fish-plate with a clean cloth, lay the turbot upon it with the white side upwards, place it in the kettle, bring it slowly to boil, and clear off the scum thoroughly as it rises. Let the water only just simmer until the fish is done, then lift it out, drain, and slide it gently on to a very hot dish, with a hot napkin neatly arranged over the drainer. Send it immediately to table with rich lobster sauce, good plain melted butter. For a simple dinner, anchovy, or shrimp-sauce is sometimes served with a small turbot. Should there be any cracks in the skin of the fish, branches of curled parsley may be laid lightly over them, or part of the inside coral of the lobster, rubbed through a fine hair-sieve, may be sprinkled over the fish ; but it is better without either, when it is very white, and unbroken. When garnishings are in favour, a slice of lemon and a tuft of curled parsley may be placed alternately round the edge of the dish. A border of fried smelts, or of fillets of soles, was formerly served round a turbot, and is always a very admissible addition, though no longer so fashionable as it was. From fifteen to twenty minutes will boil a moderate-sized fish, and from twenty to thirty a large one; but as the same time will not always be sufficient for a fish of the same weight, the cook must watch it attentively, and lift it out as soon as its appearance denotes its being done.
Moderate sized-turbot, 15 to 20 minutes. Large, 20 to 30 minutes. Longer, if of unusual size.
Obs.—A lemon gently squeezed, and rubbed over the fish, is thought to preserve its whiteness. Some good cooks still put turbot into boiling water, to prevent its breaking, tie it with a cloth tightly to the fish-plate; but cold water seems better adapted to it, as it is desirable that it should be gradually heated through before it begins to boil.
TURBOT À LA CRÊME
Raise carefully from the bones the flesh of a cold turbot, and clear it from the dark skin; cut it into small squares, and put it into an exceedingly clean stewpan or saucepan; then make and pour upon it the cream-sauce of Chapter V., or make as much as may be required for the fish by the same receipt, with equal proportions of milk and cream, and a little additional flour. Heat the turbot slowly in the sauce, but do not allow it to boil, and send it very hot to table. The white skin of the fish is not usually added to this dish, and it is of better appearance without it; but for a family dinner, it may be left on the flesh, when it is much liked. No acid must be stirred to the sauce until the whole is ready for table.
TURBOT AU BECHAMEL, OR, IN BECHAMEL SAUCE.
Prepare the cold turbot as for the preceding receipt, but leave no portion of the skin with it. Heat it in a rich béchamel sauce, and serve it in a vol-au-vent, or in a deep dish with a border of fried bread set in an elegant form, and made with one dark and one light sippet, placed alternately. The surface may be covered with a half-inch layer of delicately fried bread-crumbs, perfectly well drained and dried ; or they may be spread over the fish without being fried, then moistened with clarified butter, and browned with a salamander.
For Mould of Cold Turbot with Shrimp Chatney, see Chapter VI.
TO BOIL A JOHN DORY.
[In best season from Michelmas to Christmas, but good all the year.]
The John Dory, though of unimposing appearance, is considered by some persons as the most delicious fish that appears at table; in the general estimation, however, it ranks next to the turbot, but is far less abundant in our markets, and is not commonly procured of sufficient size for a handsome dish, except in some small parts of our coast which are celebrated for it. It may easily be known by its yellow gray colour, its one large dark spot on either side, the long filaments on the back, a general thickness of form, and its very ugly head. It is dressed in the same manner, and served usually with the same sauces as turbot, but requires less time to boil it. The fins should be cut off before it is cooked.
SMALL JOHN DORIES BAKED.
(Author's Receipt—good.)
We have found these fish, when they were too small to be worth cooking in the usual way, excellent when quite simply baked in the following manner, the flesh being remarkably sweet and tender, much more so than it becomes by frying or broiling. After they have been cleaned, dry them in a cloth, season the insides slightly with fine salt, dredge a little flour on the fish, and stick a few very small bits of butter on them, but only just sufficient to prevent them becoming dry in the oven; lay them slightly on a flat dish, and bake them very gently from fourteen to sixteen minutes. Serve them with the same sauce as baked soles.
When extremely fresh, as it usually is in the markets of the coast, a fish thus simply dressed au four is preferable to that more elaborately prepared by adding various condiments to it after it is placed in a deep dish, and covering it with a thick layer of bread crumbs, moistened with clarified butter.
The appearance of the John Dories is improved by taking off the heads, and cutting away not only the fins but the filaments of the back.
TO BOIL BRILL.
A fresh and full-sized brill always ranks high in the list of fish, when it is of good appearance, and the flesh is sweet and delicate. It requires less cooking than the turbot, even when it is of equal size, but otherwise may be dressed and served in a similar manner. It has not the same rich glutinous skin as that fish, nor are the fins esteemed; they must be cut off when the brill is cleaned; and it may be put into nearly boiling water, unless it be very large. Simmer it gently, and drain it well upon the fish-plate when it is lifted out; dish it on a napkin, and send lobster, anchovy, crab, or shrimp sauce to table with it. Lobster coral, rubbed through a sieve, is commonly sprinkled over it for a formal dinner. The most usual garnish for boiled flat fish is curled parsley placed round it in light tufts ; how often it is appropriate, individual taste must decide.
Brill, moderate-sized, about 20 minutes; large 30 minutes.
Obs.—The precise time which a fish will require to be boiled cannot be given : it must be watched, and not allowed to remain in the water after it begins to crack.
TO BOIL SALMON
[In full season from May to August: may be had much earlier, but is scarce and dear.]
To preserve the fine colour of this fish, and to set the curd when it is quite freshly caught, it is usual to put it into boiling, instead of into cold water. Scale, empty, and wash it with the greatest nicely, and be especially careful to cleanse all the blood from the inside. Stir into the fish-kettle eight ounces of common salt to the gallon of water, let it boil quickly for a minute or two, take off all the scum, put in the salmon and boil it moderately fast, if it be small, but more gently should it be very thick; and assure yourself that it is quite sufficiently done, before it is sent to table, for nothing can be more distasteful, even to the eye, than fish which is under dressed.
From two or three pounds of the thick part of a fine salmon will require half an hour to boil it, but eight or ten pounds will be done enough in little more than double that time; less, in proportion to its weight, should be allowed for a small fish, or for the thin end of a large one. Do not allow the salmon to remain in the water after it is ready to serve, or both its flavour and appearance will be injured. Dish it on a hot napkin, and send dressed cucumber, and anchovy, shrimp, or lobster sauce, and a tureen of plain melted butter to table with it.
To each gallon of water, 8 oz. salt. Salmon, 2 to 3 lbs. (thick), 1/2 hour ; 8 to 10 lbs., 1 1/4 hour ; small, or thin fish, less time.
SALMON À LA GENEVESE.
A fashionable mode of serving salmon at the present day is to divide the larger portion of the body into three equal parts; to boil them in water, or in marinade ; and to serve them dished in a line, but not close together, and covered in a rich Genevese sauce (for which see Chapter V.) It appears to us that the skin should be stripped from any fish over which the sauce is poured, but in this case it is not customary.
CRIMPED SALMON.
Cut into slices an inch and a half, or two inches thick, the body of a salmon quite newly caught; throw them into strong salt and water as they are done, but do not let them soak in it; wash them well, lay them on a fish-plate, and put them into fast-boiling water, salted, and well skinned. In from ten to fifteen minutes they will be done. Dish them on a napkin, and send them very hot to table with lobster sauce, and plain melted butter; or with the caper fish-sauce of Chapter V. The water should be salted as for salmon boiled in the ordinary way, and the scum should be cleared off with great care after the fish is in.
In boiling water, 10 to 15 minutes.
