In choosing fresh fish, select only those that are thick and firm,
with bright scales and stiff fins; the gills a very lively red,
and the eyes full and prominent. In the summer, as soon as they
are brought home, clean them, and put them in ice till you are
ready to cook them; and even then do not attempt to keep a fresh
fish till next day. Mackerel cannot be cooked too soon, as they
spoil more readily than any other fish.
Oysters in the shell may be kept from a week to a fortnight, by
the following process. Cover them with water, and wash them clean
with a birch broom. Then lay them with the deep or concave part of
the shell undermost, and sprinkle each of them well with salt and
Indian meal. Fill up the tub with cold water. Repeat this every
day; first pouring off the liquid of the day before.
The tub must stand all the time in a cool cellar, and be covered
well with an old blanket, carpeting, or something of the sort.
If carefully attended to, oysters kept in this manner will not
only live but fatten.
It is customary to eat fish only at the commencement of the
dinner. Fish and soup are generally served up alone, before any of
the other dishes appear, and with no vegetable but potatoes; it
being considered a solecism in good taste to accompany them with
any of the other productions of the garden except a little horseradish,
parsley, &c. as garnishing.
In England, and at the most fashionable tables in America, bread
only is eaten with fish. To this rule salt cod is an exception.