colder months of the year, and in January and February are in full
roe and at their best. Like all shell fish, scallops must be eaten
quite fresh, or they are a failure; the flesh should be firm and
white, the roe deep orange-coloured. In full season they are 6-8_d._
a doz., sometimes less, and being thick and fleshy, 1 doz. is
generally considered enough for 4 persons.
Baked.--Trim off the beards and black part of the fish, and lay them
in their own deep shells, or tin shells, 3 scallops in each; put a
little vinegar in each, and pour over them the following mixture:
a teacupful of breadcrumbs, a tablespoonful of chopped and scalded
parsley, pepper, salt, and sufficient milk to make a thin paste;
sprinkle a few dry crumbs, and put a tiny lump of butter on each
shell; bake 20 minutes. Where vegetables are scarce and dear, or,
as in this case, the bill of fare does not demand them, fried bread
can be substituted. It should be cut into neat broad “fingers,” fried
in bacon fat or beef dripping, and well drained before sending to
table. A neat and pretty dish can be made by chopping up any remains
of green vegetables, such as cabbage or sprouts, frying in a small
proportion of fat, and piling it in the centre of a dish, with the
bread round.
Fried.--Clean and beard them very carefully, and set them to drain;
get ready a panful of boiling lard; flour the scallops thoroughly,
put them in a frying basket, and fry to a light brown colour; garnish
with fried parsley.
Stewed.--Put the scallops into a small saucepan with as much water as
will thoroughly cover them, a little mace, and a little sugar. Let
them stew gently till tender (probably about ½ hour), you can feel
with your finger when they are sufficiently done. Make a sauce with
1-1½ oz. of butter dredged with flour and some of the liquor in which
the scallops were stewed, add some cream and a little nutmeg. Stir
this over the fire till it boils; then put the scallops in, and let
them stew a little longer in the sauce beside the fire. In dishing up
pour the sauce so as to cover the scallops.
_Shad_ (Alose).--This fine and delicate fish is found in greater
perfection and richer abundance in the United States than in Europe;
nevertheless, Europe is not devoid of shad, the Loire and the Severn
being perhaps the most highly favoured rivers. The shad of the
Thames--called the “twaite”--is a poor fish, but the “allice,” or
Severn shad, is a great delicacy.
Take a fine shad, firm and bright in the scale; empty from the gills,
and wash it thoroughly. Now make a forcemeat--either whiting or
oyster--mixed with the roe of the shad, fill the fish, and either sew
or skewer it up carefully, wrap it in strong writing paper thickly
buttered, broil gently for an hour over a smokeless fire, either of
charcoal or coke, and serve with caper sauce.
_Skate_ (Raie).--Boil some crimped skate in salted water, with some
vinegar in it. Put a large piece of butter into a saucepan, and leave
it on the fire until the butter becomes of a dark brown colour, but
do not let it burn; then throw in some finely-chopped parsley, a
wineglassful of tarragon vinegar, a little salt, and some powdered
white pepper. Serve the sauce in a boat piping hot, with the fish on
a napkin.
_Smelts_ (Eperlans) Fried.--Carefully flour, and fry in plenty of hot
lard. When done, drain well in front of the fire, sprinkle all over
with very fine salt, and serve with fried parsley and lemon cut into
“quarters.”
_Sole_ (Sole) In jelly.--See Trout.
À la Normande.--Take a good-sized sole and put it into a fish kettle
which will hold it flat; strew the sole with sprigs of parsley,
minced onions, a little mace and thyme, and pepper and salt; now add
some oysters, bearded, and some mussels, previously well cleaned,
about 1 doz. of each; pour in a glass of chablis or any light white
wine, and about the same quantity of white stock, or even water;
cover over the kettle, and stew gently until cooked. Strain off the
liquor and arrange the sole on a deep dish which will stand the oven,
with the oysters and mussels all round; put the strained liquor into
a saucepan, add to it ½ pint well flavoured good white stock; when
quite hot add, off the fire, the beaten-up yolks of 2 eggs; pour the
sauce over the fish, put it into the oven for a few minutes (it must
not take colour), and then serve garnished with mushrooms previously
stewed in lemon juice, slices of truffles stewed in white wine, and
with fried bread croûtons.
