Chapter M: E. James: ‘How to Decorate our Ceilings, Walls, and Floors.’ (14)

(_b_) Pass through a hair sieve all the vegetables used to make vegetable stock, melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, add a little flour, mix well, then add the vegetable pulp; stir well, and moisten with as much of the stock as may be necessary; let the soup boil, stir into it off the fire the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up with a little water and strained. Serve with sippets of bread fried in butter.

_Vegetable-marrow Soup (de courges)._--Remove the seeds from 2 or 3 vegetable marrows; cut into convenient pieces, and put to stew in a saucepan with a small quantity of stock, and pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg to taste. When quite done, pass through a hair sieve. Take 2 pints of this pulp and 1 pint milk, boil together for ½ hour, then gradually mix with 2 oz. butter, which have been previously amalgamated in a saucepan with 1 oz. flour. Let the whole come to boiling point, then serve.

_Vermicelli Soup._--Boil 2 oz. fine vermicelli in 1 pint stock free from grease, to which add a good pinch of salt, when cooked (in 10-15 minutes), drain, and put into the soup tureen containing 1 qt. well-flavoured clear stock, boiling hot. Grated Parmesan to be handed round with the soup.

_Victoria Soup._--About 2 tablespoonfuls sago to 1 qt. of good stock; boil gently; then 5 minutes before dinner-time take it off the fire, and have ready the yolks of 2 eggs and ½ pint cream; beat them together and add to the soup; stir all together and serve at once with sippets of fried bread.

_White Soup._--Flavour some stock delicately with onion, parsley, mace, bay leaf, lemon peel, thyme, button mushrooms, white peppercorns, and salt. Take equal parts of this and new milk, and thicken slightly with arrowroot. Just before serving, stir in the yolk of an egg beaten up, with a little cold milk or stock. A smaller proportion of cream may be used instead of the milk, if preferred. Serve in a sauce tureen, and be sure to have it and the soup plate well warmed. To vary this soup, a few small dice of sweetbread or the white meat from a chicken, or a little of the meat from a calf’s foot and a few egg balls, may be added. _Egg balls._--Mix with the yolk of 1 hard-boiled egg 1 teaspoonful grated tongue or pounded ham, and 1 saltspoonful minced boiled parsley; season with cayenne and nutmeg. Bind with the yolk of a raw egg, form the paste into balls the size of a small marble, and poach them gently for 2 minutes in milk. Put them hot into the tureen.

See also Chicken, Milk, Onion, Palestine, Potato, Rice, and Vegetable-marrow Soups, and Veal Stock.

=Fish.=--The first consideration with regard to fish is freshness, as nothing deteriorates more rapidly with keeping. When economy must be practised, fish may be bought at lower rates in the evening, and will keep perfectly well till next day, even in hot weather, by being moistened with vinegar, which treatment is by some people considered to improve the flavour.

Before proceeding to give a catalogue of recipes for cooking various fish, it will be useful to introduce some general remarks on dressing and cooking fish as a class.

_Dressing._--(_a_) When fish are scaly they must be “scaled” very lightly and carefully with a knife, then well washed with salt and water to remove all slime. The gills and fins should be cut off; then the fish must be opened, and the insides removed, followed by well cleaning inside and out with a linen cloth. If to be fried, they are ready for flouring.

(_b_) If no scales, proceed as in (_a_) without scaling.

(_c_) If to be boiled, the wiping may be omitted, but they must be washed with salt and water inside and out.

(_d_) All cooking must be thorough.

_Baking._--This is a good way of cooking any flavourless fish. (_a_) Cut it in slices or pieces and make a mound of it on a flat dish, sprinkling between each layer chopped herbs and parsley, cayenne and lemon juice. Melt 1 oz. butter in a pan, add 1 oz. flour and 1 gill milk, and stir till very thick; squeeze in a little lemon and pour it over the fish. Cover the whole with browned breadcrumbs and cook in a good oven till the fish is done. Keep a few crumbs back to sprinkle over any cracks, and serve on the dish it is baked in. For the lemon juice and the crumbs Parmesan cheese can be substituted.

(_b_) Scald and then chop a small piece of onion and a few sprigs of parsley. Butter a baking tin and sprinkle half the mixture over and half under a thick slice of white fish. Cover the whole with browned breadcrumbs and pour round a little stock or water with a dessertspoonful of ketchup or vinegar. Bake for 10-15 minutes, and serve hot or cold, garnished with parsley and cut lemon, and the liquor poured round. Baking is the most economical way of cooking fish, because it does not destroy the flavour, and sauce is not necessary as when boiled.

_Boiling._--(_a_) The common way of boiling fish is to draw them, cut out their gills, scale them--if scaly--and wipe clean. Put into a fish kettle, with salt, fennel, a bundle of sweet herbs, enough water with a little vinegar to cover the fish. When quite boiling, put in the fish, and let it boil slowly; when perfectly done, pour off the water and serve in a hot dish with parsley and butter.

(_b_) The liquor in which fish is to be boiled should be boiling ¼ hour before the fish are put in; these latter must be boiled very gently, or they will fall to pieces.

(_c_) The liquor in which fish has been boiled should never be thrown away, as excellent soup can be made of it with a few cheap additions.

_Broiling._--(_a_) After the fish is scaled, &c., notch it 2 or 3 times on the back, strew some salt on, and broil, basting with butter, and turning frequently.