SALMON À LA ST. MARCEL.
Separate some cold boiled salmon into flakes, and free them entirely from the skin; break the bones, and boil them in a pint of water for half an hour. Strain off the liquor, put it into a clean saucepan and stir into it by degrees when it begins to boil quickly, two ounces of butter mixed with a large teaspoonful of flour, and when the whole has boiled for two or three minutes add a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, one of good mushroom catsup, half as much lemon-juice or chili vinegar, a half saltspoonful of pounded mace, some cayenne, and a very little salt. Shell from half to a whole pound of shrimps, add them to the salmon, and heat the fish very slowly in the sauce by the side of the fire, but do not allow it boil. When it is very hot, dish and send it quickly to table. French cooks, when they re-dress fish or meat of any kind, prepare the flesh with great nicely, and then put it into a stewpan, and pour the sauce upon it, which is, we think, better than the more usual English mode of laying it into the boiling sauce. The cold salmon may also be re-heated in the cream sauce of Chapter V., or in the Mâitre d'Hotel sauce which follows it; and it will be found excellent with either. This receipt is for a moderate sized dish.
SALMON BAKED OVER MASHED POTATOES.
We are informed by a person who has been resident in Ireland that the middle of a salmon is there often baked over mashed potatoes, from which it is raised by means of a wire stand, as meat is in England. We have not been able to have it tried, but an ingenious cook will be at no loss for the proper method of preparing and the time of cooking it. The potatoes are sometimes merely pared and halved; the fish is then laid upon them.
SALMON PUDDING, TO BE SERVED HOT OR COLD.
(A Scotch Receipt—Good.)
Pound or chop small, or rub through a sieve one pound of cold boiled salmon freed entirely from bone and skin; and blend it gently but thoroughly with half a pound of fine bread-crumbs, a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, a quarter of a pint of cream, a seasoning of fine salt and cayenne, and four well whisked eggs. Lay the mixture closely and evenly into a deep dish or mould, greased in every part, and bake it for one hour in a moderate oven.
Salmon, 1 lb.; bread-crumbs, 1/2 lb.: essence of anchovies, 1 teaspoonful; cream, 1/4 pint; eggs, 4; salt and cayenne; baked 1 hour.
TO BOIL COD FISH
[In highest season from October to the beginning of February; in perfection about Christmas.]
When this fish is large the head and shoulders are sufficient for a handsome dish, and they contain all the choicer portion of it, though not so much substantial eating as the middle of the body, which, in consequence, is generally preferred to them by the frugal housekeeper. Wash the fish, and cleanse the inside, and the back-bone in particular, with the most scrupulous care; lay it into the fish-kettle and cover it well with cold water mixed with five ounces of salt to the gallon, and about a quarter of an ounce of saltpetre to the whole. Place it over a moderate fire, clear off the scum perfectly, and let the fish boil gently until it is done. Drain it well * and dish it carefully upon a very hot napkin with the liver and the roe as garnish. To these are usually added tufts of lightly scraped horse-radish round the edge. Serve well-made oyster sauce and plain melted butter with it; or anchovy sauce, when oysters cannot be procured. The cream sauce of Chapter V., is also an appropriate one for this fish.
Moderate size, 20 to 30 minutes. Large, 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
SLICES OF COD FISH FRIED.
Cut the middle or tail of the fish into slices nearly an inch thick, season them with salt and white pepper or cayenne, flour them well, and fry them of a clear equal brown on both sides; drain them on a sieve before the fire, and serve them on a well-heated napkin, with plenty of crisped parsley round them. Or, dip them into beaten egg, and then into fine crumbs mixed with a seasoning of salt and pepper (some cooks add one of minced herbs also), before they are fried. Send melted butter and anchovy sauce to table with them.
8 to 12 minutes.
Obs.—This is a much better way of dressing the thin part of the fish than boiling it, and as it is generally cheap, it makes thus an economical, as well as a very good dish : if the slices are lifted from the frying-pan into a good curried gravy, and left in it by the side of the fire for a few minutes before they are sent to table, they will be found excellent.
STEWED COD.
Put into boiling water, salted as usual, about three pounds of fresh cod fish cut into slices an inch and a half thick, and boil them gently for five minutes; lift them out, and let them drain. Have ready heated in a wide stewpan nearly a pint of veal gravy or very good broth, lay in the fish, and stew it for five minutes, then add four tablespoonsful of extremely fine bread-crumbs, and simmer it for three minutes longer. Stir well into the sauce a large teaspoonful of arrow-root, quite free from lumps, a fourth part as much of mace, something less of cayenne, and a tablespoonful of essence of anchovies, mixed with a glass of white wine and a dessertspoonful of lemon juice. Boil the whole for a couple of minutes, lift out the fish carefully with a slice, pour the sauce over, and serve it quickly.
Cod fish, 3 lbs. : Gravy, or strong broth, nearly 1 pint: 5 minutes. Bread-crumbs, 4 tablespoonsful : 3 minutes. Arrow-root, 1 large teaspoonful; mace, 1/4 teaspoonful; less of cayenne; essence of anchovies, 1 tablespoonful; lemon-juice, 1 dessertspoonful; sherry or Madeira, 1 wineglassful : 2 minutes.
Obs.—A dozen or two of oysters, bearded, and added with their strained liquor to this dish two or three minutes before it is served, will, to many tastes, vary it very agreeably.
STEWED COD FISH, IN BROWN SAUCE.
Slice the fish, take off the skin, flour it well, and fry it quickly a fine brown; lift it out and drain it on the back of a sieve, arrange it in a clean stewpan, and pour in as much good brown gravy, boiling, as will nearly cover it; add from one to two glasses of port wine, or rather more of claret, a dessertspoonful of Chili vinegar, or the juice of half a lemon, and some cayenne, with as much salt as may be needed. Stew the fish very softly until it just begins to break, lift it carefully with a slice into a very hot dish, stir into the gravy an ounce and a half of butter, smoothly kneaded with a large tablespoonful of flour, and a little pounded mace; give the sauce a minute's boil, pour it over the fish, and serve it immediately. The wine may be omitted, good shin of beef stock substituted for the gravy, and a teaspoonful of soy, one of essence of anchovies, and two tablespoonsful of Harvey's sauce added to flavour it.
TO BOIL SALT FISH.
When very salt and dry, this must be long soaked before it is boiled, but it is generally supplied by the fishmongers nearly or quite ready to dress. When it is not so, lay it for a night into a large quantity of cold water, then let it lie exposed to the air for some time, then again put it into water, and continue this until it is well softened. Brush it very clean, wash it thoroughly, and put it with abundance of cold water into the fish kettle, place it near the fire and let it heat very slowly indeed. Keep it just on the point of simmering, without allowing it to ever boil (which would render it hard), from three quarters of an hour to a full hour, according to its weight; should it be quite small and thin, less time will be sufficient for it; but by following these directions, the fish will be almost as good as if it were fresh. The scum should be cleared off with great care from the beginning. Egg sauce and boiled parsneps are the usual accompaniments to salt fish, which should be dished upon a hot napkin, and which is sometimes also thickly strewed with chopped eggs.
SALT FISH, À LA MÂITRE D'HOTEL.
Boil the fish by the foregoing receipt, or take the remains of that which has been served at table, flake it off clear from the bones, and strip away every morsel of the skin; then lay it into a very clean saucepan or stewpan, and pour upon it the sharp Mâitre d'Hotel sauce of Chapter IV.; or dissolve gently two or three ounces of butter with four or five spoonsful of water, and a half-teaspoonful of flour; add some pepper or cayenne, very little salt, and a dessertspoonful or more of minced parsley. Heat the fish slowly quite through in either of these sauces, and toss or stir it until the whole is well mixed; if the second be used, add the juice of half a lemon, or a small quantity of Chili vinegar, just before it is taken from the fire. The fish thus prepared may be served in a deep dish, with a border of mashed parsneps or potatoes.
