tails, and trim the 4 halves into 12 fillets; remove the skin from
each; sprinkle with pepper and salt, and set to cook with plenty of
butter in a sauté pan, or in a tin in the oven. Put all the bones
and trimmings of the fish to boil for 1 hour in a saucepan, with 1
onion, 1 carrot, some parsley, sweet herbs, pepper, salt, and cloves
to taste, and a little water; then strain it. Fry in oil 3-4 shallots
finely minced, and as many mushrooms, until they are a light brown;
then add 3 tablespoonfuls wine vinegar, mix well, and let it reduce
by one-third. Add the above liquor and a little chopped parsley, and
dish the fillets with this sauce.
Fricassée.--2 mackerel, 1 tablespoonful parsley, juice and rind
of one lemon, yolks 2-3 eggs, ¼ pint cream, 2 oz. butter, 1
tablespoonful flour. Clean the mackerel and with a sharp knife just
cut through the skin round the head, strip the skin off from the head
to the tail, then run the knife down the back close to the bone, on
the outside, turn the fish over, and proceed as before, keeping the
knife close to the bone; strip the fillet off each side of the bone,
cut across in an oblong shape, lay on a dish, sprinkle with a little
sauce. Next put the bones of the fish into a stewpan, with the stalks
of the parsley, the rind of the lemon pared very thin, and a little
water, let them stew about ½ hour; when done strain the liquor from
the bones into the basin, rinse the stewpan, and arrange in it the
fillets in one layer; pour over them the liquor from the bones, and
let them simmer 10-15 minutes very slowly. About 5 minutes before
the fish is done add to it a tablespoonful finely-chopped parsley,
a little salt, white pepper, the flour and butter previously mixed
on a plate, and the cream; shake the stewpan round to mix the butter
and flour, let the sauce just boil, add the beaten yolks of 2-3 fresh
eggs, and the lemon juice; but be sure not to let it boil after the
eggs are put in, or the sauce will curdle. The roes of the fish
should be fried, and laid on top of the fricassée; and a wall of
mashed potatoes or rice might be put round the dish if liked.
Grilled.--Split 2 mackerel down the back, and remove the bone. Mix
some olive oil in a dish with pepper and salt, lay the mackerel
in this, and turn them over so that they are well oiled on both
sides. Place them in a double gridiron, and grill them for about 10
minutes in front of a clear, but not too fierce, fire, turning them
frequently during the process. Serve back downwards, with a large
piece of _maître d’hôtel_ butter on each fish.
Roes.--Blanch some soft roes of mackerel for about 5 minutes in
salted water, with a dash of vinegar in it; drain them on a cloth;
fry a minced shallot in butter, add some mushrooms finely chopped, a
pinch of flour, a little stock, some minced parsley, pepper and salt,
and the juice of half a lemon; stir the sauce well. Oil some paper
cases; put a little of the sauce in each, then as many slices of roe
as it will hold, and fill up with more sauce. Put the cases in a
moderate oven, and serve as soon as the contents are hot.
_Mullet_ [_Grey_] (Mulet). Boiled.--Choose a good-sized fish, lay
it in the fish kettle with plenty of well-salted cold water; when
the water boils draw the kettle aside, lift up the fish, and let it
drain, covered up over the water until the time of serving.
Broiled.--See Carp.
In Jelly.--Take a grey mullet, about 5 lb., scale and wash well; put
it in a fish-kettle, with sufficient water to just cover it; add the
juice of 12 lemons, 6 sweet and 3 bitter oranges, some allspice, and
2 onions, with a few cloves stuck in them. Let the fish boil gently
in this liquor till done. Put in a deep dish when cooked; then put
1 oz. isinglass or Nelson’s gelatine, previously soaked in cold
water, in the water the fish was cooked in, and let it simmer till
dissolved; then strain over the fish till not quite covered, and let
it remain till next day, when the jelly ought to be firm, but not so
stiff as calves’-foot jelly. (E. G.)
