This idea will naturally suggest itself, that “a pretty expensive
product this will be, by cutting off the fins of a turbot at such
a cost;” but there are fish to be got at much less price that will
answer the purpose, for instance, the brill or brett, and even good
firm plaice, in hard frosty weather, will afford the “amateur” an
opportunity of testing the value of the venture. In a private family,
if such a fish came to table minus its fins it would eat quite as well,
even though to the eye it might not be exactly a handsome dish. Scale
the fish, and cut off the extreme edge of the fins, lay a piece of wood
an inch thick on the body, just to act as a guide to the knife――which
must have a very sharp point――and cut off the fins with an inch and
half, or rather more, of the solid attached; place these upon their
bases upright in a pie dish, a foot long, and pour in as much of this
pickle as will cover to the extent of the inch and half taken out of
the fish, viz.
Bay salt ½ lb.
Coarse sugar ½ lb.
Jamaica pepper, bruised 1½ oz.
Water 2 quarts
boiled twenty minutes, skimmed, strained, and got cold. Let them remain
in this state twelve hours, basting the part which is not in the pickle
three or four times with plenty of the liquor. Then take out the fish,
wipe it dry, and place it again in the same position, in the same dish
emptied and washed out. Now pour in the dish as much of the following
as will cover as before, viz.
Bay leaf, shred ½ oz.
Laurel leaf 1 oz.
Cayenne pepper ¼ oz.
Table salt 1 oz.
Garlic, minced 1 dessert-spoonful
Porter 1 quart
Saltpetre 1 oz.
boiled fifteen minutes, slammed, and gone cold. Let them rest in this
eight hours, and then laid flat in and covered by the pickle four hours
longer. Now take them up, wipe them dry, suspend them in draft of air
until they are fit, and coat them nicely with the gelatine composition.
They should be kept a month at least, but three months would be
better, and then broiled lightly, first being rubbed over well with
pure olive oil. Observe, the same pickles and trouble would have done a
dozen fins.