TO BOIL CODS' SOUNDS.
Should they be highly salted, soak them for a night, and on the following day rub off entirely the discoloured skin; wash them well, lay them into plenty of cold milk and water, and boil them gently from thirty to forty minutes, or longer should they not be quite tender. Clear off the scum as it rises with great care, or it will sink, and adhere to the sounds, of which the appearance will then be spoiled. Drain them well, dish them on a napkin, and send egg sauce and plain melted butter to table with them.
TO FRY CODS' SOUNDS IN BATTER.
Boil them as directed above, until they are nearly done, then lift them out, lay them on to a drainer, and let them remain till they are cold; cut them across in strips of an inch deep, curl them round, dip them into a good French or English batter, fry them of a fine pale brown, drain and dry them well, dish them on a napkin, and garnish them with crisped parsley.
TO FRY SOLES.
[In season all the year.]
All fish to fry well must not only be fresh but perfectly free from moisture, particularly when they are to be dressed with egg and bread-crumbs, as these will not otherwise adhere to them. Empty, skin, and wash the soles with extreme nicety, from one to two hours before they are wanted for table; and after having cleaned and wiped then very dry both inside and out, replace the roes, fold and press them gently in a soft clean cloth, and leave them wrapped in it until it is time to fry them; or suspend them singly upon hooks in a current of cool air, which is, perhaps, the better method of proceeding when it can be done conveniently. Cover them equally in every part, first with some beaten egg, and then with fine dry crumbs of bread, mixed with a very little flour to make them adhere with more certainty : a small teaspoonful will be sufficient for two large soles. Melt in a large and exceedingly clean frying pan over a brisk and clear fire, as much very pure-flavoured lard as will float the fish, and let it be sufficiently hot before they are laid in to brown them quickly ; for if this be neglected it will be impossible to render them crisp or drained. When the fat ceases to bubble, throw in a small bit of bread, and if it takes a good colour immediately the soles may be put in without delay. An experienced cook will know, without this test, when it is at the proper point ; but the learner will do better to avail herself of it until practice and observation shall have rendered it unnecessary to her. Before the fish are laid into the pan, take them by the head and shake the loose crumbs from them. When they are firm, and of a fine amber-colour on one side, turn them with care, passing a slice under them and a fork through the heads, and brown them on the other. Lift them out, and either dry them well on a soft cloth laid upon a sieve reversed, before the fire, turning them often, or press them lightly in hot white blotting paper. Dish them on a drainer covered with a hot napkin and send them to table without delay with shrimp or anchovy sauce, and plain melted butter.
Very small soles will be done in six minutes, and large ones in about ten. They may be floured and fried, without being egged and crumbed, but this is not a very usual mode of serving them.
Small soles, 6 minutes; large, about 10 minutes.
TO BOIL SOLES.
The flesh of a fine fresh sole, when boiled with care, is remarkably sweet and delicate : if very large it may be dressed and served as turbot, to which it will be found little inferior in flavour. Empty it, take out the gills, cut off the fins, and cleanse and wash it with great nicety, but do not skin it; then either lay it into cold water in which the usual proportion of salt has been dissolved, and heat it rather slowly, and then simmer it from five to ten minutes, according to its size; or boil it in the manner directed in the first pages of this chapter. Drain it first on the fish plate as it is lifted out, and dish it on a napkin, the white side upwards, and serve it quickly with anchovy, shrimp, or butter sauce. It may also be sent to table thickly covered with the Cream Fish Sauce, Caper Fish Sauce, or Lady's Sauce of Chapter VI.; though this is a mode of service less to be recommended, as the sauce cools more speedily when spread over the surface of the fish : it is, however, the continental fashion, and will therefore find more favour with some persons.
Very large sole, 5 to 10 minutes ; moderate sized, 4 to 6 minutes.
FILLETS OF SOLES.
The word fillet, whether applied to fish, poultry, game or butcher's meat, means simply the flesh of either (or of certain portions of it), raised clear from the bones in a handsome form, and divided or not, as the manner in which it is to be served may require. It is an elegant mode of dressing various kinds of fish, and even those which are not the most highly esteemed, afford an excellent dish when thus prepared. Soles to be filleted with advantage should be large ; the flesh may then be divided down the middle of the back, next, separated from the fins, and with a very sharp knife raised clear from the bones. * When thus prepared, the fillets may be divided, trimmed into a good form, egged, covered with fine crumbs, fried in the usual way, and served with the same sauces as the whole fish ; or each fillet may be rolled up, in its entire length, if very small, or after being once divided, if large, and fastened with a slight twine, or a short thin skewer; then egged, crumbed, and fried in plenty of boiling lard; or merely well floured and fried from eight to ten minutes. When the fish are not very large, they are sometimes boned without being parted in the middle, and each side is rolled from the tail to the head, after being first spread with pounded shrimps mixed with a third of their volume of butter, a few bread-crumbs, and a high seasoning of mace and cayenne; or with pounded lobster mixed with a large portion of the coral, and the same seasoning, and proportion of butter as for shrimps; then laid into a dish, with the ingredients directed for soles au plat; well covered with crumbs of bread and clarified butter, and baked from twelve to sixteen minutes, or until the crumbs are coloured to a fine brown in a moderate oven.
The fillets may likewise be cut into small strips or squares of uniform size, lightly dredged with pepper or cayenne, salt and flour, and fried in butter over a brisk fire; then well drained, and sauced with good béchamel, flavoured with a teaspoonful of minced parsley.
SOLES AU PLAT.
Clarify from two to three ounces of fresh butter, and pour it into the dish in which the fish are to be served; add to it a little salt, some cayenne, a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, and from one to two glasses of sherry, or of any other dry white wine; lay in a couple of fine soles which have been well cleaned and wiped dry, strew over them a thick layer of fine bread-crumbs, moisten them with clarified butter, set the dish into a moderate oven, and bake the fish a quarter of an hour. A layer of shrimps placed between the soles is a great improvement; and we would also recommend a little lemon-juice be mixed with the sauce.
Baked, 15 minutes.
Obs.—The soles are, we think, better without the wine in this receipt. They require but a small portion of liquid, which might be supplied by a little additional butter, a spoonful of water or pale gravy, the lemon-juice and store-sauce. Minced parsley may be mixed with the bread-crumbs when it is liked.
BAKED SOLES.
(A simple but excellent Receipt.)
Fresh large soles, dressed in the following manner, are remarkably tender and delicate eating; much more so than those which are fried. After the fish has been skinned and cleansed in the usual way, wipe it dry, and let it remain for an hour or more, if time will permit, closely folded in a clean cloth; then mix with a slightly beaten egg about an ounce of butter, just liquefied but not heated at the mouth of the oven, or before the fire; brush the fish in every part with this mixture, and cover it with very fine dry bread-crumbs, seasoned with a little salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and nutmeg. Pour a teaspoonful or two of liquid butter into a flat dish which will contain the fish well : lay it in, sprinkle it with a little more butter, press the breadcrumbs lightly on it with a broad-bladed knife, and bake it in a moderate oven for about twenty minutes. If two or more soles are required for table at the same time, they should be placed separate and quite flat, in a large dish, or each fish should be laid on a dish by itself. On our first essay of this receipt, the fish dressed by it (it was baked for twenty-five minutes in a very slack iron oven) proved to be infinitely nicer than one of the same size which was fried, and served with it. The difference between them was very marked, especially as regarded the exceeding tenderness of the flesh of that which was baked ; its appearance, however, would have been somewhat improved by a rather quicker oven. When ready to serve, it should be gently glided on to the dish in which it is to be sent to table. About three ounces of bread-crumbs, and two and a half of butter will be sufficient for a large pair of soles. They will be more properly encrusted with the bread if dipped into, or sprinkled with it a second time, after the first coating has been well moistened with the butter.
