158. (See also No. 164.)

When the fish has been properly washed, lay it in a stew-pan, with half a pint of claret or port wine, and a quart of good gravy (No. 329); a large onion, a dozen berries of black pepper, the same of allspice, and a few cloves, or a bit of mace: cover the fish-kettle close, and let it stew gently for ten or twenty minutes, according to the thickness of the fish: take the fish up, lay it on a hot dish, cover it up, and thicken the liquor it was stewed in with a little flour, and season it with pepper, salt, essence of anchovy, mushroom catchup, and a little Chili vinegar; when it has boiled ten minutes, strain it through a tamis, and pour it over the fish: if there is more sauce than the dish will hold, send the rest up in a boat. The river trout comes into season in April, and continues till July; it is a delicious fish; those caught near Uxbridge come to town quite alive. The eels and perch from the same water are very fine. _Obs._--These fish are very nice plain boiled, with No. 261, or No. 264, for sauce; some cooks dredge them with flour, and fry them a light brown before they put them on to stew, and stuff them with No. 374, or some of the stuffings following. _To dress them maigre._ Put the fish into a stew-pan, with a large onion, four cloves, fifteen berries of allspice, and the same of black pepper; just cover them with boiling water, set it where they will simmer gently for ten or twenty minutes, according to the size of the fish; strain off the liquor in another stew-pan, leaving the fish to keep warm till the sauce is ready. Rub together on a plate as much flour and butter as will make the sauce as thick as a double cream. Each pint of sauce season with a glass of wine, half as much mushroom catchup, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy, and a few grains of Cayenne; let it boil a few minutes, put the fish on a deep dish, strain the gravy over it; garnish it with sippets of bread toasted or fried (No. 319). N.B. The editor has paid particular attention to the above receipt, and also to No. 224, which Catholics, and those whose religious tenets do not allow them to eat meat on maigre days, will find a very satisfactory substitute for the meat gravy soup (No. 200). For sauce for maigre dishes, see Nos. 225, 305, and 364--2. _Obs._ Mushroom catchup (No. 439) and onions (No. 402) supply the place of meat better than any thing; if you have not these, wine, spice (No. 457), curry powder (No. 455), aromatic roots and herbs, anchovy and soy, or oyster catchup (No. 441), variously combined, and thickened with flour and butter, are convenient substitutes. _Maigre Fish Pies._ Salt-fish pie. The thickest part must be chosen, and put in cold water to soak the night before wanted; then boil it well, take it up, take away the bones and skin, and if it is good fish it will be in fine layers; set it on a fish-drainer to get cold: in the mean time, boil four eggs hard, peel and slice them very thin, the same quantity of onion sliced thin; line the bottom of a pie-dish with fish forcemeat (No. 383), or a layer of potatoes sliced thin, then a layer of onions, then of fish, and of eggs, and so on till the dish is full; season each layer with a little pepper, then mix a tea-spoonful of made mustard, the same of essence of anchovy, a little mushroom catchup, in a gill of water, put it in the dish, then put on the top an ounce of fresh butter broke in bits; cover it with puff paste, and bake it one hour. Fresh cod may be done in the same way, by adding a little salt. All fish for making pies, whether soles, flounders, herrings, salmon, lobster, eels, trout, tench, &c. should be dressed first; this is the most economical way for Catholic families, as what is boiled one day will make excellent pies or patties the next. If you intend it for pies, take the skin off, and the bones out; lay your salmon, soles, turbot, or codfish, in layers, and season each layer with equal quantities of pepper, allspice, mace, and salt, till the dish is full. Save a little of the liquor that the fish was boiled in; set it on the fire with the bones and skin of the fish, boil it a quarter of an hour, then strain it through a sieve, let it settle, and pour it in the dish; cover it with puff-paste; bake it about an hour and a quarter. Shrimps, prawns, or oysters added, will improve the above; if for patties, they must be cut in small pieces, and dressed in a bechamel sauce (No. 364). Cod-sounds for a pie should be soaked at least twenty-four hours, then well washed, and put on a cloth to dry. Put in a stew-pan two ounces of fresh