must be coated with fine herbs and oiled butter; after which sprinkle
with breadcrumbs, and ladle over some beaten egg with a spoon. Bake
them a pale brown, and serve with a good sprinkling of lemon juice
and a little gravy made in the baking dish.
Fried.--Choose small pike not more than 15 in. long, fry them until
brown and crisp, drain off the butter, and put them into a pan with
nutmeg, sliced ginger, a few anchovies, salt, and just sufficient
claret to cover them. Boil until the liquor be half consumed, then
add a piece of butter and a sliced lemon or orange. Serve on a dish
previously rubbed with shallot, and garnish with lemon or orange.
Larded.--Choose a large fish. When cleaned, lard it thickly over with
fresh bacon; put butter in a baking-dish with a little water; lay in
the fish in a ring, with the tail in its mouth, and bake in a brisk
oven; when half-done, strew fine breadcrumbs over, with pepper and
salt; baste occasionally, and when done a delicate brown move the
fish carefully on to a flat dish; pour into the baking-dish a brown
caper sauce or a sardine sauce; add a good sprinkling of lemon juice;
scrape in the crusting of the dish; pour the sauce over the fish, and
serve.
Roast.--Stuff a large pike with veal stuffing, rather highly
seasoned, and sew it up. Skewer its tail into its mouth and put it
in a round baking tin. Pour over a teacupful of cream, and roast it
in the oven, basting it frequently. Serve in a tureen melted butter
sauce, with the liquor out of the dish added, and the juice of half
a lemon. Hake would be good cooked in this way; one of moderate size
must be chosen if it is to be cooked whole.
Soused: see Carp.
Stewed.--Having cleaned and scaled the pike, lay it in plenty of
salted water. Put a good-sized piece of butter in a stewpan, with
a large tablespoonful of chopped parsley and either a shallot, an
onion, a clove of garlic, or some minced chives, 2 slices of lemon, 2
or 3 cloves, salt and pepper; cut up the fish into good-sized pieces.
A pike of about 4 lb. weight is best this way. Add a glass of wine,
the same of vinegar, and a large cup of broth or water to the stewed
herbs. Lay in the fish packed closely together, cover, and let it
simmer about ½ hour. Mix 3 or 4 yolks of eggs, with a cup of milk or
cream, pour this over the fish; strew in breadcrumbs to thicken the
sauce. Let it come to the boil; dish the fish carefully, put a piece
of butter to melt in the sauce, and pour it over.
_Prawns_ (Crevettes).--Prawns are in this country generally boiled
for about 10 minutes, and served cold. Very pretty they look when
built up over a _buisson_ of parsley, and very nice they taste as a
preparation for more serious dishes. In India and America, where they
grow to a very large size, prawns are often curried or served in an
_omelette_. In both of these cases they are first boiled, allowed to
cool, and carefully picked. For an _omelette_ they are then tossed
in butter seasoned with a little pepper, and inserted into the fold
of the _omelette_, and in curry are treated precisely like curried
lobster. In the first form they are exquisitely delicate; in the
second simply delicious.
Aspic.--Make a savoury jelly with 2-3 lb. knuckle of veal, an oxfoot,
some lean bacon, carrots, onions, shallots, a faggot of herbs,
spices, pepper, and salt, and 2 qt. water; stew till quite strong,
strain, when cold remove all fat, and clear with the whites of 2 or
3 eggs, and a glass of sherry; strain through a jelly bag, and when
nearly set pour a little into a jelly mould, put a layer of cooked
prawns, another layer of jelly and so on, filling up the mould with
alternate layers of jelly and prawns; when quite firm (it will
require icing) dip the mould in hot water for an instant, and turn
it out very carefully. Crayfish may be cooked in the same way.
_Roach_ (Gardon, rosse).--Broiled: see Carp; Stewed: see Carp, Trout.