À la Maître d’Hôtel.--Put into a saucepan full of water a bunch of
parsley, an onion, a blade of mace, some whole pepper and salt to
taste. When the water boils throw in 8 fillets of soles, each tied
up in a knot, and let them boil till done. Serve with maître d’hôtel
sauce.
Aspic.--Take 6 fillets of soles, put them in a buttered tin, with
pepper, salt, and a squeeze of lemon; cover the tin with a sheet of
buttered paper, and put it in the oven just long enough to cook the
fillets, then put them under a weight until cold. Clean and wash some
fillets of anchovies, have a little parsley very finely minced, cut
the fillets of soles in rounds the size of a penny, make a layer in
a plain mould of very pale aspic jelly; on this, when it begins to
set, dispose in some sort of pattern the fillets of anchovies and the
pieces of sole, sprinkling each with a little parsley; fill up the
interstices with aspic jelly, and keep on adding layer upon layer of
soles and anchovies until the mould is full.
Au gratin.--Put 1 large sole in a proper fish-baking dish, or else
place 2 small ones side by side and head to tail. Pour a glass of
sauterne or any white wine into the dish, add some pepper and salt,
a few very fine mixed sweet herbs sprinkled over lightly, a little
onion finely minced, and a squeeze of lemon juice. A few little lumps
of butter or dripping should be placed at the bottom of the dish to
prevent dryness. Cover the whole rather thickly with breadcrumbs, and
bake for ½ hour or until the top is a brown colour. The fish must be
sent to table in the dish it is baked in, as it spoils it completely
to move it.
Au vin blanc.--Butter a baking dish, lay 2 soles on it, add pepper
and salt to taste, pour sufficient white wine and common stock free
from fat in equal parts to cover the fish well. Put a piece of
buttered paper on the top, and bake for 20 minutes. Melt 1 oz. butter
in a saucepan, and mix with it a tablespoonful of flour, strain into
this the liquor in which the soles have been cooked, add a little
more stock or water if necessary, and stir on the fire till the sauce
thickens, throw in some finely minced parsley, pour over the soles,
and serve.
Broiled.--Clean and skin the fish, and thoroughly dry it in a
cloth; dip it either in oil or liquefied butter; put it in a double
gridiron, and broil it at a brisk fire for about 8-10 minutes,
turning it once or twice during the operation. Serve with a piece of
fresh butter under, and a lemon cut into quarters round it.
Consommé.--Remove the fillets from 2 soles, cut them out with a
cutter in pieces the size of a penny. Put the bones and all the
trimmings of the soles in a saucepan with 1 qt. plain white stock, a
large handful of parsley, a piece of celery, 1 onion, 2 or 3 cloves,
a blade of mace, and pepper and salt to taste. Let this boil slowly
3-4 hours, carefully skim and strain the liquor; then put it on the
fire again, and when it boils put in the cut pieces of soles. When
they are cooked take them out, put them in the soup tureen with a
little chopped parsley, and having strained the liquor once more pour
it over and serve.
En Matelote.--Put the fish in a stewpan with a bunch of sweet herbs,
some butter, onions cut in rings, some white wine or cider and water,
half of each, enough almost to cover the fish; add salt and pepper.
Bring it to the boil, and boil for about 15 minutes. Place the fish
on the dish on which it is to be served, having first covered the
bottom of it with slices of fried bread. About 25 mushrooms may be
added to the sauce. Boil it down till it is somewhat reduced; thicken
it with a good-sized piece of butter rolled in flour; take out the
bunch of herbs, and pour it over the fish.