butter, with four ounces of sliced onions; fry them of a nice brown, then put in a small table-spoonful of flour, and add half a pint of boiling water; when smooth, put in about ten cod-sounds, and season them with a little pepper, a glass of white wine, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy, the juice of half a lemon; stir it well together, put it in a pie-dish, cover it with paste, and bake it one hour. _Perch, Roach, Dace, Gudgeons, &c. fried._--(No. 159.) Wash the fish well, wipe them on a dry cloth, flour them lightly all over, and fry them ten minutes (No. 145) in hot lard or drippings; lay them on a hair-sieve to drain; send them up on a hot dish, garnished with sprigs of green parsley. Anchovy sauce, Nos. 270 and 433. _Perch boiled._[179-*]--(No. 160.) Clean them carefully, and put them in a fish-kettle, with as much cold spring-water as will cover them, with a handful of salt; set them on a quick fire till they boil; when they boil, set them on one side to boil gently for about ten minutes, according to their size. _Salmon, Herrings, Sprats, Mackerel, &c. pickled._--(No. 161.) Cut the fish into proper pieces; do not take off the scales; make a brine strong enough to bear an egg, in which boil the fish; it must be boiled in only just liquor enough to cover it; do not overboil it. When the fish is boiled, lay it slantingly to drain off all the liquor; when cold, pack it close in the kits, and fill them up with equal parts of the liquor the salmon was boiled in (having first well skimmed it), and best vinegar (No. 24); let them rest for a day; fill up again, striking the sides of the kit with a cooper's adze, until the kit will receive no more; then head them down as close as possible. _Obs._ This is in the finest condition when fresh. Salmon is most plentiful about midsummer; the season for it is from February to September. Some sprigs of fresh-gathered young fennel are the accompaniments. N.B. The three indispensable marks of the goodness of pickled salmon are, 1st, The brightness of the scales, and their sticking fast to the skin; 2dly, The firmness of the flesh; and, 3dly, Its fine, pale-red rose colour. Without these it is not fit to eat, and was either stale before it was pickled, or has been kept too long after. The above was given us as the actual practice of those who pickle it for the London market. N.B. Pickled salmon warmed by steam, or in its pickle liquor, is a favourite dish at Newcastle. _Salmon[180-*] boiled._--(No. 162.) Put on a fish-kettle, with spring-water enough to well cover the salmon you are going to dress, or the salmon will neither look nor taste well: (boil the liver in a separate saucepan.) When the water boils, put in a handful of salt: take off the scum as soon as it rises; have the fish well washed; put it in, and if it is thick, let it boil very gently. Salmon requires almost as much boiling as meat; about a quarter of an hour to a pound of fish: but practice only can perfect the cook in dressing salmon. A quarter of a salmon will take almost as long boiling as half a one: you must consider the thickness, not the weight: ten pounds of fine full-grown salmon will be done in an hour and a quarter. Lobster Sauce, No. 284. _Obs._ The thinnest part of the fish is the fattest; and if you have a "grand gourmand" at table, ask him if he is for thick or thin. The Thames salmon is preferred in the London market; and some epicures pretend to be able to distinguish by the taste, in which reach of the river it was caught!!! N.B. If you have any left, put it into a pie-dish, and cover it with an equal portion of vinegar and pump-water, and a little salt: it will be ready in three days. _Fresh Salmon broiled._--(No. 163.) Clean the salmon well, and cut it into slices about an inch and a half thick; dry it thoroughly in a clean cloth; rub it over with sweet oil, or thick melted butter, and sprinkle a little salt over it: put your gridiron over a clear fire, at some distance; when it is hot wipe it clean; rub it with sweet oil or lard; lay the salmon on, and when it is done on one side, turn it gently and broil the other. Anchovy sauce, &c. _Obs._ An oven does them best. _Soles or Eels,[181-*] &c. &c. stewed_ Wiggy's _way._--(No. 164.) Take two pounds of fine silver[181-+] eels: the best are those that are rather more than a half-crown piece in circumference, quite fresh, full of life, and "as brisk as an eel:" such as have been kept out of water till they can scarce stir, are good for nothing: gut them, rub them with salt till the slime is cleaned from them, wash them in several different waters, and