_Frying._--(_a_) No way is more successful for cooking the cheaper kinds of fish. Plaice, ling, hake, haddock, small fresh-water fish, conger--all are good. The essential thing is to fry them properly. Cover each piece with egg and breadcrumb, or dip in a thick batter of flour and water; have perfectly fresh fat or sweet oil, and plenty of it; let it be sufficiently hot; and serve the hot fish nicely garnished with lemon and with slices of brown bread and butter. Conger must first be parboiled, or it will not be done enough. As for other fish, it is wise to cut them into strips or fillets.

(_b_) Frying fish in batter is often recommended, but it is not nearly so nice as egg-crumbing, and, indeed, when this is considered too troublesome or expensive, it is better merely to pass the fish through flour mixed with pepper and salt. Fish dipped in batter must be fried in a considerable quantity of fat, which, in small and poor households, it is generally impossible to procure. Egg-crumbed or dusted with flour, fish can be cooked in the frying-pan with a little fat, and is very good in this way.

(_c_) Plain flour may be used instead of breadcrumbs; in America “cracker-dust” (i.e. pounded biscuit) and Indian meal, the latter occasionally mixed equally with flour, are used instead of breadcrumbs.

(_d_) For eating cold. Well wash in water, rub with salt, dry, roll in a cloth, and place for a few minutes before the fire previous to cooking. Salmon, cod, and halibut should be cut into thick slices, other fish into convenient-sized pieces. Soles are done either whole or in fillets. Have ready a dish of beaten eggs, and another of flour; turn the fish well over first in the eggs, and then in the flour, so that each piece is completely covered, then place in a pan with plenty of the best olive oil at boiling heat, fry the fish gently till of a fine golden-brown colour on both sides. When done, place on a drainer before the fire, for the oil to drain off. Great care should be observed that the oil has ceased to bubble before the fish is put in, or the latter will be greasy. It is a good plan to try it with a crust of bread first. Tho oil can be used several times if carefully strained, and put aside in a jar, adding a little fresh each time if necessary.

_Stewing._--Put them in a stewpan; cover with water, and either white wine or claret; add some salt, spices, and anchovies, and a bundle of sweet herbs; cover the vessel, and put in a moderate oven. Garnish with green leaves, sippets, &c.

The following dishes are mainly adapted for using up remnants of fish, though whole fish may be employed if desired.

_Bouillabaisse._--Take several kinds of fish, such as whitings, gurnets, John dory, turbot; cut them in pieces the size of an egg; mince an onion, a small piece of garlic, one tomato, and a few sprigs of parsley; put the whole in a saucepan with ½ tumbler finest olive oil, a pinch of pepper, and one of mixed spice. When the onions are slightly coloured, add the fish, salt, and a very small pinch of powdered saffron; then fill up with sufficient boiling water to come up to, but not cover, the fish. This done, let the bouillabaisse boil fast for 20 minutes, or until the liquor be reduced by one-fourth. Serve the fish on one dish, and the liquor on another over thick but small slices of bread.

_Boudin._--Take the raw meat of either whiting, flounder, plaice, or pike; pound in a mortar, and pass through a sieve. Put ½ pint water into a saucepan with a pinch of salt, and a small piece of butter; when it boils, stir it in enough flour to make a thick paste; when cold, take of this paste, half the quantity there is of fish, and take of butter half the quantity there is of paste; thoroughly amalgamate the whole in the mortar, season with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg, work in 1 or 2 spoonfuls of white sauce (Béchamel), and lastly as many eggs, in the proportion of two yolks to one white, as will bind the mixture. Butter some small moulds, fill them with the mixture, and steam in a stewpan half full of water for 15-20 minutes. Turn out, and serve with white sauce.

_Cakes._--(_a_) Take the remnants of any cold fish, pull them to pieces, and thoroughly incorporate with them a small piece of butter and some mashed potatoes; season the whole with pepper and salt to taste, and a little cayenne. Form the mixture into cakes and fry in butter till of a golden colour. Serve garnished with fried parsley.

(_b_) Remove skin and bone from cold fish; to 1 lb. fish add 4 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs, 2 of suet finely chopped, and 1 of flour; mix well together while dry; then beat 1 egg with ¼ pint milk: mix all well together, and put in a greased mould; steam for 1 hour or bake for ½ hour.

_Chowder._--Cover the bottom of the pot in which the chowder is to be cooked with slices of pickled pork, or, if preferred, use a large teaspoonful of lard. Take any kind of firm fish (cod and bass are thought best), lay them over the pork or in the lard. If pork is used, first fry it slightly; if lard, make it boiling hot. Strew over the fish a layer of chopped onions if liked, one of split crackers (biscuits), pepper and salt; spices are used, but are not necessary; another layer of fish, onions, crackers, and seasoning until all the fish is in; dredge with flour, just cover the fish with water; stew gently; ½ hour will cook one of moderate size. Take up the chowder, thicken the gravy by adding a teaspoonful of flour to a teacup of butter, add this to the gravy; stew 2 minutes; add wine or ketchup if liked. Oyster or clam chowder may be made in the same way.

_Croquettes._--Take some remnants of boiled turbot, brill, haddock, or salmon; pick out the flesh carefully, and mince not too finely. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, add a little flour and some hot milk. Stir on the fire until the mixture thickens, add pepper and salt, a little grated nutmeg, some chopped parsley, lastly the fish; as soon as the mixture is quite hot, turn out on a dish to get cold. Shape like corks, roll in beaten-up egg, and then in baked breadcrumbs; repeat the process in an hour’s time; fry in hot lard, and serve with fried parsley.