Fillets.--(_a_) Fillet and fry soles in the usual manner. Make
tartare sauce of the yolks of 2 eggs, dropping in 1 gill oil, with 2
tablespoonfuls of vinegar, and 1 of tarragon vinegar, ½ gill cream,
and 1 teaspoonful made mustard.
(_b_) Remove both skins of the sole; then, with a sharp-pointed
knife, cut it around the inside of the fins. This done, make an
incision along the backbone, and divide the fish from the bone
by beginning at the head, and drawing the point of the knife
horizontally down each side of the backbone, between the flesh and
the ribs, and placing at the same time the 3 first fingers of the
left hand on the fillet you are about to remove. Each sole should
make but 4 fillets, except in the case of very large soles, when they
may be either cut lengthways or across, as taste may direct. (Jane
Burtenshaw.)
Fricassée.--Fillet a large pair of soles, put the bones in an
enamelled stewpan with a pint of cold water, a small bunch of thyme
and parsley, and ½ onion, a blade of mace and a little lemon
rind pared thin, let them stew about 1 hour; when done strain the
liquor off into a basin. Rinse the stewpan, and roll up each fillet
separately, and fasten either with a small skewer, or tie round with
a piece of darning cotton, and place them in the stewpan in one
layer, and pour over them the liquor from the bones; stew about 20
minutes very gently, and thicken the sauce with 1 dessertspoonful
arrowroot or cornflour, mixed with a little milk; when done, add to
the sauce ¼ pint cream, the yolks of 2 eggs, the juice of ½ lemon, a
pinch of pounded mace, and a little pepper and salt. The dish may be
garnished with a border of potato croquettes.
Fried.--Clean and skin the fish, and dry it thoroughly in a cloth;
dip it in an egg beaten up, and then strew it on both sides with very
fine breadcrumbs, taking care that it is evenly covered with a very
thin layer of them. Let the fish rest for 1-2 hours, then have ready
in the frying-pan boiling hot fat in sufficient quantity to fairly
float it; put in the fish, which will be cooked in 5-10 minutes,
according to size, and should be skilfully turned over once during
the operation. The fish should be laid on blotting-paper before the
fire in the screen, in order to drain all fat from it. Serve with
fried parsley and cut lemon.
In Brown Sauce.--Put into a small copper stewpan 3 oz. butter. Put
this on the fire to dissolve; then stir into it 1 tablespoonful
flour. Keep stirring on the fire till it assumes a golden-brown
hue. Now stir into it ½ pint stock or gravy, and let it boil up to
thicken the sauce. Now put into a wide shallow stewpan a pair of
moderate-sized soles that have been previously cleaned, well dried in
a cloth, floured and fried in some lard or butter over a rather sharp
fire so as to brown them without being quite done. Pour over the
soles the prepared sauce, adding a moderate-sized onion stuck with 4
or 5 cloves, a few sprigs of thyme, and a few peppercorns. Stew the
fish 15-20 minutes very gently. When the soles are done lift them
out carefully on to the dish in which they are to be served and keep
warm while the sauce is being finished by adding to it a wineglass of
sherry, a tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, one of vinegar, and two
teaspoonfuls of essence of anchovies. Pour some of the sauce over the
fish and the rest in a boat and serve.
In Cases.--Take 2 parts finely minced mushrooms, 1 part shallots
and parsley in equal proportions, also finely minced; toss them in
plenty of butter for a few minutes, adding pepper and salt to taste,
and put the mixture aside. When cold spread a thin layer of it on
each fillet, roll them up, and cook them between 2 buttered plates
in the oven. Have ready some paper cases, place one rolled fillet
in each, then fill up the case with white sauce, and place a button
mushroom on the top of each, and keep quite hot till time of serving.
_Sauce._--Take 2 parts butter and 1 of flour, mix thoroughly in a
saucepan on the fire, add enough veal stock to get the sauce of a
proper consistency, add a few button mushrooms; let the sauce boil
for 10 minutes; stir in, off the fire, the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up
with the juice of ½ lemon.