divide them into pieces about four inches long. Some cooks, after skinning them, dredge them with a little flour, wipe them dry, and then egg and crumb them, and fry them in drippings till they are brown, and lay them to dry on a hair sieve. Have ready a quart of good beef gravy (No. 329); it must be cold when you put the eels into it: set them on a slow fire to simmer very gently for about a quarter of an hour, according to the size of the eels; watch them, that they are not done too much; take them carefully out of the stew-pan with a fish-slice, so as not to tear their coats, and lay them on a dish about two inches deep. Or, if for maigre days, when you have skinned your eels, throw the skins into salt and water; wash them well; then put them into a stew-pan with a quart of water, two onions, with two cloves stuck in each, and one blade of mace; let it boil twenty minutes, and strain it through a sieve into a basin. Make the sauce about as thick as cream, by mixing a little flour with it; put in also two table-spoonfuls of port wine, and one of mushroom catchup, or cavice: stir it into the sauce by degrees, give it a boil, and strain it to the fish through a sieve. N.B. If mushroom sauce (Nos. 225, 305, or 333), or white sauce (No. 364--2), be used instead of beef gravy, this will be one of the most relishing maigre dishes we know. _Obs._ To kill eels instantly, without the horrid torture of cutting and skinning them alive, pierce the spinal marrow, close to the back part of the skull, with a sharp-pointed skewer: if this be done in the right place, all motion will instantly cease. The humane executioner does certain criminals the favour to hang them before he breaks them on the wheel. _To fry Eels._--(No. 165.) Skin and gut them, and wash them well in cold water, cut them in pieces four inches long, season them with pepper and salt; beat an egg well on a plate, dip them in the egg, and then in fine bread-crumbs; fry them in fresh, clean lard; drain them well from the fat; garnish with crisp parsley. For sauce, plain and melted butter, sharpened with lemon-juice, or parsley and butter. _Spitchocked Eels._--(No. 166.) This the French cooks call the English way of dressing eels. Take two middling-sized silver eels, leave the skin on, scour them with salt, and wash them, cut off the heads, slit them on the belly side, and take out the bones and guts, and wash and wipe them nicely; then cut them into pieces about three inches long, and wipe them quite dry; put two ounces of butter into a stew-pan with a little minced parsley, thyme, sage, pepper, and salt, and a very little chopped eschalot; set the stew-pan over the fire; when the butter is melted, stir the ingredients together, and take it off the fire, mix the yelks of two eggs with them, and dip the eel in, a piece at a time, and then roll them in bread-crumbs, making as much stick to them as you can; then rub the gridiron with a bit of suet, set it high over a very clear fire, and broil your eels of a fine crisp brown. Dish them with crisp parsley, and send up with plain butter in a boat, and anchovy and butter. _Obs._ We like them better with the skin off; it is very apt to offend delicate stomachs. _Mackerel boiled._[183-*]--(No. 167.) This fish loses its life as soon as it leaves the sea, and the fresher it is the better. Wash and clean them thoroughly (the fishmongers seldom do this sufficiently), put them into cold water with a handful of salt in it; let them rather simmer than boil; a small mackerel will be done enough in about a quarter of an hour; when the eye starts and the tail splits, they are done; do not let them stand in the water a moment after; they are so delicate that the heat of the water will break them. This fish, in London, is rarely fresh enough to appear at table in perfection; and either the mackerel is boiled too much, or the roe[183-+] too little. The best way is to open a slit opposite the middle of the roe, you can then clean it properly; this will allow the water access, and the roe will then be done as soon as the fish, which it seldom is otherwise; some sagacious gourmands insist upon it they must be taken out and boiled separately. For sauce, see Nos. 263, 265, and 266; and you may garnish them with pats of minced fennel. N.B. The common notion is, that mackerel are in best condition when fullest of roe; however, the fish at that time is only valuable for its roe, the meat of it has scarcely any flavour. Mackerel generally make their appearance off the Land's End about the beginning of April; and as the weather gets warm they gradually come round the