_Curry._--Take 1 teaspoonful curry powder, 1 of raw rice pounded, 1 of chillies, 2 cloves of garlic, a little ginger, a few peppercorns, a little turmeric, half a coconut (remove the brown skin); grind all up with a coffee cup of water, then put half an onion, half cooked and minced, with ½ oz. butter in a stewpan, and melt it when quite dissolved. Add the curry stuff, also the gravy of ½ lb. beef, or some stock, and a dessertspoonful of vinegar; put 1½-2 lb. fish prepared in pieces about 1 in. square, and stew the whole.

_Cutlets._--Melt 1 oz. butter, add 1 oz. flour and ¼ pint milk; let it boil and thicken. Then stir in the flavouring--lemon juice or vinegar, salt, cayenne, a little anchovy sauce or paste, or, as a last resource, a tiny piece of bloater paste. Last of all, add about a breakfastcupful of cold cooked fish cut small. When this mixture is cold, shape it into cutlets or balls, egg and breadcrumb them, and fry in hot fat or oil.

_Jelly._--Put several large onions (sliced), some scraped horse-radish, lemon peel, pepper, salt, and mace into a stewpan with good white stock, simmer till the vegetables are tender; strain, remove the bones from 2 lb. turbot, sole, or any white fish; cut the fish into shapely pieces, stew in the liquor till quite done, strain the liquor, let it cool, add a glass of white wine, the whites of 2 or 3 eggs, and some lemon juice; hot it up. Lay the pieces of fish into a flat mould, fill up with the liquor, let get quite cold, turn out, and garnish with slices of cucumber. In very hot weather it will require ice.

_Moolie._--Take some fried fish, 2 tablespoonfuls cream, 1 dessertspoonful butter, 3 or 4 onions, green chillies (when they are to be had), a piece of ginger, and 2-3 tablespoonfuls vinegar; boil 10 minutes, then serve. An excellent breakfast dish.

_Omelet._--Beat up 3 fresh eggs with a quantity, equal to an egg in bulk, of the flesh of boiled salmon, shredded finely with a fork, a pinch of minced parsley, pepper, salt, and half a dozen bits of butter the size of a pea. Put a piece of butter the size of an egg into the pan, let it melt without browning, and as soon as it is melted and hot pour in your omelet mixture, and, holding the hand of the pan with one hand, stir the omelet with the other by means of a flat spoon. The moment it begins to set, cease stirring, but keep shaking the pan for a minute or so; then with the ladle or spoon double up your omelet, and keep on shaking the pan until one side of the omelet has become a golden colour, when you dexterously turn it out on a hot dish, the coloured side uppermost. (G. C.)

_Patties._--1 moderate-sized haddock, 12 cooking oysters, 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley, a very little pounded mace, a pinch of cayenne, a little salt, 1 teaspoonful anchovy essence, 2 oz. butter, ½ pint good white sauce, yolks of 2 eggs, ½ lb. good puff paste, and a little lemon juice. Skin and fillet the haddock, dissolve the butter in a stewpan; put in the fish, sprinkle with a little salt, and let stand on the stove, where it will cook without taking any colour. When the fish is done on one side turn carefully; while the fish is cooking, beard the oysters, put the beards with the liquor from them on the fire, in a small stewpan, and simmer for a few minutes. When done, strain off and save the liquor for the sauce. When the fish is done, which should be in 15-20 minutes, lift it out of the butter on to a plate; and when cool, roughly mince, or cut it into small dice; cut the oysters in quarters, and mix them with the haddock. Put into a small stewpan ½ pint good white sauce, and when it boils stir into it 1 oz. butter, the chopped parsley, anchovy essence, mace, and cayenne. Let it boil up, then draw it back from the fire, and stir in the yolks of the eggs, a little lemon juice, a little salt, and lastly the fish. Let it stand by the fire a few minutes, but do not let it boil, as this would curdle the egg, and harden the oysters. Now turn the fish out on a plate ready for use. Have ready some good puff paste, roll it out to the thickness of ½ in., cut out the patty cases with a tin cutter; and with another, half this size, mark the cover by gently pressing it on the paste, so as to make a slight incision; egg over the top, and bake in a quick oven. When done, take off the covers, scoop out the underdone paste inside, and leave the patties till dinner-time, then fill with the prepared fish, and set in the oven to get hot. Serve as an entrée in the first course. Note: The butter in which the fish was cooked would make a fish sauce.

_Pudding._--Equal quantities of fish rubbed through a sieve, and fine breadcrumbs, with seasoning to taste, and eggs sufficient to bind the whole. Steam 1 hour in a buttered mould, turn out, and serve with sauce poured round. (B.)

_Pulled Fish._--After any solid fish is boiled, pick it clear from the bones in small pieces, and to 1 lb. fish add ½ pint cream, 1 tablespoonful mustard, 1 oz. anchovy sauce, and 1½ spoonfuls of ketchup, a little pepper, flour, and butter mixed; make it quite hot in a saucepan and serve.

_Quenelles._--Pound the raw flesh of any kind of fish, and pass it through a sieve; take of breadcrumbs soaked in milk and squeezed dry, half the quantity there is of fish, and take of butter the same quantity there is of breadcrumbs; amalgamate the whole in a mortar, seasoning with pepper, salt, and nutmeg according to taste; add a little cream, one whole egg, and as many more yolks as may be necessary to bind the mixture. Shape it into small quenelles, and cook them as meat quenelles.

_Salad._--Fish makes an agreeable variety in the daily _menu_, and the following mode of cooking plaice may be acceptable as a substitute for soles. Select a moderate-sized one, which will divide into 8 fillets; cover with egg and breadcrumbs, and fry a light brown. Let them drain on white paper, and when quite cold put in the centre of a dish, and surround with salad, garnished with sliced beetroot, hard-boiled eggs, and sprigs of parsley. An excellent supper dish. A small lobster added to the salad is a great improvement.