SOLES STEWED IN CREAM.
Prepare some very fresh middling sized soles with exceeding nicety, put them into boiling water slightly salted, and simmer them for two minutes only ; lift them out, and let them drain ; lay them into a stewpan with as much sweet rich cream as will nearly cover them; add a good seasoning of pounded mace, cayenne and salt; stew the fish softly form six to then minutes, or until the flesh parts readily from the bones; dish them, stir the juice of half a lemon to the sauce, pour it over the soles, and send them immediately to table. Some lemon-rind may be boiled in the cream, if approved; and a small teaspoonful of arrow-root, very smoothly mixed with a little milk, may be stirred to the sauce (should it require thickening) before the lemon-juice is added. Turbot and brill also may be dressed by this receipt, time proportioned to their size being of coursed allowed for them.
Soles, 3 or 4 : boiled in water for 2 minutes. Cream, 1/2 to whole pint, mace, cayenne : fish stewed, 6 to 10 minutes. Juice of half a lemon.
Obs.—In Cornwall the fish is laid at once into thick clotted cream, and stewed entirely in it; but this method gives to the sauce, which should be extremely delicate, a coarse fishy flavour which the pre-boil in water prevents.
At Penzance, grey mullet, after being scaled, are divided in the middle, just covered in cold water, and softly boiled, with the addition of branches of parsley, pepper and salt, until the flesh of the back parts easily from the bone; clotted cream, minced parsley, and lemon-juice are then added to the sauce, and the mullets are dished with the heads and tails laid even to the thick parts of the back, where the fish were cut asunder. Hake, too, is there divided at every joint (having been previously scaled), dipped into egg, then thickly covered with fine bread-crumbs mixed with plenty of minced parsley, and fried a fine brown; or, the back-bone being previously taken out, the fish is sliced into cutlets, and then fried.
TO FRY WHITINGS.
[In full season from Michaelmas to beginning of February.]
Clean, skin, and dry them thoroughly in a cloth, fasten their tails to their mouths, brush slightly beaten eggs equally over them, and cover them with the finest bread-crumbs, mixed with a little flour ; fry them a clear golden brown in plenty of boiling lard, drain and dry them well, dish them on a hot napkin, and serve them with good melted butter, and the sauce cruets, or with well made shrimp or anchovy sauce. A small half-teaspoonful of salt should be beaten up with the eggs used in preparing the whitings: two will be sufficient for half a dozen fish.
5 to 8 minutes, according to their size.
FILLETS OF WHITINGS.
Empty and wash thoroughly, but do not skin the fish. Take off the flesh on both sides close to the bones, passing the knife from the tail to the head; divide each side in two, trim the fillets into good shape, and fold them in a cloth, that the moisture may be well absorbed from them; dip them into, or draw them through, some beaten egg, then dip them into fine crumbs mixed with a small portion of flour, and dry them a fine light brown in lard or clarified butter ; drain them well, press them in white blotting-paper, dish them one over the other in a circle, and send the usual sauce to table with them. The fillets may also be broiled after being dipped into eggs seasoned with salt and pepper, then into crumbs of bread, next into clarified butter, and a second time into the bread-crumbs (or, to shorten the process, a portion of clarified butter may be mixed with the eggs at first), and served with good melted butter, or thickened veal gravy seasoned with cayenne, lemon-juice, and chopped parsley.
Five minutes will fry the fillets, even when very large : rather more time will be required to broil them.
TO BOIL WHITINGS.
(French Receipt.)
Having scraped, cleansed, and wiped them, lay them on a fish-plate, and put them into water at the point of boiling; throw in a handful of salt, two bay leaves, and plenty of parsley well washed and tied together ; let the fish just simmer from five to ten minutes, and watch them closely that they may not be over-done. Serve parsley and butter with them, and use in making it the liquor in which the whitings have been boiled.
Just simmered from 5 to 10 minutes.
BAKED WHITINGS À LA FRANÇAISE.
Proceed with these exactly as with the soles au plat of this chapter; or, pour a little clarified butter into a deep dish, and strew it rather thickly with finely-minced mushrooms mixed with a teaspoonful of parsley, and (when the flavour is liked, and considered appropriate) with an exchalot or two, or the white part of a few green onion, also chopped very small. On these place the fish after they have been scaled, emptied, thoroughly washed, and wiped dry : season them well with salt and white pepper, or cayenne : sprinkle more of the herbs upon them; pour gently from one to two glasses of light white wine into the dish, cover the whitings with a thick layer of fine crumbs of bread, sprinkle these plentifully with clarified butter, and bake the fish from fifteen to twenty minutes. Send a cut lemon only to table with them. When the wine is not liked, a few spoonsful of pale veal gravy can be used instead; or a larger quantity of clarified butter, with a tablespoonful of water, a teaspoonful of lemon-pickle and of mushroom catsup, and a few drops of soy.
15 to 20 minutes.
TO BOIL MACKEREL.
[In full season in May, June, and July ; may be had also in early spring.]
Open the fish sufficiently to admit of the insides being perfectly cleansed, but not more than is necessary for this purpose; empty them with care, lay the roes apart, and wash both them and the mackerel delicately clean. It is customary now to lay these, and the greater number of other fish as well, into cold water when they are to be boiled; formerly all were plunged at once into fast-boiling water. For such as are small and delicate, it should be hot ; they should be brought gently to boil, and simmered until they are done; the scum should be cleared off as it rises, and the usual proportions of salt stirred into the water before the mackerel are put in. The roes are commonly replaced in the fish ; but as they sometimes require more boiling than the mackerel themselves, it is better, when they are very large, to lay them upon the fish-plate by their sides. From fifteen to twenty minutes will generally be sufficient to boil a full-sized mackerel, some will be done in less time ; but they must be watched and lifted out as soon as the tails split, and the eyes are starting.
Dish them on a napkin, and send fennel or gooseberry sauce to table with them, and plain melted butter also.
Small mackerel, 10 to 15 minutes; large, 15 to 20 minutes.
TO BAKE MACKEREL.
After they have been cleaned and well washed, wipe them very dry, fill the insides with the forcemeat, No. 1 of Chapter VIII., sew them up, arrange them, with the roes, closely together in a coarse baking-dish, flour them lightly, strew a little fine salt over, and stick bits of butter upon them; or pour some equally over them, after having just dissolved it in a small saucepan. Half an hour in a moderate oven will bake them. Oyster forcemeat is always appropriate for any kind of fish which is in season while the oysters are so; but the mackerel are commonly served, and are very good with that which we have named. Lift them carefully into a hot dish after they are taken from the oven, and send melted butter and a cut lemon to table with them.
1/2 hour.
BAKED MACKEREL, OR WHITINGS.
(Cinderella's Receipt—good.)
The fish for this receipt should be opened only as much as will permit of their being emptied and perfectly cleansed. Wash and wipe them dry, then fold them in a soft cloth, and let them remain in it a while. Replace the roes, and put the fish into a baking-dish of suitable size, with a tablespoonful of wine, a few drops of chili vinegar, a little salt and cayenne, and about half an ounce of butter, well-blended with a saltspoonful of flour, for each fish. They must be turned round with the heads and tails towards each other, that they may lie compactly in the dish, and the backs should be placed downwards, that the sauce may surround the thickest part of the flesh. Lay two buttered papers over, and press them down upon them; set the dish into a gentle oven for twenty minutes, take off the papers, and send the fish to table in their sauce.