Stewed.--Take a grey mullet (3-4 lb.), scale and wash well; sprinkle
with salt and let it rest. Put a teacupful of olive oil in a frying
pan with 4 or 5 onions; put it on the fire, and fry rather brown; lay
the half on the bottom of a deep baking dish, place the fish over,
then a good layer of chopped parsley, a layer of tomatoes in slices
(or American tinned ones will do) and the remainder of the onions,
and another layer of parsley; pour over the oil left in the frying
pan ½ teacup French vinegar, 1 teacupful water, with some salt in it
and 2 tablespoonfuls conserve de tomates. Bake in the oven for about
1 hour in a moderate heat; lay the fish in the centre of the dish and
the vegetables round. This must have no gravy left. Best eaten cold.
See Carp.
_Mullet_ [_Red_] (Rouget).--This “woodcock of the sea” must never
be drawn or cleaned, as, like its land namesake, it is a very clean
feeder. As its own flavour is its greatest attraction, it is better
to cook it in a manner that does justice to that flavour, without
overpowering it. Lay 3-4 red mullet in a deep dish in vinegar, and
some whole pepper, and let them do themselves, and be served in the
juices that they throw out; or plain boil them, and mix their insides
with plain melted butter, without rejecting any part.
Baked.--Cut 1 carrot and 2 onions into thin slices; add thyme,
parsley, and marjoram, with pepper and salt to taste, and 3
tablespoonfuls salad oil; mix these well together, cover each mullet
with the mixture, and roll up in a piece of white paper, previously
oiled; bake them in a moderate oven ½ hour, then carefully open the
paper, place the fish neatly on a dish, ready to be served, and keep
it warm. Melt a small piece of butter, add a large pinch of flour,
half a tumblerful of good stock, and the vegetables, &c., the fish
were cooked in. Let the sauce boil 5 minutes, add salt if wanted;
strain, skim, pour it over the fish, and serve.
Broiled.--Wipe each fish quite dry, and lay it on a sheet of note
paper well oiled with salad oil; sprinkle pepper, salt, and a little
minced parsley on the fish, and a little lemon juice; fold up the
paper neatly, and broil them on a gridiron; take them out of the
paper, and lay carefully on a dish; pour the following sauce over and
serve: Fry in a little salad oil a couple of shallots very finely
minced, then add a wineglassful of sherry, 6 mushrooms finely minced,
and as much Spanish sauce as may be required. Lastly, put in a little
finely chopped parsley, and a little lemon juice. Let the sauce
gently simmer for ¼ hour, and, having skimmed off the fat, pour it
over the fish.
Stewed.--Make a paste in a basin with breadcrumbs soaked in milk and
squeezed dry, butter, minced parsley, pepper, salt, and spices to
taste; add a yolk of egg to it, and when it is worked quite smooth,
stuff the mullets with it, and put them to cook in the oven in a
tin, with plenty of olive oil, and pepper and salt to taste. Fry
some shallots in oil till they are a good colour, stir in a little
flour and as much well-flavoured stock as you want sauce; add spices,
pepper and salt to taste; then strain it and add a quantity of
Spanish olives previously stoned and parboiled. Let them simmer in
the sauce for a short time; then serve with the mullets.
Stuffed.--Remove the gills of the mullets, make an incision from the
throat half-way down the belly of the fish, and do not remove any of
the inside but the small gut, which will come away in pulling out
the gills. Take some fine breadcrumbs, add to them a fourth of their
bulk of shallots, and the same quantity of mushrooms, both minced
as finely as possible, and lightly fried in butter. Then add some
parsley and sweet herbs finely chopped, season with pepper and salt,
and make the mixture into a paste by working a pat of butter or more
into it, and the yolk of one egg; stuff the mullets with this, pack
them up securely in buttered paper, and grill them on a clear fire,
or bake them in a buttered tin.