_Salmon_ (Saumon).--A good fresh salmon is stiff, is bright and clear
in the scale, and has a small head. When the head looks long and the
jaws are hooked at the ends, it is no longer desirable. The fish
should be thick and deep, and the flesh of a fine pink colour, and
very firm. Flabbiness in substance, and a crimson or purplish colour,
are infallible indices of a fish out of condition. Salmon may be
eaten advantageously with shrimp or with _Hollandaise_ sauce, with
caper sauce, with simple _beurre fondu_, or perhaps best of all with
fennel sauce.
À la Montpelier.--Take 6-8 lb. of the middle of a large salmon,
put it into a braizing pan with 3 qt. stock, 2 qt. water, and ½
bottle chablis, with sliced carrots and onions, 6 bay leaves, some
basil, thyme, and ¼ oz. fresh butter. Put it on the fire, and let it
just boil, then withdraw it, and let it braize gently for 1 hour.
Take equal proportions of chives and parsley, and a fourth part of
anchovy. Blanch and then pound them in a mortar with fresh butter and
cayenne to taste; when reduced to a smooth paste, pass it through
a hair sieve, and put it on ice. When the salmon is cold, take it
out of the braize and drain it, then cover it evenly with the above
mixture. Serve ornamented with lobster spawn and aspic jelly, with
truffles and chopped whites of egg.
Au bleu.--Cut the salmon into slices not quite 1 in. thick. If trout
be used, let it be gutted by the gills, and not scaled, but only well
washed. Lay the fish in a deep dish, pour over it about a teacupful
of boiling vinegar, more or less, according to the quantity. Let the
fish soak in this for an hour; then take it out, fold it in a nice
clean piece of linen, place it in a stewpan with a piece of butter,
an onion and a carrot thinly sliced, a bunch of parsley, a shallot,
2 bay leaves, a sprig of basil, spice, pepper, and salt to taste, 1
pint red wine (vin ordinaire), and a little broth. Let all simmer
gently till the fish is cooked enough; the weight of the fish must
decide the time. Let the fish remain in the liquor till cool, then
serve it dry on a napkin, with the following sauce: 1 part vinegar
to 2 of oil, with equal quantities of sorrel, chives, and chervil,
chopped small, but not very fine.
Au gratin.--Take 2 slices salmon, about 1 in. thick, lay them in a
buttered tin, having first sprinkled them on both sides with pepper
and salt, put a few pieces of butter on them, and over all a sheet
of buttered paper. Place the tin in the oven for ¼ hour, then take
out the slices, lay them on a dish, pour the butter over them, and
sprinkle them all over with grated Parmesan cheese, and a very little
fine baked breadcrumbs on the top. Place the dish in the oven for 10
minutes, and serve in the same dish.
Boiled.--Put the fish--scaled and cleaned--into a fish kettle
with sufficient cold water to cover it well, and with salt in the
proportion of 1 lb. to 6 qt.; boil it quickly, skim carefully, and
let it simmer till quite done. Remove it from the water, drain, brush
the outer skin lightly with salad oil, and serve on a hot dish, with
cut lemon and parsley.
Broiled.--Salmon for broiling should be cut in slices not more than
1 in. thick. These may be floured, dusted with a little pepper and
salt, broiled on a gridiron previously rubbed with butter, and served
with plain butter or anchovy sauce; but a better method is to rub the
slices of salmon with a salad oil, instead of adopting the ancient
process of flouring. Another and perhaps still better plan is--after
drying the slices of fish thoroughly, to season them with a little
pepper and salt, and a _soupçon_ of grated nutmeg. Then take some
sheets of white paper, considerably larger--when doubled--than the
steaks, and anoint them either with butter or with oil. Wrap each
slice of salmon in a sheet of paper, and fasten the paper by turning
up a rim and pinching it over. Broil gently over a very clear fire
for about 20 minutes, and serve on a very hot dish. See Carp.
Boudin.--Take equal quantities cold boiled salmon and breadcrumbs.