coast, and generally arrive off Brighton about May, and continue for some months, until they begin to shoot their spawn. After they have let go their roes, they are called shotten mackerel, and are not worth catching; the roe, which was all that was good of them, being gone. It is in the early season, when they have least roe, that the flesh of this fish is in highest perfection. There is also an after-season, when a few fine large mackerel are taken, (_i. e._ during the herring season, about October,) which some piscivorous epicures are very partial to; these fish having had time to fatten and recover their health, are full of high flavour, and their flesh is firm and juicy: they are commonly called silver mackerel, from their beautiful appearance, their colour being almost as bright when boiled as it was the moment they were caught. _Mackerel broiled._--(No. 169.) Clean a fine large mackerel, wipe it on a dry cloth, and cut a long slit down the back; lay it on a clean gridiron, over a very clear, slow fire; when it is done on one side, turn it; be careful that it does not burn; send it up with fennel sauce (No. 265); mix well together a little finely minced fennel and parsley, seasoned with a little pepper and salt, a bit of fresh butter, and when the mackerel are ready for the table, put some of this into each fish. _Mackerel baked._[184-*]--(No. 170.) Cut off their heads, open them, and take out the roes and clean them thoroughly; rub them on the inside with a little pepper and salt, put the roes in again, season them (with a mixture of powdered allspice, black pepper, and salt, well rubbed together), and lay them close in a baking-pan, cover them with equal quantities of cold vinegar and water, tie them down with strong white paper doubled, and bake them for an hour in a slow oven. They will keep for a fortnight. _Pickled Mackerel, Herrings, or Sprats._--(No. 171.) Procure them as fresh as possible, split them, take off the heads, and trim off the thin part of the belly, put them into salt and water for one hour, drain and wipe your fish, and put them into jars or casks, with the following preparation, which is enough for three dozen mackerel. Take salt and bay-salt, one pound each, saltpetre and lump-sugar, two ounces each; grind and pound the salt, &c. well together, put the fish into jars or casks, with a layer of the preparation at the bottom, then a layer of mackerel with the skin-side downwards, so continue alternately till the cask or jar is full; press it down and cover it close. In about three months they will be fit for use. _Sprats broiled._--(No. 170*--_Fried_, see No. 173.) If you have not a sprat gridiron, get a piece of pointed iron wire as thick as packthread, and as long as your gridiron is broad; run this through the heads of your sprats, sprinkle a little flour and salt over them, put your gridiron over a clear, quick fire, turn them in about a couple of minutes; when the other side is brown, draw out the wire, and send up the fish with melted butter in a cup. _Obs._ That sprats are young herrings, is evident by their anatomy, in which there is no perceptible difference. They appear very soon after the herrings are gone, and seem to be the spawn just vivified. _Sprats stewed._--(No. 170**.) Wash and dry your sprats, and lay them as level as you can in a stew-pan, and between every layer of sprats put three peppercorns, and as many allspice, with a few grains of salt; barely cover them with vinegar, and stew them one hour over a slow fire; they must not boil: a bay-leaf is sometimes added. Herrings or mackerel may be stewed the same way. To fry sprats, see No. 173. _Herrings broiled._--(No. 171*.) Wash them well, then dry them with a cloth, dust them with flour, and broil them over a slow fire till they are well done. Send up melted butter in a boat. _Obs._ For a particular account of herrings, see SOLAS DODD'S _Natural Hist. of Herrings_, in 178 pages, 8vo. 1752. _Red Herrings, and other dried Fish_,--(No. 172.) "Should be cooked in the same manner as now practised by the poor in Scotland. They soak them in water until they become pretty fresh; they are then hung up in the sun and wind, on a stick through their eyes, to dry; and then boiled or broiled. In this way they eat almost as well as if they were new caught." See the Hon. JOHN COCHRANE'S _Seaman's Guide_, 8vo. 1797, p. 34. "Scotch haddocks should be soaked all night. You may boil or broil them; if you broil, split them in two. "All the different sorts of dried fish, except stock fish, are salted, dried in the sun in prepared kilns, or by the smoke of wood