_Mussels_ (Moules).--Mussels have an evil reputation, and in this
country are regarded with especial suspicion, while in France
they are eaten by everybody, when in season--that is, during the
six winter months. They maybe eaten raw if great care is taken in
bearding them. This operation, which is optional in the case of the
oyster, is indispensable to the wholesomeness of the mussel. It is,
however, more general and perhaps safer to eat mussels stewed.
Stewed.--Take 3-6 doz. mussels, put them in a pail of water, and wash
well with a birch broom; then put into a pail of spring water and
salt for 2 hours; wash out, put into a saucepan without water, and
cover close; stew gently till they open, and strain the liquor from
them through a sieve; pick them out of the shells, beard carefully
and put into a stewpan. Put in about half the liquor carefully
drained from the settlings, with a gill of sherry or sauterne, a
little grated nutmeg, and a large piece of butter rolled in flour.
Stew gently, and keep stirring till the mixture is thick and smooth,
and serve on a hot dish with toasted sippets.
_Oysters_ (Huîtres). Raw.--Put 4-6 oysters before each guest on a
plate, with a lemon quartered, and with the upper shell replaced over
each oyster. Serve thin slices of brown bread and butter and cayenne
with them.
Angels on Horseback.--Take 12 or more large-sized oysters from their
shells, removing the beards; cover each with a very thin slice of fat
of bacon, dipping each slice into hot water and well drying it with a
cloth before rolling it round the oyster; then place them on a fine
skewer and suspend them before the fire until the bacon is nicely
cooked. A slice of soft buttered toast should be under them while
cooking, and on it they should be sent up very hot to table.
Broiled.--Many invalids who object to native oysters in the shell
can eat them with relish when cooked in this way. Drain the oysters
from their liquor and dry them in a napkin. Heat and well butter a
gridiron, season well, lay them on, and brown both sides. Serve on a
very hot dish, with melted butter.
Cream.--Open 1 doz. oysters carefully and save the liquor; take ½
pint milk, add to it a piece of butter the size of a walnut, thicken
with flour, and simmer 10 minutes. Add the oysters with their liquor,
and seasoning to taste. Have some nicely browned slices of toast,
take up the oysters carefully, lay them on the toast, pour the
mixture over, and serve.
Croustades.--Parboil a quantity of oysters in their own liquor,
remove the beards, cut each oyster into 4-6 pieces. Melt a piece
of butter in a saucepan, add to it a pinch of flour, the liquid of
the oysters, a little cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg, the least bit of
cayenne, and some finely minced parsley. Put in the oysters and toss
them in this sauce just long enough to make them quite hot. Stir into
them, off the fire, the yolk of an egg beaten up with the juice of
half a lemon, and strained. Fill some bread croustades, warm them in
the oven, and serve.
Cutlets.--For these the large stewing oysters are the best. Take
about ½ lb. veal, and an equal quantity of oysters. First chop them
finely, and then pound them together in a mortar, adding a little
finely chopped veal suet, and 3 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs which have
been soaked in the liquor from the oysters when opened. Season with
a little salt, white pepper, and a very little piece of mace well
pounded; to this add the beaten yolks of 2 eggs. Mix this thoroughly;
then pound it a little more, and make it up in the form of small
cutlets. Fry them in butter, after having dipped them in the usual
way in egg and breadcrumbs. Drain well and send to table very hot.
Serve on a napkin, and garnish with little sprigs of parsley.
Devilled (à la diable).--Parboil some oysters in their own liquor,
take off the beards and hard parts, cut up the remainder into small
pieces, season well with cayenne and salt, and add a little lemon
juice. Take the liquor in which the oysters were boiled and add to
it a thickening of butter and flour, put in the minced oysters, and
stir over the fire until quite cooked, then add, off the fire, the
yolks of 1 or 2 eggs, beaten up with a little cream. Spread out the
mixture to get cold, then divide it into small portions, roll up each
portion into the thinnest possible wafer of parboiled bacon. Just
before frying dip each roll into some frying batter, put them into
the frying basket, and fry in hot lard or butter. Serve garnished
with fried parsley.