_Toast._--Toast 6 rounds of bread about the size of a large tumbler, and spread them with butter and anchovy or bloater paste. Put in a saucepan the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 gill cream or milk, and any cold fish cut small. When thick, spread it on the toasts, sprinkle some breadcrumbs over, and brown in a very quick oven. Serve very hot on a napkin.

Special recipes for each fish will now be given in alphabetical order.

_Anchovy_ (Anchois). Butter.--Wash, bone, and pound in a mortar some anchovies, with an equal quantity of fresh butter and cayenne to taste. Mix well together, pass them through a hair sieve, and either spread it on slices of thin toast, or shape the butter into balls; ice, and serve with a piece of toast under each ball.

With Eggs and Endive.--Boil 6 eggs quite hard, shell them carefully, then cut the white with a sharp knife carefully across the middle of the egg, and, taking care not to break it, remove it like a case from the yolk. Mix the yolk with a little anchovy sauce. Form it again into a ball, and replace it within the white. Close the latter carefully, and when the eggs are thus prepared, place them in a pile upon a nest of endive, the points of the leaves towards the edge of the dish, which should be round.

Fried.--Slightly fry the little fish in their own oil, and serve them on thin fried toast; they make a nice accompaniment to the cheese course at dinner.

With Olives, Cold.--9 Spanish olives, 9 croûtons of fried bread, 4 anchovies, a little chopped parsley, ¼ teaspoonful chopped onion; take the stones from the olives in the usual way, wash and fillet the anchovies, and mince them very fine, also the parsley and onion; pound altogether in a mortar, and season with a little red pepper. Take a small portion of this preparation, and put into each olive in place of the stone. Now, with a small tin cutter, stamp out 9 croûtons of bread a little larger than a five-shilling piece; scoop out the middle, fry in some clean lard to a nice golden brown, and drain on a piece of kitchen paper; when cold, put an olive on each croûton, arrange them neatly in a silver dish, and put on each a little mayonnaise sauce and a little round the base.

Sandwiches.--Take the contents of a bottle of anchovies, wash them in several waters, remove the bones, and put them in a mortar with a quantity of butter equal to them in bulk; pound thoroughly, so as to get a smooth paste, wherewith spread slices of bread.

Toast.--Bone, clean, and wash a number of anchovies; make some slices of toast, butter them on one side very plentifully, cut in pieces the size of finger biscuits; lay 3 fillets of anchovy on each piece, throw a dash of pepper and the least bit of cayenne on them, and put them in the oven just long enough to get thoroughly hot, and so serve.

_Barbel_ (Barbeau).--Broiled: see Chub. Roast: see Chub.

_Bloater_ (Hareng pee).--On Toast.--Parboil 3 or 4 bloaters just long enough to allow the skin to come off easily; remove it, and take out the meat in fillets (4 to each fish). Have some slices of well-buttered toast of a proportionate shape to the fillets, lay one fillet on each, and trim them all to the same size. Rub each fillet over with some butter, sprinkle a slight dust of cayenne and black pepper over, put them in the oven to get quite hot, and serve.

À la Sefton.--The flesh of 3 bloaters well soaked, ½ lb. Parmesan cheese grated; mixed together, seasoned to taste, and divided into pieces the size of respectable minnows; then egged and breadcrumbed, fried, and served hot. (E. P.)

_Bombay Ducks or Bumaloes._--(_a_) Soak ½ hour to soften them; then beat out flat with a pestle, sprinkling with flour the while; cut off heads and tails, and toast on an iron plate over the fire, with another plate above to prevent curling up. They should be made quite crisp.

(_b_) They are generally bought in tin boxes, prepared for table, and only require crisping in the oven for a few minutes. They are served with or after the cheese course, before the dessert, or, as in India, as an accompaniment to curry, which in that country is always the last dish.

_Bream_ (Brème).--Put into a deep dish, or baking tin, a marinade of oil, vinegar, onions, thyme, bay leaf, pepper, salt, and a few cloves; lay a good-sized sea bream in this for some hours, basting occasionally; then cover with oiled paper, and put the dish or tin in the oven till the fish is done (about 30 minutes). Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, mix with it a good pinch of flour, strain the marinade into this, add a little stock, then one shallot and a little parsley chopped very fine; let the sauce boil, add more pepper and salt if necessary; pour over the fish and serve. River bream is far inferior to sea bream--a misunderstood and underrated fish--but may be cooked as a poor substitute for carp.

Broiled: see Carp. Roast: see Carp, Chub. Soused: see Carp. Stewed: see Carp, Trout.

_Brill_ (Barbue).--Brill is very like turbot, but less firm, thus requiring more care in the dressing. (_a_) After thoroughly cleansing, cut off the fins and rub the fish over with lemon juice 2-3 hours before cooking to make it white. Place it in the fish kettle with sufficient cold water to cover it, add 3-4 oz. salt and a little vinegar to 1 gal. water, heat it gradually by the side of the fire. As soon as it boils, skim, or the scum will fall on the fish and spoil its appearance. Let simmer till well done, but not broken. A large brill will take, after it boils, about 15 minutes, but to make sure of its being nicely cooked, lift up the drainer and try the fish with a fork (not steel). If the fish slips from the bone easily, and the bone is not the least red, the brill is ready to drain. It should be carefully drained before placing it on a hot napkin, garnished with slices of lemon and some lobster coral. Serve with lobster or shrimp sauce in a sauce tureen.