Roulettes.--Choose fine ones, take off the heads, fins, and tails,
strip them from the bone; cut small oblong fillets, lay them in a
marinade of salt, pepper, lemon juice, and a grate of nutmeg for ½
hour. Roll the fillets egg-shaped and bind them with thread; pack
them closely together in a stewpan, with a little broth or water, to
which add lemon juice and some butter; cover closely and stew gently
till done. Serve in their own sauce, or glaze them brown and serve as
a ragout.
Salad.--Take any remnants of sole, cut them up in small pieces, and
put them to marinade for 2 hours in tarragon vinegar, with some
sliced onions and sprigs of basil, thyme, and chervil. Strain and
mix them with some fresh lettuce; beat up the yolk of a hard-boiled
egg with salt, pepper, a very little of the tarragon vinegar, 3
tablespoons cream or sweet oil, and ½ teaspoon anchovy sauce. When
quite smooth pour over the salad.
Savalada.--Take 2 Spanish onions, slice them, and stew them in a
gill of olive oil, taking care that they do not burn or even brown;
add 2 soles (filleted and fried a light brown in oil), and 1½ gills
tomato sauce, or 3 fresh tomatoes, peeled, freed from pips, and cut
in slices. Season with pepper and salt, let the whole stew a few
minutes, and serve.
Stewed.--Cut up 2 large onions in slices, lay them flat in a stewpan
with an ounce of butter, pepper, and salt, and enough water just to
cover them. Let them simmer till tender. Cut in comely pieces a pair
of soles, lay them on the top of the onions, and let them simmer
till done. Strain off the liquor, and when it is cold stir into it
the juice of 2 lemons beaten up with the yolks of 3 eggs, return it
to the stewpan, and let the whole get hot again, but not boil; then
arrange the fish and the onions on a dish, sprinkle them over with
finely minced parsley, and pour the sauce over. To be served cold.
Water Souchet.--Take a number of small soles, fillet them, and
cut the fillets into convenient pieces. Put the bones and all the
trimmings into a saucepan, with some whole pepper, 6 roots of
parsley, cut up small, a handful of parsley leaves, a blade of mace,
and salt to taste; cover with cold water, and let the whole boil for
2 hours. Strain the liquor, put in it the pieces of fish, with a
few parsley roots finely shredded; let it boil 10 minutes, then add
some minced parsley; boil 5 minutes longer. Serve in a deep dish,
with enough liquor just to cover the fish; garnish with lemon cut in
quarters, and serve with brown bread and butter.
With Ravigote Sauce.--Lay a sole in a well-buttered tin, add pepper
and salt, put a piece of buttered paper over it, cook it in the oven
until done, drain, and serve with the following sauce over: Take
equal parts of parsley, chervil, garden cress, and tarragon; mince
them very finely. Rub a saucepan with shallot, melt a piece of butter
in it, add a little flour, mix thoroughly, then add stock, pepper,
salt, a glass of white wine, and the herbs. Let the sauce come to the
boil, then throw in a small pat of butter, a squeeze of lemon, and
serve.
_Sprats_ (Harenguets).--Although these fish, of small marketable
value, are considered more as food for the multitude, yet in
these times of strict food economy it may not be amiss for any
housekeeper--especially those in the country, where fish supplies
come in seldom but in large quantities--to try the following modes,
suitable for breakfast, luncheon, making out servants’ dinners,
supper, &c., besides the more usual way of cooking by broiling or
frying.
Baked.--After they have been cleaned, place them in a pie-dish, with
some whole pepper, bay leaves, and a little salt sprinkled over them;
cover them over, and put them in the oven; they will not take long to
cook; let them stand in the liquor they make until cold, when pour
the vinegar over them. (E. J. G.)