Fricassée.--Take a tablespoonful of cream and the beaten yolk of an
egg. Mix them well together, then drain the liquor from 12 oysters,
thicken it with butter and flour, add the egg and cream, season to
taste, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring all the time. Lay in the
oysters, let them warm through, then pour up over slices of buttered
toast.
Fried.--The oysters must be first boiled in their own liquor, and
drain. Then put them into a frying pan, with butter in the proportion
of 2 oz. to 3 doz. oysters, about a tablespoonful of ketchup, a
little chopped parsley, and grated lemon peel, and fry them for a few
minutes. Serve very hot, with toast separate. (Mrs. B.)
Fritters.--Have ready a batter made as follows: Dissolve 1 oz. butter
in 2 oz. water or oyster liquor, and stir to this 1½ oz. sifted
flour; mix well over the fire. Take it off and mix in, one after the
other, 3 eggs and a little salt. Beard and scald the oysters, dip
each into the butter, fry lightly, and serve.
Kromeskies.--Put 1 doz. oysters (tinned will do), with their liquor,
into a saucepan, bring them to the boil, take them out and beard
them, cut into pieces about the size of half a pea; return the beards
to the saucepan, boil in their liquor to extract the flavour, put
them back for 5 minutes to simmer. Make a panada of 1 oz. butter, 1
oz. flour, ¼ gill oyster liquor (add milk if short), pepper, salt,
cayenne, and a few grates of nutmeg; put into a saucepan. When it
thickens add the yolk of an egg, a teaspoonful of lemon juice, a
teaspoonful of anchovy sauce; do not let it boil. Put the pieces of
oyster in the panada to get thoroughly warmed through, turn out on
a plate to cool. Then shape into cakes, inclose in very thin bacon,
dip into frying batter, then drop into boiling fat, and fry. These
can be warmed up in the oven. Batter for kromeskies: 4 oz. flour,
2 dessertspoonfuls salad oil, a pinch of salt, 1 gill tepid water,
whites of 2 eggs beaten to a stiff froth; put the flour into a basin,
make a well in the centre, then add salad oil, begin to stir very
slowly, when it thickens add the water. After all the water is added
let the mixture stand for 1 hour. Beat the whites of the eggs into a
very stiff froth (it ought to be stiff enough to be able to cut it
with a knife), stir into the batter very lightly. The best bacon for
kromeskies is a block off the back, nearly all fat; parboil it for 20
minutes, let it get cold, cut into slices 2½ in. wide, 3 in. long,
then wrap round the oyster shapes.
Olives.--Chop finely 1 lb. inside loin of mutton, with ½ lb. beef
suet free from skin, and 1 pint oysters, scalded and bearded. Mix
well, and season with pepper, salt, and mace, and a squeeze of lemon
juice. When quite smooth, press all into a glazed pot. It will keep
several days. For use, roll it into balls or cakes, and fry lightly.
Patties.--Make first a rich puff paste with ½ lb. Vienna flour and
½ lb. butter. Press all the moisture out of the butter with a clean
cloth, then rub half of it very lightly into the flour, mix with
sufficient cold water to form a paste, roll, and put on the remainder
of the butter, fold in three, and roll out; repeat this, then fill
the patty-pans, and bake quickly. Beard and drain 1 doz. oysters, add
a few drops of lemon juice to the liquor, and thicken with flour,
butter, and the yolk of an egg. Cut the oysters into dice, stir them
into the mixture with a few drops of anchovy sauce; warm up, and fill
the cases.
Pie.--Line the sides and edges of a buttered pie dish with puff
paste. Take some large, fresh oysters, lay them in a stewpan, and
stir to them pepper, salt, and mace to taste, a very little butter
rolled in flour, and the liquor. When well mixed over the fire, pour
it all into the pie dish, strew it thickly with breadcrumbs and
chopped hard-boiled egg, cover the dish with paste, and bake in a
quick oven.