fires, and require to be softened and freshened, in proportion to their bulk, nature, or dryness; the very dry sort, as cod, whiting, &c. should be steeped in lukewarm water, kept as near as possible to an equal degree of heat. The larger fish should be steeped twelve hours, the smaller about two; after which they should be taken out and hung up by the tails until they are dressed. The reason for hanging them up is, that they soften equally as in the steeping, without extracting too much of the relish, which would render them insipid. When thus prepared, the small fish, as whiting, tusks, &c. should be floured and laid on the gridiron; and when a little hardened on one side, must be turned and basted with sweet oil upon a feather; and when basted on both sides, and well heated through, taken up. A clear charcoal fire is the best for cooking them, and the fish should be kept at a good distance, to broil gradually. When they are done enough they will swell a little in the basting, and you must not let them fall again. If boiled, as the larger fish generally are, they should be kept just simmering over an equal fire, in which way half an hour will do the largest fish, and five minutes the smallest. "Dried salmon, though a large fish, does not require more steeping than a whiting; and when laid on the gridiron should be moderately peppered. To herring and to all kinds of broiled salt fish, sweet oil is the best basting." The above is from MACDONALD'S _London Family Cook_, 8vo. 1808, p. 139. _Obs._ Dr. Harte, in his Essay on Diet, 1633, fol. p. 91, protests, "a red herring doth nourish little, and is hard of concoction, but very good to make a cup of good drink relish well, and may be well called 'the drunkard's delight.'" _Smelts, Gudgeons, Sprats, or other small Fish, fried._--(No. 173.) Clean and dry them thoroughly in a cloth, fry them plain, or beat an egg on a plate, dip them in it, and then in very fine bread-crumbs that have been rubbed through a sieve; the smaller the fish, the finer should be the bread-crumbs--biscuit powder is still better; fry them in plenty of clean lard or drippings; as soon as the lard boils and is still, put in the fish; when they are delicately browned, they are done; this will hardly take two minutes. Drain them on a hair-sieve, placed before the fire, turning them till quite dry. _Obs._ Read No. 145. "Smelts are allowed to be caught in the Thames, on the first of November, and continue till May. The Thames smelts are the best and sweetest, for two reasons; they are fresher and richer than any other you can get: they catch them much more plentiful and larger in Lancashire and Norfolk, but not so good: a great many are brought to town from Norfolk, but barely come good, as they are a fish which should always be eaten fresh; indeed, all river fish should be eaten fresh, except salmon, which, unless crimped, eats better the second or third day: but all Thames fish, particularly, should be eaten very fresh; no fish eats so bad kept." _Potted Prawns, Shrimps, or Cray-fish._--(No. 175.) Boil them in water with plenty of salt in it. When you have picked them, powder them with a little beaten mace, or grated nutmeg, or allspice, and pepper and salt; add a little cold butter, and pound all well together in a marble mortar till of the consistence of paste. Put it into pots covered with clarified butter, and cover them over with wetted bladder. _Lobster._[187-*]--(No. 176.) Buy these alive; the lobster merchants sometimes keep them till they are starved, before they boil them; they are then watery, have not half their flavour, and like other persons that die of a consumption, have lost the calf of their legs. Choose those that (as an old cook says, are "heavy and lively," and) are full of motion, which is the index of their freshness. Those of the middle size are the best. Never take them when the shell is incrusted, which is a sign they are old. The male lobster is preferred to eat, and the female (on account of the eggs) to make sauce of. The hen lobster is distinguished by having a broader tail than the male, and less claws. Set on a pot, with water salted in the proportion of a table-spoonful of salt to a quart of water; when the water boils, put it in, and keep it boiling briskly from half an hour to an hour, according to its size; wipe all the scum off it, and rub the shell with a very little butter or sweet oil; break off the great claws, crack them carefully in each joint, so that they may not be shattered, and yet come to pieces easily; cut the tail down the middle, and send up the body whole. For sauce, No.