Wash it well in Vinegar and Water, and then lay it in Salt and Water two or
three Days; then boil it in fresh Water and Salt; and when it is cold, put
it up for Use. This is eaten upon Toasts of white Bread with a little Oil.
To Roast a piece of fresh _Sturgeon;_ from Mr. _Ralph Titchbourn,_ Cook.
Take a piece of fresh Sturgeon, of about eight or ten Pounds; let it lie in
Water and Salt, six or eight Hours, with its great Scales on: then fasten
it on the Spit, and baste it well with Butter for a quarter of an Hour; and
after that, drudge it with grated Bread, Flour, some Nutmeg, a little Mace
powder'd, Pepper and Salt, and some sweet Herbs dry'd and powder'd,
continuing basting and drudging of it till it is enough. Then serve it up
with the following Sauce, _viz._ one Pint of thin Gravey and Oyster Liquor,
with some Horse-Radish, Lemon-Peel, a bunch of sweet Herbs, some whole
Pepper, and a few Blades of Mace, with a whole Onion, an Anchovy, a
spoonfull or two of liquid Katchep, or some Liquor of pickled Walnuts, with
half a Pint of White Wine: strain it off, and put in as much Butter as will
thicken it. To this put Oysters parboil'd, Shrimps or Prawns pickt, or the
inside of a Crab, which will make the same Sauce very rich; then garnish
with fry'd Oysters, Lemon sliced, butter'd Crabs and fry'd Bread, cut in
handsome Figures, and pickled Mushrooms. _N.B._ If you have no Katchep, you
may use Mushroom Gravey, mention'd in the first Part of your Treatise, or
some of the travelling Sauce in the same Book, or else a small Tea spoonful
of the dry Pocket-Sauce.
To Roast a Collar, or Fillet, of _Sturgeon;_ from the same.
Take a piece of fresh Sturgeon; take out the Bones, and cut the fleshy Part
into Lengths, about seven or eight Inches; then provide some Shrimps, chopt
small with Oysters; some Crumbs of Bread, and such seasoning of Spice as
you like, with a little Lemon-Peel grated. When this is done, butter one
side of your Fish, and strew some of your Mixture upon it; then begin to
roll it up, as close as possible, and when the first Piece is rolled up,
then roll upon that another, prepared as before, and bind it round with a
narrow Fillet, leaving as much of the Fish apparent as may be. But you must
remark, that the Roll should not be above four Inches and a half thick;
for, else one Part would be done enough before the Inside was hardly
warm'd: therefore, I have sometimes parboil'd the inside Roll before I
began to roll it.
When it is at the Fire, baste it well with Butter, and drudge it with
sifted Raspings of Bread. Serve it with the same Sauce as directed for the
former.
A Piece of fresh _Sturgeon_ boiled; from the same.
When your Sturgeon is clean, prepare as much Liquor to boil it in, as will
cover it; that is, take a Pint of Vinegar to about two Quarts of Water, a
stick of Horse-Radish, two or three bits of Lemon-Peel, some whole Pepper,
a Bay-leaf or two, and a small handful of Salt; boil your Fish in this,
till it is enough, and serve it with the following Sauce.
Melt a pound of Butter; then add some Anchovy Liquor; Oyster Liquor; some
White Wine; some Katchep boil'd together with whole Pepper and Mace
strain'd; put to this the Body of a Crab, and serve it with a little
Lemon-Juice. You may likewise put in some Shrimps, the Tails of Lobsters,
cut to Pieces, stew'd Oysters, or Cray-fish cut into small Bits: garnish
with pickled Mushrooms and roasted or fry'd Oysters, Lemon sliced, and
Horse-Radish scraped.
To make a _Sturgeon-_Pye; from the same.