Fried.--After the sprats are washed, wipe them dry in a cloth,
sprinkle a little salt over, and let them lie for 1 hour; put them
on paper with flour, and turn them about until lightly coated with
it. Throw as many as will cover the bottom of it into a wire frying
basket, plunge it into hot fat, and keep gently moving the basket
until the fish are crisp. Sprats should not be too small, and those
of an average size take 5-6 minutes to fry. When the sprats are done,
turn them on to a sheet of paper to free them from grease, and serve
immediately with cayenne, cut lemon, and brown bread and butter.
When not convenient to use a wire basket, the sprats can be thrown
into the hot fat, and, when done, be taken out with a skimmer. (Mary
Hooper.)
Patties.--Clean the sprats. When seasoned, add some vinegar to taste.
Line some patty pans with pastry, fill with the fish, sprinkle with
breadcrumbs and a scrap of butler on each, and bake in a smart heat.
(D.)
Pie.--(_a_) Cut off the heads and tails of 1 lb. sprats, and place
them in a pie-dish; sprinkle pepper and salt between the layers, also
a few peppercorns, add 3 tablespoonfuls water; cover it with a light
paste and bake. Best eaten cold. (Mary Hooper).
(_b_) Scald, bone, and mash the sprats. Mash some freshly boiled
floury potatoes, butter a pie-dish, put layers of potato and fish
seasoned with pepper, more salt, and chopped onion if approved of.
The cover should be potatoes. Put breadcrumbs and butter, or a
beaten-up egg on the top, and bake, according to size, for ½-1 hour.
Brown before the fire. Hard-boiled eggs, in slices or mashed, can be
added if available or desired. (D.)
Rissoles.--Prepare the sprats as for potting. Bind with egg and
breadcrumbs, and fry. The same can be prepared with mashed potatoes
instead of breadcrumbs. (D.)
Soused.--Clean the sprats by washing and rubbing them in a cloth; lay
them in a baking dish in layers, sprinkle over lightly pepper and
salt, cover them with vinegar and one-fourth water. Put a tin or dish
over, and set the sprats in a cool oven to cook very slowly for 2
hours, taking care they do not get broken. These can be eaten either
hot or cold. (Mary Hooper.)
Toast.--Clean without the addition of salt. Add a few chopped and
cleaned anchovies; spread out the fish 2 in. deep on a Yorkshire
pudding tin or baking plate, and warm well before the fire. Have some
toast ready hot, slightly buttered. Lay a spoonful of the fish on
each piece, draining off any oil which may have gathered.
_Tamarind Fish._--Tamarind fish is cured as follows: Cut the fish
into slices about ½ in. thick; the slices are then rubbed well with
salt; let them stand in the pickle 48 hours; then drain. Get some of
the plain, sun-dried tamarinds, as imported from India; boil these
in pickling vinegar, about 2 lb. to 1 qt., until the pulp separates
from the seeds and stalks. Work through a sieve. Dip the slices of
fish in this mixture when cold, and pack closely in large-mouthed
jars, taking care the top layer is well covered with the tamarinds.
Fish roes prepared in the same manner are excellent. Haddock, cod,
herrings, and mackerel make good tamarind fish.
_Tench_ (Tanche).--Tench, when large and fat, is not bad when it is
possible by eternal cleanings and soakings to get rid of the muddy
taste, which clings to it with singular tenacity. Perhaps the best
way of dressing it is to stew it in red wine, or to let it form the
central spot of a _matelote_, into the composition of which eels,
perch, &c., have entered.
Roast: see Carp, Chub. Broiled: see Chub. Stewed: see Trout.
_Trout_ (Truite).--Trout should be treated in the following way.
Scrape, wash in salted water, remove gills, gut, and wipe with a
linen cloth, flour one side, and fry in butter till brown and crisp;
then flour the other side, and fry that likewise, put it on a hot
dish, and lay on it some fried parsley and sage. Make a sauce with
some fresh butter and boiling water, flavoured with anchovy. Pour
over the fish and serve.