A few minutes more of time must be allowed for mackerel when it is large, should the oven be very slow.
Full-sized whitings are excellent thus dressed if carefully managed, and many eaters would infinitely prefer mackerel so prepared, to boiled ones. The writer has port-wine always used for the sauce, to which a rather full seasoning of chili vinegar, cayenne, and pounded mace, is added; but sherry, Bucellas, or any other dry wine, can be used instead; and the various condiments added to it, can be varied to the taste. This receipt is a very convenient one, as it is prepared with little trouble, and a stove-oven, if the heat be properly moderated, will answer for the baking. It is an advantage to take off the heads of the fish before they are dressed, and they may then be entirely emptied without being opened. When preferred so, they can be re-dished for table, and the sauce poured over them.
Obs.—The dish in which they are baked, should be buttered before they are laid in.
FRIED MACKEREL.
(Common French Receipt.)
After the fish have been emptied and washed extremely clean, cut off the heads and tails, split the bodies quite open, and take out the backbones (we recommend in preference that the flesh should be taken off the bones as in the following receipt), wipe the mackerel very dry, dust fine salt and pepper (or cayenne) over them, flour them well, fry them a fine brown in boiling lard, drain them thoroughly, and serve them with the following sauce :—Dissolve in a small saucepan an ounce and a half of butter smoothly mixed with a teaspoonful of flour, some salt, pepper, or cayenne; shake these over a gentle fire until they are lightly coloured, then add by slow degrees nearly half a pint of good broth or gravy, and the juice of one large lemon; boil the sauce for a couple of minutes, and serve it very hot. Or, instead of this, add a large teaspoonful of strong made mustard, and a dessertspoonful of chili vinegar, to some thick melted butter, and serve it with the fish. A spoonful of Harvey's sauce or of mushroom catsup can be mixed with this last at pleasure.
FILLETS OF MACKEREL.
(Fried or Broiled.)
Take off the flesh quite whole on either side, from three fine mackerel, which have been opened and properly cleaned; let it be entirely free from bone, dry it well in a cloth, then divide each part in two, and dip them into the beaten yolks of a couple of eggs, seasoned with salt and white pepper, or cayenne; cover them equally with fine dry crumbs of bread, and fry them like soles; or dip them into clarified butter, and then again into the crumbs, and broil them over a very clear fire of a fine brown. Dish them in a circle one over the other, and send them to table with the Mâitre d'Hotel sauce of Chapter V., or with the one which follows it. The French pour the sauce into the centre of the dish ; but for broiled fillets this is not so well, we think, as serving it in a tureen. The roes of the fish, after being well washed and soaked, may be dressed with them, or they may be made into patties. Minced parsley can be mixed with the bread crumbs when it is liked.
BOILED FILLETS OF MACKEREL.
After having taken off and divided the flesh of the fish, as above, place it flat in one layer in a wide stewpan or saucepan, and just cover the fillets with cold water; throw in a teasponful of salt, and two or three small sprigs of parsley; bring the mackerel slowly to a boil, clear off the scum with care, and after two or three minutes of slow simmering try the fillets with a fork; if the thick part divides with a touch, they are done. Lift them out cautiously with a slice ; drain, and serve them very hot with good parsley and butter; or strip off the skin quickly, and pour a Mâitre d'Hotel sauce over them.
MACKEREL BROILED WHOLE.
(An excellent Receipt.)
Empty and cleanse perfectly a fine and very fresh mackerel, but without opening it more than is needful ; dry it well, either in a cloth or by handing it in a cool air until it is stiff; make with a sharp knife a deep incision the whole length of the fish on either side of the back bone, and about half an inch from it, and with a feather put in a little cayenne and fine salt, mixed with a few drops of good salad oil or clarified butter. Lay the mackerel over a moderate fire upon a well-heated gridiron which has been rubbed with suet; loosen it gently should it stick, which it will do unless often moved; and when it is equally done on both sides, turn the back to the fire. About half an hour will broil it well. If a sheet of thickly-buttered writing-paper be folded round it, and just twisted at the ends before it is laid on the gridiron, it will be finer eating than if exposed to the fire; but sometimes when this is done, the skin will adhere to the paper, and be drawn off with it, which injures its appearance. A cold Mâitre d'Hotel sauce (see Chapter V.), may be put into the back before it is sent to table. This is one of the very best modes of dressing a mackerel, which in flavour is quite a different fish when thus prepared to one which is simply boiled. A drop of oil is sometimes passed over the skin to prevent its sticking to the iron. It may be laid to the fire having been merely cut as we have directed, when it is preferred so.
30 minutes; 25 if small.
MACKEREL STEWED WITH WINE.
(Very good.)
Work very smoothly together a large teaspoonful of flour with two ounces of butter, put them into a stewpan, and stir or shake them round over the fire until the butter is dissolved; add a quarter of a teaspoonful of mace, twice as much salt, and some cayenne ; pour in by slow degrees three glasses of claret; and when the sauce boils, lay in a couple of fine mackerel well cleaned, and wiped quite dry ; stew them very softly from fifteen to twenty minutes, and turn them when half done ; lift them out, and dish them carefully; stir a teaspoonful of made mustard to the sauce, give it a boil, and pour it over the fish. When more convenient, substitute port wine and a little lemon-juice, for the claret.
Mackerel, 2; flour, 1 teaspoonful ; butter, 2 oz.; seasoning of salt, mace, and cayenne; claret, 3 wine-glassesful ; made mustard, 1 teaspoonful : 15 to 20 minutes.
FILLETS OF MACKEREL STEWED IN WINE.
(Excellent.)
Raise the flesh entire from the bones on either side of the mackerel, and divide it once, if the fish be small, but cut the whole into six parts of equal size should they be large. Mix with flour, and dissolve the butter as in the preceding receipt; and when it has simmered for a minute, throw in the spice, a little salt, and the thinly pared rind of half a small fresh lemon, lay in the fillets of fish, shake them over a gentle fire for four to five minutes, and turn them once in the time; then pour to them in small portions a couple of large wine-glassesful of port wine, a tablespoonful of Harvey's sauce, a teaspoonful of soy, and one of lemon-juice; stew the mackerel very softly until the thinner parts begin to break, lift them out with care, dish and serve them in their sauce as hot as possible. We can recommend the dish to our readers as a very excellent one. A garnish of fried sippets can be placed round the fish at will. A teaspoonful of made mustard should be stirred to the sauce before it is poured over the fish.
Fillets of mackerel, 2; butter, 2 oz.; flour, 1 teaspoonful; rind of 1/2 lemon; salt, cayenne, pounded mace : 2 minutes. Fish, 4 to 5 minutes. Port wine, two large glassesful; Harvey's sauce, 1 tablespoonful ; soy and lemon-juice each, 1 teaspoonful : 4 to 6 minutes. Mustard, 1 teaspoonful.
Obs.—Trout may be dressed by the receipt.
TO BOIL HADDOCKS.
In the best season in October, November, and December.
Scrape the outsides very clean, open the fish, empty them, wash the insides thoroughly, take out the gills, curl the haddocks round, fasten the tails to the mouths, arrange them on a fish-plate, and lay them into hot water salted as for mackerel. Take off all the scum, and simmer them from seven to ten minutes or longer, according to their size, which, as we have said in the directions for "the beat mode of cooking various kinds of fish," at the commencement of this chapter, varies greatly, as they are sometimes very large ; they must then be brought more slowly to a boil, and more time must be allowed for them. Send them very hot to table, with a tureen of melted butter, and one of anchovy sauce.