Brill, although inferior in plumpness and in the beautiful texture and abundance of skin and fins to the turbot, is nevertheless a very delicate fish, and worthy of the care often bestowed upon it. It is very good when boiled and served with shrimp sauce, and may also be cut into fillets and stewed or fried. (_b_) It is also nice when dressed as follows: Cleanse the brill and cut its back down to the central bone. Butter the bottom of a baking dish, and sprinkle this with finely chopped shallots and mushrooms, a very little onion, and some parsley similarly treated. Moisten these herbs with a mixture of Madeira or brown sherry and some good brown gravy. Lay the brill on his back on the couch of herbs, sprinkle a little more minced mushroom and shallot over him, and pour over some rich melted butter. Put the dish on the fire till it shows signs of boiling, and then into a moderate oven till done.

_Carp_ (Carpe).--Au bleu.--A famous cold dish of fish is that called _au bleu_. Trout, carp, and perch are good in this way. Prepare the carp, tie up the head, and put the fish in a kettle. Make some vinegar boiling hot, and pour it (scalding) over the carp; then moisten with red wine, and add 3 large onions cut in rounds, 2 carrots sliced, parsley, sage, shallots, thyme, bay leaves, and a few cloves, pepper, and salt. Put the fish kettle on the fire, and let it simmer only for about 1 hour, when take it off. Let the fish get cold in the liquor, and when wanted for serving take it out and lay on a napkin in a dish. This is very nice when accompanied by a _remoulade_ sauce.

Broiled.--Take a fresh carp, gill it, draw, scrape off the slime, and wipe it dry with a clean cloth inside and out, lay it on a dish with vinegar, claret, salad oil, sweet herbs (rosemary, marjoram, &c.), sliced ginger, coarse pepper, cloves, and mace; let them steep 2 hours, then gently broil over a clear fire, turning often, and basting with the liquor and herbs it was steeped in. Serve with the herbs, spices, and liquor boiled up together, and some butter beaten up with the juice of oranges or lemons; or with plain salad oil, and the spawn broiled by itself and laid on the carp; or with sauce made with pickled oyster liquor, white wine, grated nutmeg, juice of oranges, and a little vinegar broiled and beaten up with butter and the yolk of an egg. Pike, mullet, roach, dace, or bream may so be dressed; but their blood and spawn must not be used, and they may be broiled either with scales or without. Also slices of salmon and conger eel can be cut in pieces and cooked in the same way. This latter is best parboiled before broiled.

En Matelote.--Clean a fat carp and leave it whole. Take any other fresh-water fish that you may have handy, such as eels, pike, tench, perch, &c., cut them into pieces, put into a stewpan with a liberal allowance of butter and a few small onions blanched, and let them take colour. Now put in the carp surrounded with roes, moisten with equal quantities of red wine and good gravy, and a piece of butter rolled in flour. Let it boil, and when it is half done put in a couple of bay leaves and a little sage. Draw back the stewpan, and cook gently. When the sauce is sufficiently reduced, put the carp into a hot dish, pour the _ragoût_ over it, and garnish with fried sippets and crayfish.

In Brown Sauce.--Cut the carp in pieces and pack them in a deep dish, strewing between some salt, pepper, 3 pounded cloves, a bay leaf, 2 slices of lemon, and a small shallot minced; pour over a glass of wine and the same of vinegar; cover, and let them stand a few hours; melt some butter in a stewpan, and dredge in as much flour as it absorbs, to brown; thin this with very little water, just to keep the thickening from burning to a cake; mince a rasher or two of bacon and a small onion; put these in a stewpan, and drain in the pickle from the fish; when the sauce boils, lay in the fish, and simmer gently till done; dish the slices whole, and strain the sauce over them.

Pie.--Scale a carp, draw, remove gills, &c.; lay butter in the pie dish, and then the fish, with cloves, mace, nutmeg, 2 handfuls of capers, and currants cleaned; mix some butter and salt, and lay them over; cover with paste; lastly, pour in (at a hole in the top) some white wine, and bake. It is as good hot as cold.

Roast.--Leave on the scales, cut out the gills, draw, wash, and remove the spawn. Make a stuffing of grated manchet (breadcrumbs), almond paste, cream, currants, grated nutmeg, new yolks of eggs, candied lemon, or other peel, some lemon and salt. Make it stiff and stuff the fish, but not too full. Roast in the oven on 2 or 3 sticks laid across a dish, turn, and let the gravy drop into the dish. Dish it with slices of lemon, and sauce made with the above gravy; the juice of an orange or lemon, and some cinnamon mixed with butter.

Soused.--Draw, but do not scale the fish, save the liver, and wash it well; boil 1 pt. white wine, and 4 of water with some spice and sweet herbs; just before putting in the fish add a little vinegar (to make it crisp); when done, take out the fish. Add to the liquor some white pepper, bruised ginger, and let it boil, then get cold. Put the fish into it for 4-5 days, serve with vinegar and fennel.

Stewed.--Scale, cut out gills, wash clean, and dry with a clean cloth, flour, and fry them in butter; put them, when the liquor boils, into a stewpan, with ½ pint claret, grated nutmeg, mace, and anchovy chopped fine, a little sliced ginger, 3 or 4 cloves, salt, and 3 or 4 slices of orange; cover up the stewpan, and stew quickly, turning the fish occasionally. When cooked, dish with sippets of fried bread and slices of orange, lay the spices on and pour over a sauce made with butter and some of the liquor in which the fish was stewed. Garnish with grated breadcrumbs.

