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 filletted 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.[47] 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 the shrimps; then laid into a dish, with the ingredients directed for the _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. Footnote 47: A celebrated French cook gives the following instructions for raising these fillets:—“them up by running your knife first between the bones and the flesh, then between the skin and the fillet; by leaning pretty hard on the table they will come off very neatly.” 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 a 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 very 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 for 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 to 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 bread-crumbs 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 separately, 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 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 perfectly 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 wide 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 from six to ten 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 course allowed for them. Soles, 3 or 4: boiled in water 2 minutes. Cream, 1/2 to whole pint; salt, 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 ought to be extremely delicate, a coarse fishy flavour which the previous boil in water prevents. At Penzance, grey mullet, after being scaled, are divided in the middle, just covered with 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 previously been 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 fry 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 overdone. 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 eschalot or two, or the white part of a few green onions, 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.] [Illustration: Mackerel. ] 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 proportion 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 so 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 awhile. 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’Hôtel_ 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 teaspoonful 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’Hôtel_ 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 hanging 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’Hôtel_ 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 after 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 wineglassesful; 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 from four to five minutes, and turn them once in the time; then pour to them in small portions a couple of large wineglassesful 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 this receipt. TO BOIL HADDOCKS. In the best season in October, November, and December. [Illustration: Haddock. ] Scrape the outsides very clean, open the fish, empty them, wash the insides thoroughly, take out the gillet, 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 best mode of cooking various kind of fish,” at the commencement of this chapter, varies greatly, as they are sometimes very large; they must then be brought more slowly to 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 and dried, 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._) [Illustration: Gurnard. ] 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,[48] 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. Footnote 48: Whitings or haddocks. 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. [Illustration: 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; 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 quite 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 PLAICE OR FLOUNDERS. Plaice in season from May to January; flounders in September, October, and November. [Illustration: Plaice. ] 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 very 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.] [Illustration: Red Mullet. ] 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. [Illustration: 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 their 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 table with grey mullet. THE GAR-FISH. [Illustration: 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 the best mode of cooking it. It should be curled round, and the tail fastened into the bill. 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. [Illustration: Sand-Eel. ] The sand-launce, which is abundant on 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 with 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 were 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 laid 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. (_Greenwich 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 delicate 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 overdone. 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 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 in the light white wine of the country, and served covered 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.] [Illustration: Trout. ] 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 or 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.] [Illustration: Pike. ] 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.[49] 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. Footnote 49: Soaking fish is always better avoided when it can be so; well washing the inside with strong vinegar would perhaps remove the objectionable flavour without it. 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 quality as well as in size, directions for the exact time which is required to cook it; a few minutes, more or less, must often 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 table 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 very 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 a 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._) [Illustration: Carp. ] 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 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.[50] Footnote 50: The figure of this fish is very disproportioned in size to that of the carp and other kinds inserted here, as it is _quite small_ at its fullest growth compared with the carp, which sometimes attains to a great weight. [Illustration: 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 _Maître d’Hôtel 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 minutes. TO FRY PERCH OR TENCH. Scale, and clean them perfectly; dry them well, flour and fry them in boiling lard. Serve plenty of crisped or 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 egg 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 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, nearly twice as much of salt, and a moderate-sized bunch of parsley, into three pints of cold water, bring them gently to 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 two 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 backbones: 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 into these, and spread them thickly with fine bread-crumbs; broil 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 of 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 backbones, without dividing the fish. Season the insides highly 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------