7 to 10 minutes.
Obs.—In Scotland haddocks are skinned before they are boiled, and the heads are taken off; but we see no advantage in this mode of dressing them. Whitings, fresh herrings, and codlings, may all be dressed by this receipt, the time only being varied according to the size of the fish.
BAKED HADDOCKS.
After they have been cleaned, dry them thoroughly, then bake them as directed in the common receipt for pike, or fill them with oyster forcemeat, or with No. 1 of Chapter VIII., if more convenient, and proceed as for baked mackerel.
20 to 30 minutes, longer if very large.
TO FRY HADDOCKS.
Follow the directions given for fillets of whitings; or, should a more simple method be preferred, clean and dry the fish well, cut off the heads and tails, take out the backbones, cut each fish in three, egg and crumb them, fry them in boiling lard a fine golden brown, and serve them, well drained, with the same sauces as boiled haddocks.
TO DRESS FINNAN HADDOCKS.
These are slightly salted and dried. They are excellent eating, if gently heated through upon the gridiron without being hardened ; and are served usually at the breakfast or supper table ; a feather dipped in oil may be passed over them before they are laid to the fire.
TO BOIL GURNARDS.
(With directions for dressing them in other ways.)
It is more usual to fill gurnards with forcemeat, and to bake them, or to have the flesh raised from the bones and dressed in fillets, than to serve them simply boiled ; they may, however, be cooked in any of the modes directed for mackerel,* rather more time being allowed for them, as they are much firmer-fleshed, thicker in the bodies, and generally of larger size altogether. Cut off all the fins, take out the gills, and empty and cleanse them like other fish, washing the insides well; put them into hot water ready salted and skimmed, and boil them gently from twenty minutes to half an hour; serve them with anchovy sauce, or with parsley and butter rendered acid with chili vinegar, lemon-juice, or caper-pickle.
FRESH HERRINGS.
(Farleigh Receipt.)
In season from May to October.
Scale and clean the fish with the utmost nicety, split them quite open, and wash the insides with particular care; dry them well in a cloth, take off the heads and tails, and remove the backbones; rub the insides with pepper, salt, and a little pounded mace; stick small bits of butter on them, and skewer two of the fish together as flat as possible, with the skin of both outside; flour, and broil or fry them of a fine brown, and serve them with melted butter mixed with a teaspoonful or more of mustard, some salt, and a little vinegar or lemon-juice.
To broil from 20 to 25 minutes; to fry about 10 minutes.
TO DRESS THE SEA BREAM.
The sea-bream, which is common in many of our markets, is not considered a fish of first-rate quality; but if well broiled or baked, it will afford a good, and generally a cheap, dish of excellent appearance, the bream being of handsome size and form. Open and cleanse it perfectly, but do not remove the scales ; fold it in a dry cloth to absorb the moisture which hangs about it ; lat it over a dry cloth to absorb the moisture which hangs about it ; lay it over a gentle fire, and broil it slowly, that the heat may gradually penetrate the flesh, which is thick. Should any cracks appear on the surface, dredge a little flour upon them. If of ordinary weight, the bream will require half an hour's broiling; it should be turned, of course, when partially done. Send plain melted butter and anchovy sauce to table with it. In carving it, remove the skin and scales, and serve only the flesh which lies beneath them, and which will be very white and succulent. A more usual and less troublesome mode of dressing the bream is to season the inside slightly with salt and pepper or cayenne, to dust a little more salt on the outside, spread a few bits of butter upon it, and send it to a gentle oven. It is sometimes filled with common veal-stuffing, and then requires to be rather longer baked; and it is often merely wrapped in a buttered paper, and placed in a moderate oven for twenty-five or thirty minutes.
TO BOIL BLAICE OR FLOUNDERS.
Plaice in season from May to January; flounders in September, October, and November.
After having emptied and well cleaned the fish, make an incision in the back as directed for turbot; lay them into cold spring water; add salt and saltpetre in the same proportion as for cod fish, and let them just simmer for four or five minutes after the water first begins to boil, or longer should their size require it, but guard against their being broken. Serve them with plain melted butter.
4 to 5 minutes; longer if needful.
TO FRY PLAICE OR FLOUNDERS.
Sprinkle them with salt, and let them lie for two or three hours before they are dressed. Wash and clean them thoroughly, wipe them dry, flour them well, and wipe them again with a clean cloth; dip them into egg, and fine bread-crumbs, and fry them in plenty of lard. If the fish be large, raise the flesh in handsome fillets from the bones, and finish them as directed for fillets of soles.
Obs.—Plaice is said to be rendered less watery by beating it gently with a paste-roller before it is cooked. It is very sweet and pleasant in flavour while it is in the best season, which is from the end of May to about September.
TO ROAST, BAKE, OR BROIL RED MULLET.
In best season through the summer : may be had all the year.
First wash and then dry the fish thoroughly in a cloth, but neither scale nor open it, but take out the gills gently and carefully with the small intestine which will adhere to them; wrap it closely in a sheet of thickly buttered paper, tie this securely at the ends, and over the mullet with packthread, and roast it in a Dutch oven, or broil it over a clear and gentle fire, or bake it in a moderate oven : from twenty to twenty-five minutes will be sufficient generally to dress it in either way. For sauce, put into a little good melted butter the liquor which has flowed from the fish, a small dessertspoonful of essence of anchovies, some cayenne, a glass of port wine, or claret, and a little lemon-juice. Remove the packthread, and send the mullet to table in the paper case. This is the usual mode of serving it, but it is dished without the paper for dinners of taste. The plain red mullet, shown at the commencement of this receipt, is scarcely ever found upon our coast. That which abounds here during the summer months is the striped red mullet, or surmullet, which, from its excellence, is always in request, and is therefore seldom cheap. It rarely exceeds twelve, or at the utmost fourteen, inches in length.
20 to 30 minutes.
TO BOIL GREY MULLET.
This fish varies so much in size and quality, that it is difficult to give exact directions for the time of cooking it. When quite young and small, it may be boiled by the receipt for whitings, haddocks, and other fish of about the same size; but at its finest growth it must be laid into cold water, and managed like larger fish. We have ourselves partaken of one which was caught upon our eastern coast, that weighed ten pounds, of which the flesh was quite equal to that of salmon, but its weight was, we believe, an unusual one. Anchovy, or caper fish sauce, with melted butter, may be sent to tale with grey mullet.
THE GAR-FISH.
This is a fish of very singular appearance, elongated in form, and with a mouth which resembles the bill of the snipe, from which circumstance it is often called the snipe-fish. Its bones are all of a bright green colour. It is not to be recommended for the table, as the skin contains an oil of exceedingly strong rank flavour; when entirely divested of this, the flesh is tolerably sweet and palatable. Persons who may be disposed from curiosity to taste it will find either broiling or baking in a gentle oven to the best mode of cooking it. As it is not of large size, from fifteen to twenty minutes will dress it sufficiently. Anchovy sauce, parsley and butter, or plain melted butter, may be eaten with it.
SAND-LAUNCE, OR, SAND-EEL.
The sand-launce, which is abundant in many parts of our coast, and the name of which is derived from its habit of burrowing in the sands when the tide retires, may be distinguished from the larger species, the true sand-eel, by its lighter colour and more transparent appearance, as well as by its inferior size. The common mode of dressing the fish, which is considered by many a great delicacy, is to divest them of their heads, and to remove the insides of the gills, to dry them well in a cloth with flour, and to fry them until crisp. They are sometimes also dipped in batter like smelts. We have not ourselves had an opportunity of testing them, but we have received the particulars which we have given here from various friends who have resided where they are plentiful. The sand-eels are not so good as the smaller kind of these fish called launces.