With Polish Sauce.--Lay thin slices of parsnip, celery, and onion in a stewpan, with a good-sized piece of butter, some salt, pepper, 2 slices of lemon, 2 bay leaves, and 6 cloves. Split open the carp, leaving the back whole. Lay it flat on the seasoning with the back uppermost. Lay the head, tail, liver, and milt on the top, and with these 2 thick slices of brown gingerbread, broken up. Pour over 1-2 tablespoonfuls vinegar, and beer enough to barely cover the fish. Simmer all till the fish is well done, take it up carefully, put the head back into the sauce, and stew this to a rich brown. Season it to taste, and strain it over the fish, which must have a thick brown glazing.

_Chub_ (Chabot). Roast.--Scale, wash, and remove the gills, making the hole as small and as near to the gills as possible; put inside some sweet herbs--rosemary, thyme, marjoram, parsley, and winter savory--tie the fish to a spit and roast, basting frequently with vinegar and butter, and plenty of salt. Barbel, tench, bream, &c., may be dressed in the same way, but should be basted only with butter; salt first strewed on. See Carp.

Broiled.--Scale, wash, and clean the fish, slit it through the middle, cut it 3 or 4 times across the back, and broil over a clear fire, turning it frequently, and basting with butter, plenty of salt, and a little powdered thyme. Trout, barbel, and tench may be dressed in the same way.

Baked.--Put into a fish kettle enough water, with a little vinegar, to cover the fish; add some fennel and a good quantity of salt. When the water boils put in the fish (washed, cleaned, &c.); boil slowly; when done drain for 1 hour, remove the fish from the house, put it into a pie dish with plenty of butter and minced parsley, bake in the oven, and serve very hot.

_Cockles_ (Clovisses, Prayres).--Cockles are very good when treated properly, and make excellent sauce as well as stew prepared in this fashion: Put 100 cockles into a pail of water, wash them with a birch broom; then put them into a pail of spring water and salt for 2 hours; wash them out, and put them into a saucepan; cover them close, and stew gently till they open. Strain the liquor through a sieve, pick them out of the shells, and wash well. Now put into a saucepan the cockles, the liquor drained from the settlings, ½ pint of hock, grave, or sauterne, a little grated nutmeg, and a piece of butter rolled in flour. Stew till thick and smooth, and serve in a hot dish garnished with sippets.

_Cod_ (Cabillaud, Morue).--Cod is popularly supposed to come into season in September, but is not really good till November, and reaches its greatest perfection in December, January, and February, after which month its quality again declines. In choosing this fish, care should be taken to select one that is thick and round, especially about the shoulders, which should present a clumsy and “humpy” appearance, like those of a wild boar, whose general outline is by no means unlike that of a prime codfish. The flesh should be firm, the gills of a lively red, and the eye bright and plump. It may be remarked that, though it is important to buy fresh cod, it is not quite so well to cook it immediately, as when freshly caught it is apt to be watery; but when rubbed with salt and kept for a day or two it acquires the firmness and creaminess so much prized. Cod is better crimped than when cooked whole, the operation of boiling being more successfully performed under these conditions. The fish may be partially crimped by scoring it at equal distances, without absolutely cutting it through into slices; but the effect of the operation is always to improve the fish. After being thoroughly cleaned the cod should be scored or sliced at regular intervals of about 1½-2 in.; then washed clean in spring water, and laid in a pan of spring water in which a handful of salt has been allowed to dissolve. About 2 hours’ soaking in this brine will produce the desired effect, when the fish may be washed and set to drain.

Au gratin.--In common with turbot and other white fishes, cod is very good when dressed _au gratin_. The cold fish should be picked out in flakes, perfectly free from skin and bone, and in this case no liver should be added; then take a dish, rub it with garlic, butter it and put in the codfish; season with pepper and salt, and pour over it a liberal allowance of melted butter, made with milk and cream; cover the whole with plenty of finely-sifted baked breadcrumbs, then put the dish in the oven; when well browned it is ready. A little finely-grated Parmesan cheese may be sprinkled over the fish as an agreeable variety.

Baked.--The tail-end of a codfish weighing 2-3 lb., or the whole of a small fish, can be cooked as follows: Pass a knife down each side of the backbone, and press in a good stuffing. For the above weight of fish the quantity here given to make the stuffing will suffice: Rub the crumb of a French roll through a coarse gravy-strainer; have very finely chopped 1 oz. beef suet or cooked fat bacon, a pinch of dried parsley and sweet herbs, salt and pepper; mix with egg and ½ teaspoonful essence of anchovy; make ½ pint thin melted butter, squeeze into it the juice of half a lemon, pepper and salt, a teaspoonful of essence of anchovy, and pour into a tin baking dish. Lay in the fish, bake in a moderate oven for about an hour, basting frequently, and taking care it does not brown. Should the sauce reduce too much and get thick in process of cooking, add a little water, a bit of butter, and a few drops of anchovy. When the fish is done, remove it to a hot dish and strain the sauce over it.

Boiled.--Tie the fish several times over with string, lay it in cold water plentifully salted, and let it boil gently, carefully skimming the water; when done lift it up and let it drain, then serve. An ordinary-sized piece will be done 2-3 minutes after the water comes to boiling point.

Fried.--Any piece of cod can be fried, but the slices should not be more than ½ in. thick, because, if they are so, they take so long to get done through, that either the outside is sodden or dried too much, according to the method of frying. If there is time, sprinkle the slices with pepper and salt, and leave them for 1-2 hours. When ready to fry, wipe the cutlets dry, dip in yolk of egg and very finely sifted breadcrumbs, mixed with an equal proportion of flour, and highly seasoned with pepper and salt. The best plan is to fry the cutlets in a wire basket, with plenty of fat, but if this is not convenient, they can be done in the frying-pan, if care is taken to do them quickly, and to have as much fat at the right temperature as possible. It is best to fillet the tail of cod for frying, and it is an economical dish. Having removed the flesh from the bones, press it flat with the cutlet bat, and divide into neat pieces; finish as directed above. Caper or piquant sauces are suitable for fried cod. The latter can be made by warming finely-minced pickles in plain butter sauce.