Rissolettes.--Boil as many oysters as you may require in their own
liquor, taking care that they are not too much done; a very few
minutes will be enough. Take off the beards, return them to the
liquor, taking them out of it again with a perforated ladle. The
liquor must stand a short time to allow the sand to settle; pour it
carefully into another basin through a fine strainer, that there may
be no chance of any grit. Make a thickening of butter and flour,
moistening it with the liquor. When the sauce is very thick, add
a spoonful or two of cream and the same of good white stock; cut
the oysters into dice and mix them with the sauce, which must be
sufficiently thick to hold them together in a sort of paste. Season
with a little salt and a very little cayenne pepper. If the flavour
of mushrooms be liked, 2 or 3 may be cut into dice and fried in
butter, dusted over with flour, and then mixed with the oysters. Make
up into rissolettes, using puff paste rolled thin, and cutting them
into small three-corner-shaped turnovers, putting about a teaspoonful
of the oyster mixture into each. Brush over lightly with yolk of
egg, bake in a quick oven, and serve piled up on a napkin in a dish
garnished with parsley.
Roasted.--Large oysters will be found very nice if roasted in their
shells. This operation is sometimes performed by simply putting the
wretched oyster on the embers alive, and thus converting his own coat
into a cooking pot. A far better plan is to open the oyster in the
hollow shell, taking care to preserve the liquor. To every oyster
give a little piece of butter, put on the flat shell as a lid, and
then lay the oysters on the embers on a gridiron, or put them in a
tin into the oven, taking care not to overcook them. When they are
done administer to each a dash of lemon juice, and 2 or 3 grains of
cayenne; replace the top shells, and serve instantly.
Sausages.--Beard the oysters and chop them very fine. To this add
finely pounded breadcrumbs, sweet marjoram, parsley, and seasoning
to taste, and mix it to a stiff paste with the yolk of an egg or
two. Cut this into pieces the length and breadth of your thumb, and
fry these a delicate brown. Serve on a napkin with fried parsley, or
round mashed potato.
Scalloped.--Parboil 2 doz. oysters in their own liquor, beard them
and cut them in half. Butter some scallop shells, fill them with
a mixture of half breadcrumbs and half oysters, adding pepper and
salt to taste, and a grate of nutmeg. Strain the liquor and divide
it between the number of scallop shells you have, put a piece of
butter in each shell, a few drops of lemon juice, and cover up with
breadcrumbs, pressing down contents of each shell. Put into a very
brisk oven till top is well browned.
Skewered (Hâtelets).--Beard 2 doz. oysters, and let them steep for
some time in their own liquor. Cut some fat bacon into rounds, and
place these and the oysters alternately on skewers, taking care to
finish, as you began, with a round of bacon. Season with pepper and
salt, egg and breadcrumb them, and fry a light brown. Serve on a
napkin with fried parsley, or in a dish with the following sauce:
Simmer the beards for 5 minutes in the oyster liquor, strain it, and
add ¼ pint stock (fish stock is best); thicken with flour and butter,
with a pinch of Nepaul pepper, salt to taste, and a little lemon
juice. Give it one boil before adding the lemon juice, and serve.
Soufflé.--Mix 3 oz. flour and 3 oz. butter smoothly over the fire,
add 1 pint good milk, and stir till it boils and thickens. Pour half
the sauce aside in a basin. To the half in the pan add a score of
oysters, roughly chopped and bearded, ½ oz. butter, the liquor from
the oysters, 1 dessertspoonful anchovy, the same, or a little more,
lemon juice, a grain of Nepaul pepper, and a little salt. Mix all
well together, stirring in the well-beaten yolks of 4 eggs; then add
lightly the whites of 6 eggs, beaten to a stiff froth. Butter a
plain tin mould, tie a band of buttered paper round it, and pour in
the mixture which should little more than half fill it. Steam for 1½
hour, and serve very hot.
Steamed.--Lay them in a potato steamer over boiling water, cover with
a plate to keep the steam in, and cook for 10 minutes. Then serve
quickly in the shell, and on a very hot dish, with fried brown bread
and lemon or vinegar.