TO FRY SMELTS.
[In season from beginning of November to May.]
Smelts when quite fresh have a perfume resembling that of a cucumber, and a peculiarly delicate and agreeable flavour when dressed. Draw them at the gills, as they must not be opened; wash and dry them thoroughly in a cloth; dip them into beaten egg-yolk, and then into the finest bread-crumbs, mixed with a very small quantity of flour; fry them of a clear golden brown, and serve them crisp and dry, with good melted butter in a tureen. They are sometimes dipped into batter and then fried; when this is done, we would recommend for them the French batter of Chapter V.
3 to 4 minutes.
BAKED SMELTS.
Prepare them as for frying ; pour some clarified butter into the dish in which they are to be sent to table, arrange them neatly in it, with the tails meeting in the centre, strew over them as much salt, mace, and cayenne, mixed, as will season them agreeably, cover them smoothly with a rather thick layer of very fine bread-crumbs, moisten them equally with clarified butter poured through a small strainer, and bake the fish in a moderately quick oven, until the crumbs are of a fine light brown. A glass of sherry, half a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, and a dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, are sometimes poured into the dish before the smelts are lid in.
About 10 minutes.
TO DRESS WHITE BAIT.
(Greenwich Receipt.)
[In season in July, August, and September.]
This delicate little fish requires great care to dress it well. Do not touch it with the hands, but throw it from your dish or basket into a cloth, with three or four handsful of flour, and shake it well; then put it into a bait sieve, to separate it from the superfluous flour. Have ready a very deep frying-pan, nearly full of boiling fat, throw in the fish, which will be done in an instant: they must not be allowed to take any colour, for if browned, they are spoiled. Lift them out, and dish them upon a silver or earthenware drainer, without a napkin, piling them very high in the centre. Send them to table with a cut lemon, and slices of brown bread and butter.
WATER SOUCHY.
(Greenwhich Receipt.)
This is a very simple and inexpensive dish, much served at the regular fish-dinners for which Greenwich is celebrated, as well as at private tables. It is excellent if well prepared; and as it may be made with fish of various kinds when they are too small to present a good appearance or to be palatable dressed in any other way, it is also very economical. Flounders, perch, tench, and eels, are said to answer best for water souchy; but very deicate soles, and several other varieties of small white fish are often used for it with good effect : it is often made also with slices of salmon, or of salmon-peel, freed from the skin.
Throw into rather more than sufficient water to just cover the quantity of fish required for table, from half to three quarters of an ounce of salt to the quart, a dozen corns of white pepper, a small bunch of green parsley, and two or three tender parsley roots, first cut into inch lengths, and then split to the size of straws. Simmer the mixture until these last are tender, which will be in from half to a whole hour ; then lay in the fish delicately cleaned, cleared from every morsel of brown skin, and divided into equal portions of about two inches in width. Take off all the scum as it rises, and stew the fish softly from eight to twelve minutes, watching it that it may not break from being over-done.
Two minutes before it is dished, strew in a large tablespoonful or more of minced parsley, or some small branches of the herb boiled very green in a separate saucepan (we prefer the latter mode); lift out the fish carefully with a slice, and the parsley roots with it; pour over it the liquor in which it has been boiled, but leave out the peppercorns. For a superior water souchy, take all the bones out of the fish, and stew down the inferior portions of it to a strong broth : about an hour will be sufficient for this. Salt, parsley, and a little cayenne may be added to it. Strain it off clear through a sieve, and use it instead of water for the souchy. The juice of half a good lemon may be thrown into the stew before it is served. A deep dish will of course be required for it. The parsley-roots can be boiled apart when more convenient, but they give an agreeable flavour when added to the liquor at first. Slices of brown or white bread and butter must be sent to table always with water souchy : the first is usually preferred, but to suit all tastes some of each may be served with it.
SHAD, TOURAINE FASHION.
(Alose à la mode de Touraine.)
[In season in the April, May, and early part of June.]
Empty and wash the fish with care, but do not open it more than is needful ; fill it either with the forcemeat No. 1, or No. 2 of Chapter VIII., and its own roe; then sew it up, or fasten it securely with very fine skewers, wrap it in a thickly buttered paper, and broil it gently for an hour over a charcoal fire. Serve it with caper sauce, or with chili vinegar and melted butter.
We are indebted for this receipt to a friend who has been long resident in Touraine, at whose table the fish is constantly served thus dressed, and is considered excellent. It is likewise often gently stewed with a rich béchamel. Many fish more common with us than the shad might be advantageously prepared in the same manner. The charcoal fire is not indispensable: any one that is entirely free from smoke will answer. We would suggest as an improvement, that oyster-forcemeat should be substituted for that which we have indicated, until the oyster season ends.
Broiled gently, 1 hour, more or less, according to the size.
STEWED TROUT.
(Good common Receipt.)
[In season from May to August.]
Melt three ounces of butter in a broad stewpan, or well tinned iron saucepan, stir to it a tablespoonful of flour, some mace, cayenne, and nutmeg: lay in the fish after it has been emptied, washed very clean, and wiped perfectly dry ; shake it in the pan, that it may not stick, and when lightly browned on both sides, pour in three quarters of a pint of good veal stock, add a small faggot of parsley, one bay leaf, a roll of lemon-peel, and a little salt: stew the fish very gently from half to three quarters of an hour, or more, should it be unusually fine. Dish the trout, skim the fat from the gravy, and pass it through a hot strainer over the fish, which should be served immediately. A little acid can be added to the sauce at pleasure, and a glass of wine when it is considered an improvement. This receipt is for one large or for two middling-sized fish. We can recommend it as a good one from our own experience.
Butter, 3 oz.; flour, 1 tablespoonful ; seasoning of mace, cayenne, and nutmeg; trout, 1 large, or 2 moderate-sized; veal stock, 3/4 pint ; parsley, small faggot; 1 bay-leaf; roll of lemon-rind; little salt : 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
Obs.—Trout may be stewed in equal parts of strong veal gravy, and of red and white wine, without having been previously browned ; the sauce should then be thickened, and agreeably flavoured with lemon-juice, and the usual store-sauces, before it is poured over the fish. They are also good when wrapped in buttered paper, and baked or broiled : if very small, the better mode of cooking them is to fry them whole. They should never be plain boiled, as, though naturally a delicious fish, they are then very insipid.
TO BOIL PIKE.
[In best season from September to February.]
Take out the gills, empty and clean the fish very thoroughly, and soak it for half an hour with a cup of vinegar thrown into as much water as will cover it well, should there be any danger of its having a muddy taste.* Wipe the inside dry, and fill it with oyster forcemeat, or with common veal forcemeat made either with butter or with suet (for which see Chapter VIII.); curl the fish round, and fasten it with the tail in the mouth, lay it on a fish-plate, cover it well with cold water, throw in some salt as soon as it boils, skim it well, and boil the fish gently from half to a whole hour according to its size. Some persons prefer the scales taken off the pike when it is prepared for this mode of dressing; and many cooks still put the fish into boiling water well salted and skimmed. Serve it with plain melted butter, or anchovy sauce.
Moderate sized, 1/2 hour ; large, 1 hour.
Obs.—We must repeat that it is impossible to give for fish which varies so much in quantity as well as in size, directions for the exact time which is required to cook it; a few minutes, more or less, must be allowed ; and it should always be watched attentively, and lifted from the water as soon as it is done.
TO BAKE PIKE.
(Common Receipt.)