Put the salmon, finely flaked and picked free from bone and skin,
into a mortar; pound it, pass it through a sieve, and return it
to the mortar, then work into it half its bulk of butter, the
breadcrumbs soaked in milk and squeezed dry; season with pepper,
salt, and nutmeg; then work in sufficient eggs, in the proportion
of 2 yolks and 1 white, to bind the mixture. Put it into buttered
moulds, and steam it for ½ hour in a saucepan full of boiling water.
Serve with Dutch sauce.
Cakes.--Pound about 1 lb. cold boiled salmon free of skin, with about
the same quantity of cold boiled potatoes, taking care first to
remove any eyes or dark-coloured specks there may be; with these beat
up some pounded spawn of lobster, an egg, and a little milk. Season
with salt and pepper and a few grains of cayenne. Then, with 2 little
flour, roll into cakes, and fry them a nice brown. Dress them, set
round on a napkin in a dish, garnished with fried parsley.
Chaud-froid.--Cut a slice about 4 in. thick from a fine salmon. Wrap
it round with thin slices of fat bacon, first detaching the skin,
by passing a sharp knife under it, from the fish, without removing
it, and placing a piece of carrot wrapped in bacon in the hollow of
the slice to keep it in shape; tie it firmly round with string. Set
it on a small strainer, and place this in a stewpan. Have ready a
sauce made by putting into a stewpan ¼ lb. chopped suet, ¼ lb. fat
bacon, with some sprigs of parsley, 2 small onions and 1 carrot, both
to be sliced, 2 cloves, the juice of half a lemon, a saltspoonful
of pepper, and a little salt. Let these remain on the fire about 10
minutes, stirring them carefully during the time to prevent their
getting brown; add as much water as may be necessary to use for
boiling the salmon in, and let it boil for 1 hour, strain it and let
it get cool, when it will be ready to pour over the fish into the
stewpan. This stewpan should be no larger than absolutely necessary,
or a very large quantity of the sauce would be required in which
to boil the fish. Set the stewpan on a moderate fire for about ¾
hour; remove it, and let the fish remain in the liquor till nearly
cold; then remove it to an earthen strainer on a dish, and set it
aside to become quite cold and firm. Take the yolks of 2 hard-boiled
eggs, 2 anchovies, a dessertspoonful of capers, 2 green gherkins,
a few chives, and some sprigs of parsley and tarragon, previously
washed and well freed from water; pound all these well together in
a mortar, and then mix in 2 oz. fresh butter, very gradually adding
2 tablespoonfuls salad oil, and 1 dessertspoonful tarragon vinegar;
season with pepper and salt. Rub this all through a sieve and if too
soft set it on the ice for a short time until sufficiently firm for
use. Cut a slice of bread 1 in. thick, shape it into an oval form to
suit the form of the salmon, fry it in butter a light colour, and
spread some of the prepared butter all over it with a knife dipped
in warm water. Place this on the dish in which it is to be served,
set the fish on it, and spread the upper part of it with a rather
thin coating of the same butter, smoothing it well with the blade of
a knife. Cut a truffle into slices, and with a cutter stamp it into
leaves, circles, &c. Some thin slices of white of hard-boiled egg
should be stamped out in the same way, and be used for ornamenting
the fish. A little bright red spawn of lobster should also be
tastefully added here and there on the fish. The dish should be
garnished with slices of cold aspic jelly cut into three-cornered
pieces, and laid slightly one over the other to form a ring round the
salmon.
Croquettes.--Carefully pick out the flesh of some remnants of boiled
salmon and mince it slightly. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan,
add the smallest quantity of flour and some hot milk. Stir on the
fire a minute or so, then add pepper, salt, a little grated nutmeg,
some minced parsley, and lastly the fish; shake it well, and as soon
as the fish is hot take the saucepan off the fire, and stir in the
yolk of an egg beaten up with the juice of half a lemon; now spread
out the mixture on a plate to get cold; when cold divide it in
tablespoonfuls, and fashion them all in breadcrumbs into the shape of
balls; roll these in beaten-up egg, breadcrumb them well and, after
the lapse of about an hour, fry in very hot lard, serving with fried
parsley.