Put to a quartern of Flour, two Pounds of Butter, and rub a third Part in;
then make it into a Paste with Water, and roll the rest in at three times;
then roll out your Bottom, and when it is in the Dish, lay some Butter, in
pieces, upon it; and strew on that, a little Pepper and Salt. Then cut your
Sturgeon in Slices cross-ways, about three quarters of an Inch thick,
seasoning them with Pepper, Salt, Nutmeg and Lemon-Peel grated, till your
Pye is full, and on the Top lay on Pieces of Butter; then close it, and put
in, just before it goes to the Oven, some White Wine and Water; and when it
is bak'd, serve it: garnish it with sliced Lemon, or Orange.
To butter _Crabs,_ from the same, for Garnish for the foregoing Dishes, or
to be served by themselves.
Take middle-siz'd Sea-Crabs; break the Claws, and pick them; then take out
the Body, free from all the Films and boney Parts; mix these together with
some Pepper and Salt, to your mind; and when you have heated some White
Wine over the Fire, put your Mixture into it, and stir it well together,
and keep it warm in a gentle Oven, till you want it for Use: and just
before you use it, pour into your Mixture a little melted Butter, and stir
it well in; then clean your Shells, as well as possible, in hot Water, and
put in your Mixture, and serve it to the Table hot. Or this Mixture may be
serv'd on a Plate, upon Sippets, with Slices of Lemon or Orange. You should
fry the Sippets.
The Manner of Pickling and Drying of _Sheeps_ Tongues, or _Hogs_ Tongues,
which they call _Stags_ Tongues; from a celebrated Practitioner of forty
Years standing in _London._
The Sheeps Tongues, which are commonly bought in the _London_ Markets, are
the best, if they are the Tongues of Wethers, fed in low Lands; being the
largest, as they are taken from the largest sort of Sheep: but the Tongues
of all Sorts of Sheep are good enough to be worth Pickling. But there is
this Difference in the Value, that one large Tongue, well cured, will sell
for three Pence, while the smallest Sort, cured in the same manner, will
only sell for Three Half-pence, or a Penny. These Tongues are bought in
Quantities of the Carcass Butchers, about _Whitechappel_, and other
Butchers about Town, who kill from One hundred to Six hundred Sheep in a
Day, each Butcher; and they know very well how to cut out the Tongues, with
all their Parts to advantage: but they are afterwards trimm'd, when we
receive them, into a more regular Shape; by those who cure them. When we
are about this Work, there is one thing necessary to be observ'd,
especially in hot Weather, but always it is best to be done; which is, cut
the fleshy Part of the Bottom of the Tongue length-ways, and you will find,
towards the Root, an Artery, which as soon as 'tis cut will bleed, and
joining to that is a kind of Sweet-bread; take these out, as clean as you
can, without disfiguring the Tongue; otherwise the Tongues will have an
ungrateful Smell, and putrify: so, that if you deal by Wholesale, they will
be return'd upon your hands, or be a trouble to the Family where they are
made. Wash these well, after trimming, in Salt and Water, and then salt
them with common Salt, well dry'd, in an Iron Kettle; one pound to half an
Ounce of Salt-Petre, or Nitre, powder'd and well mix'd. Rub them well with
the Mixture, and lay them close together in a Tub, or glaz'd earthen
Vessel; and, after a few Days, when they are salt enough, take them from
the Pickle, and when they are a little dry, tie them by the Tips, half a
dozen together; and hang them up in a Chimney, where Deal Saw-Dust is
burnt, till they are smoked enough, to be cured for boiling; then boil them
in their Bunches, and let them dry for Sale. But to come a quicker Way to
cure these Tongues, in the Pickle, as we do generally, is to make a Brine
or Pickle in the following manner; that is, take a quantity of Water, and
make a Pickle of it with common Salt, boil'd till it will bear an Egg; and
then put in to every Pound of Salt, half an Ounce of Nitre, or Salt-Petre;
and when the Pickle is cold, throw in your Tongues: which is the quickest
Way. But for drying of them, the Smoking-Closets will do perfectly well,
only we have not always those Conveniencies.