Mashed Salt (Brandade).--Take some salted codfish that has been soaked for at least 24 hours. Boil in plain water, drain, carefully pick out all the skin and bones, and separate the flesh into small flakes. Put the flakes into a basin, and work them with a fork until every flake is broken into little pieces. Rub a saucepan freely with garlic, put the fish and a small quantity of fine salad oil into it, stir well with a fork. Place the saucepan on a very slow fire, and never cease stirring the contents; pour into it salad oil and milk alternately, in the smallest possible quantities, but continuously, until the mixture assumes the appearance of a thick creamy paste. Season with white pepper, add some lemon juice, and never leave off stirring, for it is upon the thoroughness of this operation that the success of the dish depends. Served piled on a dish, with bread sippets fried in butter.

Rock.--Plain boil the cod, remove all the meat, clear it from skin and bone, then mince it fine; mince also an onion; put it in a stewpan with a piece of butter, and steam it soft; then put in the fish, with salt, white pepper, and finely mashed or grated potatoes; stir all well together, with a piece of butter; make hot; serve it well raised, with crumbs browned in butter, sprinkled over or ornamented with narrow strips of pickled beetroot.

Roe (Laitance).--Soft roes, which are the best, are to be bought at prices ranging from 2_d._ to 8_d._ each. This last is very large, and will make a dish amply sufficient for 12 persons. The hard roe is generally sold at 6_d._, but, as it does not go so far, it is not so cheap as the soft. It has lately come into use, when cured and smoked, as a breakfast delicacy, but, like all other dried fish, is indigestible. When fresh, it requires to be carefully prepared, or it will be tasteless; but properly managed it makes both a good and elegant dish. Besides the recipes given, there are a number of other ways of utilising this roe. It makes an excellent basis for fish soups of any kind, or mulligatawny, and nothing can be better for stewed oysters. It is also very good curried.

Soft Roe Fried.--Take the whole of a small roe or a portion of a large one, about the size of a calf’s sweetbread. Boil ½ pint water with a tablespoonful of vinegar, a large pinch of salt, and a shake of pepper. Put the roe in, and let it boil for 10 minutes; then take up and drain. Beat up half an egg, yolk and white together, in a basin, and pass the rose through it so as to touch every part. Have ready some finely-sifted breadcrumbs mixed with an equal quantity of raspings, and well seasoned with pepper and salt, and dip the roe in them, taking care it is nicely covered. Have ready some good frying fat, and when boiling put in the roe; fry on one side until brown and crisp; then turn and finish on the other. Butter sauce and anchovy may be eaten with it; or butter sauce with a little lemon juice and cayenne pepper added.

Hard Roe.--Get the roe the day before it is wanted. Boil it in salt and water until perfectly firm. When cold, slice it into cutlets ¼ in. thick and lay them in a pickle composed of a pinch of saltpetre and of baysalt, a teaspoonful of common salt, pinch of pepper, ground cloves, nutmeg, and allspice, the whole mixed with 2 teaspoonfuls vinegar. Let the cutlets remain in this pickle until the next day, turning them occasionally. A little before cooking drain and dry them, brush them over with egg, and dip them in finely-sifted breadcrumbs, well seasoned with pepper and salt and a pinch of chopped parsley. Fry the cutlets in butter until a nice brown, and when about to serve pour round them a sauce made as follows: Take 4 spoonfuls good gravy, add a few drops essence of anchovy, thicken with ½ teaspoonful flour, chop a tablespoonful of capers, and boil them, for a minute or two in the gravy.

The preceding recipes for roe are due to the well-known authority, Mary Hooper.

Sauté.--Boil a piece of codfish, but do not over do it. Pick out the flesh in flakes, put them in a saucepan with a piece of butter, pepper and salt to taste, some minced parsley, and the juice of a lemon, with a dust of cayenne. Put it on the fire till quite hot, and serve.

Sound (Nau).--(_a_) 6 fine salted sounds will make a good dish. Soak in cold milk and water for several hours, and boil until tender in fresh milk and water; then drain and dish on a napkin as any other fish; serve egg sauce with them.

(_b_) After boiling the sounds, as in (_a_), cut into neat pieces, not too small; and having made the egg sauce, put the pieces of sounds into the stewpan containing it. Hold the stewpan over the fire, shaking it about during the time until the fish is quite hot; then dish it without a napkin, piling the sounds in pyramid form, and pouring the remainder of the sauce over. Garnish with boiled parsnips round the dish; cut into neat pieces alike in size and shape.

Steaks, with Mock Oyster Sauce.--The most economical way of having cod steaks is to order either the tail of a good-sized cod or a cod’s head and shoulders, so cut that there is sufficient to take off some steaks, and what remains comes in for luncheon or the children’s dinner the following day. Sprinkle the cod with salt, and fry, either with or without breadcrumbs, a golden brown.

Stewed.--With a sharp knife remove the flesh in long slices from 2-3 lb. tail end of a codfish; divide each piece into three or four, dip in flour highly seasoned with pepper and salt, and fry lightly. Boil the bone of the fish with a minced onion, 3 or 4 peppercorns, a small bundle of sweet herbs, and 1 qt. water, for 1 hour. Strain the liquor, which should be about 1 pint. Let boil up, and thicken with 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, mixed smooth in a little cold water; add 2 teaspoonfuls essence of anchovy, and pepper to taste. Put in the pieces of fish, and simmer them in this sauce for ¼ hour. When about to serve, a few drops of vinegar may be added.