Cutlets.--Take a piece of salmon 4 in. thick, remove the bones and
skin carefully, cut it in slices ½ in. thick and flatten each on the
chopping board with a cutlet bat or common chopper dipped in water.
From these slices cut as many neatly-shaped cutlets of a uniform
shape as is possible. Place them quite flat on a well-buttered baking
tin, sprinkle butter and salt over them, and ten minutes before
they are wanted put them into the oven, with a sheet of buttered
white paper over them. Place all the trimmings of the salmon into
a saucepan, with carrots, onions, thyme, a bay leaf, some parsley,
pepper, and salt, and a pint of stock. Let this boil for ½ hour; melt
a small piece of butter, add to it about a teaspoonful of flour; stir
it till it begins to colour; then strain into it the above sauce,
and add a little chopped parsley. Cut a large cucumber in rounds 1
in. long, cut each round into 4 quarters, remove the seeds and rind,
and trim each piece to a uniform shape; then throw them into boiling
water with a little salt; let them boil until nearly cooked. Strain,
and throw into cold water, then strain again and put into a saucepan
with a little butter, pepper, salt, and chopped parsley, to be kept
covered up, and warm until wanted. To dish up, pour the sauce on a
dish, arrange the cutlets slanting, overlapping each other round it,
and fill the hollow space in the middle with the cucumber.
Devilled.--Some thin slices of kippered salmon, 3 captain’s biscuits
in clarified butter or olive oil and some devil mixture. Soak some
thin captain’s biscuits in clarified butter or olive oil, rub each
side over well with the mixture, and toast them on the gridiron over
a clear fire. Put them on a hot dish, place on each a very thin slice
of kippered salmon, and brown with a salamander or before the fire.
Serve quickly and very hot.
Grilled.--Grilled salmon may be served with many sauces. Plain
_beurre fondu_ is a very good accompaniment, as is also a rich
_maître d’hôtel_. _Sauce périgueux_, _sauce ravigote_, _sauce
piquante_, _italienne_, and _sauce indienne_, are also frequently
served; but perhaps the very best sauce of all to a salmon steak
or cutlet is _tartare_, whose most formidable rival is the shallot
sauce, known as _biérnaise_. French cooks are very fond of submitting
salmon steaks to a preliminary bath in a _marinade_, composed of oil,
salt, sliced onions, and plenty of parsley.
Kromeskies.--Odds and ends of cold salmon, and the tail of the fish,
are well employed in making neat little dishes, such as kromeskies.
To make these, cook the salmon, free it from skin and bone, and put
it under a weight. When it is cooled into solidity, cut it into dice,
and add half its bulk of chopped cooked truffles, if you have them,
or mushrooms if the more noble fungus be unattainable. Take some good
gravy, thicken it with butter and yolk of egg, reduce it a little,
put in the salmon and the truffles, give it a shake up, and let it
cook. Form the kromeskies with sheet wafer, dip in batter, fry them
in butter, drain carefully, and serve very hot.
Mayonnaise.--Boil 5 or 6 eggs hard; when cold remove the yolks, and
pound them up with 2 saltspoonfuls salt, 1 teaspoonful mustard, a
little cayenne, and the raw yolks of 2 or 3 eggs. When quite smooth
add 10 dessertspoonfuls oil, 2 of tarragon, and 4 of common vinegar.
Wash and chop some tarragon, chervil, spring onions. Divide 1 lb.
cold boiled salmon (freed from bone and skin) into flakes. Put a
layer of the above salad into a bowl, then half of the salmon, pour
some sauce over, then another layer of salad, the rest of the salmon
and the sauce; ornament with sliced cucumber.
