BOILED FISH (which is never really _boiled_ but is cooked just under
the boiling-point) is done after much the same method, no matter what
the kind of fish. It is better when boiling large fish to wrap them
in a piece of clean calico or muslin as the thinner parts get cooked
before the thicker are done, and with a wrapping it is easier to lift
the fish out without breaking it. Cook in water that is well salted,
and if the fish is a white one, like cod, add a little vinegar to the
water.
Another way of boiling fish is to lay it in a dish with just sufficient
stock—fish stock by preference—to cover it, with a few small onions
round it and a little wine or vinegar added.
After boiling, drain the fish well and serve plenty of nice sauce
separately, and boiled potatoes left whole. A large cod, boiled whole,
with plenty of mealy potatoes and a dishful of parsley or egg sauce
will make an excellent meal.
In boiling portions of fish, like middle cuts, it is better after
draining to take away skin and all bones and then serve it in flakes
masked under a sauce. It is a neater and more appetising way than to
have each one leave a mess of skin and bones on their plate, and a very
pretty dish can be made by sprinkling a little grated cheese or parsley
on the top and browning the dish before serving.
Watch fish carefully while it is boiling, and as soon as it shows signs
of parting from the bone it should be drained. If boiled too long all
its flavour is gone, and if boiled too fast it will be raggy and yet
tough. Small fish like fresh herrings and mackerel, likewise soles and
plaice, all of which are very nice when carefully boiled, should rather
be _poached_, much as one would poach an egg.
BAKED FISH.—The best way of baking any fish is to do it in a paper
wrapping. If the right kind of paper bag is not to be had, wrap it in
white notepaper, having buttered this first and put a little pat of
butter inside with a sprinkle of pepper and salt. Close up tightly and
bake in a rather hot oven and serve in its paper case if possible.
If a large piece of fish is baked in a paper bag the wrapping can
be pulled away when it is safely landed on the dish. Small fish are
delicious when baked in a paper case, and all the flavour is kept in
and the natural juice of the fish as well. This is a clean way of
cooking when the oven is nothing but a flat hearthstone, only care must
be taken that the paper wrapping cannot catch alight.
FRIED FISH.—A clear hot fire is the first consideration when frying
anything, then a clean hot pan, some good fat such as rendered suet
or lard, and not too much of it, and the fish must have been well
dried after cleaning, then rubbed with flour. If cleaned an hour or
two before they will be cooked, the fish should be dipped in milk and
coated with flour, then left to dry, in this way a crust forms on them
which browns quickly when fried, and is little if at all inferior to
the more troublesome method of frying what has been coated with beaten
egg and dipped in crumbs of bread. The rough and ready way of flouring
fish after drying and then frying in hot fat is quite satisfactory
when flavour counts for more than appearance, but you cannot fry fish
_without_ first coating them with dry flour.
Another way is to make a batter with an egg, a little flour, salt and
milk, making it rather thick, and dipping the fish into this, then
putting them at once into hot fat. This, too, is an easy method and
a nice crust forms on the outside of the fish which keeps in all the
flavour.
Flat fish, like soles, flounders and plaice, are the best for frying,
or slices cut across a large fish.
The fat in the pan must be very hot indeed, which is told by a faint
blue smoke rising from it.
GRILLED OR BROILED FISH.—This is the camp ready way of cooking
freshly-caught fish, and very good it is. After cleaning and emptying,
the fish is split down the back, rubbed lightly with oil and laid
on a grid and held over the coals. It wants a little skill to grill
well, and not to burn the fish, but if quickly cooked in this way,
turning frequently on both sides, the result is excellent. Herrings
and mackerel broil well, so do trout and some of the small river fish.
A pat of butter, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and a few drops of
vinegar are all the sauce that is needed.
Sufficient directions for roasting, boiling or braising meat have
already been given, so that we may pass on to savoury dishes, among the
best of which are—