Twice Laid.--Take 1 lb. of the remnants of boiled codfish, remove all skin and bone, taking care to leave the fish in nice pieces. Put 2 oz. butter into a saucepan, when melted add ½ tablespoonful flour; stir it on the fire 2-3 minutes, pour in 1 gill milk, add salt and pepper to taste, and a little nutmeg; stir until the sauce boils. Take 2 hard-boiled eggs, cut each into 8 pieces; put them into the sauce with the fish and about 1 lb. mashed potatoes; mix all lightly together, dish up high on a plate, put into the oven to brown, ornament with some slices of hard-boiled egg, and serve.

With Cream.--Pick out carefully in flakes all the flesh from the remnants of some boiled codfish; melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, and add to it a large pinch of flour and 1 gill milk or cream, with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg to taste, also the least bit of cayenne; stir well, put in the fish, and gently shake it in this sauce till quite warm. If the composition be too dry add a little milk or cream; then add off the fire the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up with a little milk, and serve.

_Crab_ (Écrevisse de mer). Browned.--Take the great shell, clean and butter it; mince all the fish, shred some parsley, mushrooms, truffles, and a little young onion. Brown these in a saucepan with a very little butter; put in the minced crab with the inside bruised, and some cayenne pepper and salt; stir this about, shake in some flour, and add a little corach. Let this simmer up, fill up the shell, strew over crumbs of bread with small piece of butter; brown in a Dutch oven or with a salamander.

Dressed.--To produce a successful dressed crab, boil a large and a small crab in salt and water. When cold, open them, pull off and break the claws, and take out the chine. Clear out the shells completely, and put the soft creamy part into a basin. Now pick out all white meat from large and small claws and chine, and put some of this aside. Add to remainder a dressing of oil, vinegar, pepper, salt, and mustard, and mix well. Replace the mixture in the shell of the large crab, strew over the top the reserve of white meat, pulled into fibres, and adorn it with powdered yolk of hard-boiled egg, lobster spawn, and caviar, disposed in stripes, triangles, or diagonals.

Devilled.--Take 2 boiled crabs, pick out the meat and put it aside. Mince 2 or 3 shallots very finely, and put them into a stewpan with a goodly lump of butter. Fry the shallots to a gold colour, and then put in a little milk, salt, cayenne pepper, a dash of ketchup, a spoonful of chutnee, and a very little parsley finely chopped. Boil till it thickens; put in the minced crab, and let it boil up; then add the yolk of an egg, a little cream, and amalgamate quickly. Fill the shell of the larger crab, egg and breadcrumb it, put into the oven for 10 minutes, pass a salamander over it, and serve.

_Crayfish._--The sea crayfish (_langouste_) may be cooked in every way like lobster, but its flesh is very inferior in texture and richness. Freshwater crayfish (_écrevisse_) are in this country frequently ignored in consequence of the abundance of lobsters, but are excellent morsels even when simply boiled and eaten cold, and are invaluable as garnish. The famous _bisque d’écrevisses_ is made in the same way as lobster soup, save and except that the shells are pounded and added to the soup at an early stage of its confection. The rich, highly flavoured dish known as _écrevisses à la bordelaise_ is made by first getting ready a _mirepois_ thus: Cut into small dice 3 carrots and 3 onions, and add to them a bay leaf, some thyme, parsley, and lean ham, the whole chopped finely. Put all these into a stewpan with a large piece of butter, and let it stew gently without taking too much colour. Having thoroughly cleaned 24 raw crayfish, put them into the _mirepois_ with half a bottle of sauterne, half a glass of good cognac, a piece of glaze, and a little good stock; throw in a little pepper and salt, and cook over a brisk fire. In aspic: see Prawns.

_Dab_ (Limande): see Flounder.

_Dace_ (Vandoise) Boiled: see Carp. Stewed: see Carp, Trout.

_Eels_ (Anguilles).--When intended for frying or stewing, eels are skinned, but for a broil or “spatchcock,” the skin, after thorough scouring and cleansing, should be left on. In all these processes care should be taken that the eels be not overdone. Nothing, of course, can well be more detestable or more unwholesome than underdone fish, but in the case of eels great nicety is required, as if they are cooked too much all springiness and elasticity are lost. This point is often neglected in a stew or _matelote_; all individuality of texture is sacrificed, and a soft, tasteless dish is the consequence. Very large eels may be stuffed with truffle or other stuffing, and roasted; and small ones may be made into a pie; but the broil, fry, and stew are the most popular forms.

Broiled.--To “spatchcock” an eel, select a large one. Scour well with salt, wipe clean with a cloth, slit down the back, take out the bone and inside, cut off the head, and wipe off the blood. Cut into 4-5 pieces. Brush these over with yolk of egg, and sprinkle with a mixture of breadcrumbs, sweet herbs, parsley, and the thin rind of lemon rubbed fine, a little grated nutmeg, pepper and salt. Put on a well-anointed gridiron over a clear fire, skin-side downwards. When that side is done, turn on the other, and broil to a fine brown. Lay in a hot dish, and garnish with horseradish and parsley. Serve, separately, anchovy sauce, _ravigote_ sauce, or, best of all, a cold _tartare_.

Conger (Anguille de mer). Broiled.--Flay, draw, cut in pieces, and wipe clean; then parboil in water with salt and sweet herbs; lay the pieces on a clean gridiron, over a clear fire, turning often, and basting with butter and sweet herbs. Serve with butter, beaten up with 4 or 5 spoonfuls of hot spring water, and the beaten-up yolk of an egg. See Carp; Ling.