Pie.--Salmon pie is an elegant dish. To prepare this, take a tail of
salmon and pick it clean from the bones and weigh it. Then make half
its weight of whiting stuffing. Strip the fillets from 2 whiting,
pound the flesh and rub it through a tammy; add to this ¼ lb. butter,
and a like weight of breadcrumbs soaked in milk; season with pepper
and salt, add a little white sauce, bind with yolks of 2 eggs, and
mix all well together. Now take a pie dish, and put in a thin layer
of stuffing, and on that a layer of salmon, seasoned with pepper,
salt, and a little spice; on this put another layer of stuffing,
then salmon, and so till the dish is filled; cover with paste,
and bake in a slow oven till done. This requires some care in its
preparation; but a simpler salmon pie may be made by mixing the cold
flaked fish with mashed potatoes and a liberal dose of anchovy or
shrimp sauce, and putting the whole into a pie dish, which may remain
in a moderate oven till nicely browned.
Salad.--Take some boiled and “soused” salmon, mince it with apples
and onions, add some salad oil, vinegar, and pepper; garnish with
lemons and capers.
Scalloped.--Cut the flesh in slices half a finger thick, and these
again, according to their size, into 2, 3, or 4 pieces, as round as
possible. Put them into a pan with plenty of butter, and some salt
and pepper. Keep a brisk fire till they are cooked through. Arrange
them on a dish in a circle, overlapping each other, with a piece of
fried bread the same size between each. Into the middle of these pour
a sauce, tomato, genevoise, or Italian, or a white sauce, Parisienne
or Normande.
_Salt fish_ (Morue).--In buying salt fish, care should be taken to
select a thick, plump slice, which should be very white, as a yellow
tinge often indicates fish that has been cured for a long time. That
with a black skin should be preferred. Now take a sharp knife and
pare the inside all over, wash the fish thoroughly, put it into a
tub of spring water for 24 hours, then wash it out and put in fresh
spring water for 12 hours longer. After this, lay it in hot water for
a few minutes, and scrape off the tough outside pieces and scales
without injuring the skin, which should be carefully preserved intact.
Wash the fish thoroughly, cut it into handsome pieces, and set
it to drain. Have ready a kettle of boiling spring water, put in
the fish, and boil it 20-30 minutes, according to thickness. Skim
thoroughly, take up the fish and put it across the kettle to drain.
Then with the paste brush wash it well, set it on a fish stand and
napkin in a very hot dish, and garnish with hard eggs chopped small,
and the whites of several more cut in rings. Surround the fish with
pieces of boiled parsnips, and serve mashed parsnips and potatoes in
separate dishes. If the fish be “dried” instead of merely salted,
it will require soaking for 12-20 hours, according to its condition
before commencing the operations just described. Salt fish is in
this country invariably accompanied by egg sauce in boats, and it is
important that this accompaniment be supplied in profusion. A little
egg sauce is mere weak trifling. To make egg sauce, boil 6 eggs for
12 minutes, let them get cold, then cut the yolks into dice, and the
whites in segments. Make 1 lb. good rich melted butter, add a little
cream, season with pepper, salt, and a very little cayenne. Boil for
a few minutes, then add the eggs, and shake them over the fire till
they are quite hot through. Serve very hot.
_Sardines._--Curried.--Prepare the sardines as in the next recipe,
put them on toast, and pour over them, instead of the “devil”
mixture, the following sauce. Put the oil from the sardines in a
small saucepan, which has previously been rubbed with a clove of
garlic cut in half. When the oil boils add 1 tablespoonful flour and
1 teaspoonful curry powder, then add 2 gills stock, and boil till a
good consistency is reached; then pour it upon the yolk of an egg,
beaten with ½ teaspoonful lemon juice; add cayenne pepper and salt;
pour over the sardines, and serve very hot.
Devilled.--Split the sardines, and remove the bones, trim them
neatly, and season with a little made mustard, pepper, salt, and a
little lemon juice; leave them for a short time, then broil over a
clear fire, serve with fried parsley or with rich brown gravy, well
flavoured and seasoned with pepper, salt, and French mustard.