Pour warm water over the outside of the fish, and wipe it very clean with a coarse cloth drawn from the head downwards, that the scales may not be disturbed ; then wash it well in cold water, empty, and cleanse the inside with the greatest nicety, fill it either with the common forcemeat No. 1, or with No. 4 of Chapter VIII., sew it up, fasten the tail to the mouth, give it a slight dredging of flour, stick small bits of butter thickly over it, and bake it from half to three quarters of an hour, should it be of moderate size, and upwards of an hour, if it be large. Should there not be sufficient sauce with it in the dish, melted butter and a lemon, or anchovy sauce may be sent to tale with it. When more convenient the forcemeat may be omitted, and a little fine salt and cayenne, with some bits of butter, put into the inside of the fish, which will then require rather less baking. A buttered paper should always be laid over it in the oven, should the outside appear likely to become too highly coloured or too dry before the fish is done ; and it is better to wrap quite small pike in buttered paper at once before they are sent to the oven.
Moderate-sized pike, 30 to 45 minutes; large pike, 1 to 1 1/4 hour.
TO BAKE PIKE.
(Superior Receipt.)
Scale and wash the fish, take out the gills, then open it just sufficiently to allow the inside to be emptied and perfectly cleansed, but not more than is necessary for that purpose. Wipe it as dry as possible in every part, then hang it for an hour or two on a hook in a cool larder, or wrap it in a soft cloth. Fill the body with the forcemeat No. 1 or 3, or with the oyster forcemeat of Chapter VIII. ; sew it up securely, curl it round, and fasten the tail into the mouth with a thin skewer, then dip it into the beaten yolks of two or more eggs, seasoned with nearly half a teaspoonful of salt and a little pepper or cayenne ; cover it equally with the finest bread crumbs, dip it a second time into the egg and crumbs, then pour some clarified butter gently over it, through a small strainer, and send it to a well heated oven for an hour and a quarter or more, should it be very large, but for less time if it be only of moderate size. As it is naturally a very dry fish, it should not be left in the oven after it is thoroughly done, but it should never be sent to table until it is so. The crumbs of bread are sometimes mixed with sufficient quantity of minced parsley to give the surface of the fish a green hue. Send plain melted butter, and brown caper, or Dutch sauce to table with it.
TO STEW CARP.
(A common Country Receipt.)
Scale and clean the fish with exceeding care, lay it into a stewpan, and cover it with good cold beef or veal broth; add one small onion stuck with a few cloves, a faggot of savoury herbs, three or four slices of carrot, and a little salt, and stew the carp as gently as possible for nearly an hour. Have ready some good brown gravy, mixed with a couple of glassesful of port wine add a squeeze of lemon-juice, dish up the carp very carefully, pour the sauce over, and serve it immediately. We would recommend the Genevese Sauce, of Chapter V., as superior to any other for this dish.
This receipt is for a fish which averages from five to six pounds in weight, but the carp sometimes attains to a very large size ; and sufficient time to cook it perfectly should always be allowed for it.
TO BOIL PERCH.*
First wipe or wash off the slime, then scrape off the scales, which adhere rather tenaciously to this fish ; empty and clean the insides perfectly, take out the gills, cut off the fins, and lay the perch into equal parts of cold and of boiling water, salted as for mackerel: from eight to ten minutes will boil them unless they are very large. Dish them on a napkin, garnish them with curled parsley, and serve melted butter with them, or Mâitre d'Hotel Sauce Maigre.
Very good French cooks put them at once into boiling water and keep them over a brisk fire for about fifteen minutes. They dress them also without taking off the scales or fins until they are ready to serve, when they strip the whole of the skin off carefully, and stick the red fins into the middle of the backs ; the fish are then covered with the Steward's sauce, thickened with eggs.
In warm water, 8 to 10 minutes; in boiling, 12 to 15.
TO FRY PERCH OR TENCH.
Scale, and clean them perfectly ; dry them well, and fry them in boiling lard. Serve plenty of crisped and fried parsley round them.
TO FRY EELS.
[In season all the year, but not so well-conditioned in April and May as in other months.]
First kill, then skin, empty, and wash them as clean as possible ; cut them into four-inch lengths, and dry them well in a soft cloth. Season them with fine salt, and white pepper, or cayenne, flour them thickly, and fry them a fine brown in boiling lard ; drain and dry them as directed for soles, and send them to table with plain melted butter or anchovy sauce. Eels are sometimes dipped into batter and then fried ; or into eggs and fine bread-crumbs (mixed with minced parsley or not, at pleasure), and served with plenty of crisped parsley round, and on them.
It is an improvement for these modes of dressing the fish to open them entirely; and to remove the bones : the smaller parts should be thrown into the pan a minute or two later than the thicker portions of the bodies or they will not be equally done.
BOILED EELS.
(German Receipt.)
Pare a fine lemon, and strip from it entirely the white inner rind; slice it, and remove the pips with care; put it with a blade of mace, a small half-teaspoonful of white peppercorns, and nearly twice as much of salt, and a moderate-sized bunch of parsley, into three pints of cold water, bring them gently to a boil, and simmer them for twenty minutes ; let them become quite cold ; then put in three pounds of eels skinned; and cleaned with great nicety, and cut into lengths of three or four inches; simmer them very softly from ten to fifteen minutes, lift them with a slice into a very hot dish, and serve them with a good Dutch sauce, or with parsley and butter acidulated with lemon-juice, or with chili vinegar.
For boiled eels with sage (German Receipt), see Chapter of Foreign Cookery.
EELS.
(Cornish Receipt.)
Skin, empty, and wash as clean as possible, two or three fine eels, cut them into short lengths, and just cover them with cold water; add sufficient salt and cayenne to season them, and stew them very softly indeed from fifteen to twenty minutes, or longer should they require it. When they are nearly done, strew over them a teaspoonful of minced parsley, thicken the sauce with a teaspoonful of flour mixed with a slice of butter, and add a quarter of a pint or more of clotted cream. Give the whole a boil, lift the fish into a hot dish, and stir briskly the juice of half a lemon into the sauce; pour it upon the eels, and serve them immediately: Very sweet thick cream is, we think, preferable to clotted cream for this dish. The sauce should be of a good consistence, and a dessertspoonful of flour will be needed for a large dish of the stew, and from one and a half to tow ounces of butter. The size of the fish must determine the precise quantity of liquid and of seasoning which they will require.
RED HERRINGS, À LA DAUPHIN.
Take off the heads, open the backs of the fish, and remove the back-bones : soak the herrings, should they be very dry, for two or three hours in warm milk and water, drain and wipe them. Dissolve a slice of fresh butter, and mix it with the beaten yolks of a couple of eggs and some savoury herbs minced small : dip the fish in these, and spread them thickly with fine bread crumbs ; boil them of a light brown, over a moderate fire, and serve them on hot buttered toasts, sprinkled with a little cayenne.
RED HERRINGS, COMMON ENGLISH MODE.
This fish is rendered infinitely more delicate by pouring boiling water on it before it is dressed, and leaving it to soak for half an hour, or more, should it be highly dried. The fresh Yarmouth bloaters do not require this. Cut off the heads and tails, open the herrings at the back, and warm them through before the fire, or upon the gridiron. They may be rubbed with a bit of cold butter, and seasoned with a slight sprinkling of pepper or cayenne, when these are liked, or served quite plain.
ANCHOVIES FRIED IN BATTER.
Scrape very clean a dozen or more fine anchovies, and soak them in plenty of spring water from two to six hours : then wipe them dry, open them, and take out the back-bones, without dividing the fish. Season the insides lightly with cayenne, close the anchovies, dip them into the French batter of Chapter V., or into a light English batter, and fry them a pale amber-colour : in from four to five minutes they will be quite sufficiently done.
|