Baked.--Put inside the fish a piece of butter the size of an egg,
into which a due quantity of salt, powdered pepper, and minced
parsley have been worked. Lay it in a baking dish plentifully
buttered, sprinkle pepper and salt over it, then lay a piece of oiled
paper on the fish, and bake it in a moderate oven for about ½ hour,
more or less according to the size of the fish. Serve garnished with
pieces of lemon.
Broiled.--(_a_) Clean and split them down the back, notch them 3 or 4
times across, mix a little olive oil in a dish with pepper, salt, and
powdered thyme; lay the trout in this, turn them over once or twice,
so that they may be well oiled on both sides, then broil them over a
moderate fire. (_b_) See Chub.
Grilled.--Small or moderately-sized trout may be advantageously
dressed _à la tartare_--that is to say, grilled and served with a
cold _tartare_ sauce. Very small trout may also be fried and served
with or without tomato sauce.
Jelly.--Wash the trout carefully; form them into rings with the tail
in the mouth. Boil some water with a little vinegar, salt, sliced
onion, bay leaf, spice, and pepper according to taste. Let this boil
so as to get the various flavours; set it aside to cool. Lay in the
fish, and simmer a few minutes after the water has just come to the
boil. Take out the fish carefully, and when drained baste them with
clear fish jelly. When the first basting has set repeat another,
until they have a nice coating of jelly; then arrange them gently and
garnish to taste. Haddocks, whitings, smelts, &c., are good in this
way.
Soused: see Carp.
Stewed.--Wash, dry on a cloth, open, gut, and wipe very clean; notch
2 or 3 times to the bone on one side. Put into a fish-kettle enough
liquor (half vinegar or white wine and half water) to cover the
fish; add a good quantity of salt, the rind of a lemon, some grated
horseradish, and a faggot of sweet herbs--rosemary, thyme, marjoram,
parsley, and winter savory. When quite boiling, put in the fish--if
many, one by one, so as not to lower the temperature. When quite
done, put it on a dish sprinkled with horseradish and powdered ginger
(or coarsely-bruised pepper); pour over it a sauce made of fresh
butter, a little of the liquor in which the fish was boiled, and an
anchovy. Grayling, carp, bream, roach, dace, perch, and tench may
also be dressed in the same way. See Carp.
With Remoulade Sauce.--Fry some medium-sized trout, lay them on paper
to remove all fat. Chop some chervil, chives, capers, parsley, cress,
and a little shallot; pound them in a mortar; add a little French
mustard, the yolks of raw eggs, season with salt and pepper; add
drop by drop good olive oil, in the proportion of a dessertspoonful
to each egg; beat up the mixture, and when quite smooth add a little
chili vinegar. Dish the trout (when quite cold), pour the sauce over,
and garnish with sprigs of chervil.
_Turbot_ (Turbot).--Great size in a turbot is rather a drawback than
otherwise. Provided that the fish be thick and firm, with the under
or white side of excessive roundness and of a thick, opaque, creamy
look, it can hardly be too small. In a very large fish the thick,
massive white flesh is out of all proportion to the delicate morsels,
and the major portion of the fish must of course appear in the form
of a _réchauffé_--for which turbot is admirably adapted. In choosing
turbot, it is well, unless for a large dinner party, to select a
fine, plump, round, “chicken” turbot, such as may be bought in London
for 6-7_s._ Particular attention should be given to the colour of
the white skin, as if this present a semi-diaphanous or a bluish
look, the fish should be rejected. The white side must also never be
flat, but should “plump up” directly from the fins like a firm white
cushion. As brill is sometimes palmed off on youthful housewives, it
may be well to say to those unskilled in markets and fishes that a
chicken turbot may be known by the small round spines on the back,
which may be easily felt and even seen. The brill is also more oval
in shape and much flatter than the juvenile turbot, whose form
acquires at an early age the peculiar rotundity so much prized. As a
rule turbot require a severe soaking in salt and water to discharge
the slime.