Dressed.--6 sardines, 6 or 8 croûtons of bread, 2 teaspoonfuls
anchovy essence, 2 teaspoonfuls Worcester sauce, a pinch of cayenne
pepper, 1 dessertspoonful flour, 3 oz. butter, ¼ pint boiling water.
Scrape, bone, and pound the sardines in a mortar with 1 oz. butter,
a teaspoonful of anchovy essence, a teaspoonful of Worcester sauce;
have ready fried, in fresh lard or butter, 6-8 croûtons of bread,
stamped out with a small round tin cutter; spread the prepared
sardines on the croûtons, and keep hot while the sauce is being made;
put into a small saucepan 2 oz. butter, let it dissolve over the
fire a minute; stir into it 1 dessertspoonful flour, and stir into
it from the kettle ¼ pint boiling water; add to it the remainder of
the anchovy and Worcester, and a little lemon juice; pour this over
the croutons and serve.
Eggs.--4 eggs, 4 sardines, 1 dessertspoonful chopped parsley, boil
the eggs 8-10 minutes, and put them in cold water; scrape the
sardines gently, and pound in a mortar. Peel the shells off the eggs,
and cut them in halves lengthways; take out the yolks, and add them
to the sardines in the mortar, and to these add the parsley, a little
salt, a little white pepper, and 1 oz. butter. Pound all together
and use this mixture to fill the whites of the eggs; now put the two
halves together, so as to give them the appearance of whole eggs, set
them on a dish, and put between them some sprigs of parsley and some
strips of toast, or a border of small salad sprinkled with a little
salad oil and vinegar.
Grilled.--Open a box containing 1 doz. sardines, remove the skins,
and place the sardines on a tin plate in the oven till they are
heated through. Meanwhile pour the oil from the sardines into a
small saucepan, set it on the fire, and when it boils put in an even
tablespoonful flour, stir well; then add gradually 2 gills weak
stock or water. Boil till it is as thick as rich cream, then add 1
teaspoonful Worcester sauce, with salt, and plenty of cayenne pepper;
beat together the yolk of 1 egg, 1 teaspoonful French mustard, and
1 teaspoonful vinegar. Pour the sauce boiling hot on the eggs, &c.,
stir a moment, then pour it over the sardines.
Maître d’Hôtel.--6-8 sardines, 1 dessertspoonful chopped parsley, 1
thin slice onion chopped fine, 1 tablespoonful chili vinegar, ¼ pint
melted butter, a round of toast. Have ready some toast; scrape the
sardines carefully, and arrange them neatly on the toast, keep them
warm while you make the following sauce: Make ¼ pint melted butter
or white sauce, put into it the parsley and onion finely minced; let
it boil 1 minute; add the chili vinegar or a little lemon juice, and
a pinch of cayenne; pour this over the sardines, stand in the oven a
few minutes, and serve.
Salad.--Take some sardines from a tin, wipe them slightly, bone and
divide them into small pieces. Cut up some nicely washed lettuce,
chervil, cress, &c., lay them in a salad bowl with the sardines and
some chopped capers. Boil 2 eggs hard, mash the yolks, with salt,
pepper, mustard, and cayenne; add gradually 3 tablespoonfuls fresh
oil and 2 of lemon juice, stir well; pour it over the salad, garnish
with slices of lemon and pickled capsicums.
Sandwiches.--Take 2 boxes sardines, and throw the contents into hot
water, having first drained away all the oil. A few minutes will free
the sardines from grease. Pour away the water, and dry the fish in a
cloth; then scrape away the skins, and pound the sardines in a mortar
till reduced to paste; add pepper, salt, and some tiny pieces of
lettuce, and spread on the sandwiches, which have been previously cut
as above. The lettuce adds very much to the flavour of the sardines.
Toast.--Place them with some of the oil out of the box between 2
plates in a hot oven; when thoroughly hot through place on toast cut
in long slices the length of the sardine; shake a little cayenne and
salt mixed over them, with a gentle squeeze of lemon.