Stewed.--Take 1 pint milk, thicken with 1 dessertspoonful of
cornflour, and stir in 1 oz. butter; season well, add a dozen
oysters, and stew gently for ½ hour. When serving, garnish the stew
with sippets of bread soaked in lemon juice and fried in butter.
Toast.--Chop 20 oysters roughly, and mix with them 2 anchovies,
washed and boned (paste or essence will do), mix well with a little
cream or the yolk of an egg, and thicken with a little butter rolled
in flour, and a grain of cayenne; boil up and serve on hot buttered
toast.
_Pilchard_ (Pie).--Cut the white part of 4 or 5 leeks into pieces,
and scald them in boiling water with salt. Soak in water all night 3
or 4 slightly salted pilchards, clean them, and cut off the tails and
fins, and put them in a pie-dish with the leeks in layers, seasoning
to taste. Cover the pie with crust, and bake it in a moderate oven.
In the country where this recipe comes from cream is cheap, and it
is recommended to raise the crust, to pour off the gravy, and to add
instead one cupful of hot cream just before serving.
_Plaice_ (Plie).--Plaice have little to recommend them beyond their
cheapness. There are two distinct kinds, those with the black backs
being generally preferred to the spotted variety. The flesh of both
is soft, and lacks the exquisite delicacy and firm springy texture
of turbot and brill; but still, if stewed in the same manner as
brill, they are fair eating. Fried plaice is a well-known article of
commerce in the by-ways of London, where the operation of frying is
successfully performed. The secret is that the fish are fried in good
oil, and that the temperature is duly attended to. See Sole.
_Perch_ (Perche).--Perch are delicate, especially when caught in a
swiftly-running river, and may be eaten fried, or in water souchet,
and shine especially in the latter form.
Clean the fish through as small an opening as is practicable, and lay
them, without scaling, on a well-oiled gridiron on a brisk fire; keep
turning them until you judge they are done, and send up to table with
them, in a sauce boat, some liquefied butter, to which pepper, salt,
and the juice of a lemon have been added. There should be one perch
for each person. Stewed: see Carp, Trout.
_Pike_ (Brochet).--When they exceed 4-5 lb. in weight, they are
excessively coarse and hardly worth carriage, but those of small
or moderate size are not to be despised when stuffed with a veal
stuffing--into which a liberal supply of lemon peel has entered--and
baked.
Baked with Sour Cream.--Cut the pike in neat slices. Place them in
an earthen baking dish with some butter at the bottom; divide 2 bay
leaves into pieces, and put them with slices of onion between the
fish; strew with salt, and pour over ½ pint sour cream. Bake about
20 minutes in a quick oven, basting at intervals; then strew over
some fine breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan cheese, bake a few minutes
more till delicately coloured, dish without breaking the slices, but
take away the bay leaf and onions. Pour enough broth or water into
the baking dish to make a sauce; add pepper, salt, lemon juice, or
vinegar; stir well round the crusting, and pour it over the fish.
Boiled.--Rub off the slime with salt and water, cut away gills and
fins, draw, &c., and put into a fish kettle a handful of salt, 2 dr.
cloves, also of mace, 2 sliced nutmegs, the peel of a lemon, and a
small quantity of ginger peeled and sliced, 2 dr. whole pepper, 4
or 5 onions, a faggot of sweet herbs, equal quantities of rosemary,
marjoram, thyme, winter savory and parsley, enough liquor, 3 parts
water and one white wine, to cover the fish. Let it boil, put in
the fish, and cook slowly. When done drain the liquor from it, and
dish with the herbs and spices on it, sliced lemons and lemon peel,
and with either of the following sauces: Sauce.--(1) To 1 ladleful
melted butter add 2 of the boiling liquor in which the fish was
cooked. (2) Add to the above some slices of lemon, and an anchovy or
two pounded quite smooth. Garnish the fish with powdered ginger. (3)
Add to the above some oysters, some sliced horseradish, and a small
quantity of white wine, lastly, add the yolks of 2 or 3 eggs.
Broiled: see Carp.