or,
The Seventh Section of FISH.
_Shewing the exactest Ways of Dressing all manner of Shell-Fish._
_To stew oysters in the French Way._
Take oysters, open them and parboil them in their own liquor, the
quantity of three pints or a pottle; being parboil'd, wash them in
warm water clean from the dregs, beard them and put them in a pipkin
with a little white wine, & some of the liquor they were parboil'd
in, a whole onion, some salt, and pepper, and stew them till they be
half done; then put them and their liquor into a frying-pan, fry
them a pretty while, put to them a good piece of sweet butter, and
fry them a therein so much longer, then have ten or twelve yolks of
eggs dissolved with some vinegar, wherein you must put in some
minced parsley, and some grated nutmeg, put these ingredients into
the oysters, shake them in the frying-pan a warm or two, and serve
them up.
_To stew Oysters otherways._
Take a pottle of large great oysters, parboil them in their own
liquor, then wash them in warm water from the dregs, & put them in a
pipkin with a good big onion or two, and five or six blades of large
mace, a little whole pepper, a slic't nutmeg, a quarter of a pint of
white wine, as much wine-vinegar, a quarter of a pound of sweet
butter, and a little salt, stew them finely together on a soft fire
the space of half an hour, then dish them on sippets of French
bread, slic't lemon on them, and barberries, run them over with
beaten butter, and garnish the dish with dryed manchet grated and
searsed.
_To stew Oysters otherways._
Take a pottle of large great oysters, parboil them in their own
liquor, then wash them in warm water, wipe them dry, and pull away
the fins, flour them and fry them in clarifi'd butter fine and
white, then take them up, and put them in a large dish with some
white or claret wine, a little vinegar, a quarter of a pound of
sweet butter, some grated nutmeg, large mace, salt, and two or three
slices of an orange, stew them two or three warms, then serve them
in a large clean scowred dish, pour the sauce on them, and run them
over with beaten butter, slic't lemon or orange, and sippets round
the dish.
_Otherways._
Take a pottle of great oysters, and stew them in their own liquor;
then take them up, wash them in warm water, take off the fins, and
put them in a pipkin with some of their own liquor, a pint of
white-wine, a little wine vinegar, six large maces, 2 or three whole
onions, a race of ginger slic't, a whole nutmeg slic't, twelve whole
pepper corns, salt, a quarter of a pound of sweet butter, and a
little faggot of sweet herbs; stew all these together very well,
then drain them through a cullender, and dish them on fine carved
sippets; then take some of the liquor they were stewed in; beat it
up thick with a minced lemon, and half a pound of butter, pour it on
the oysters being dished, and garnish the dish and the oysters with
grapes, grated bread, slic't lemon, and barberries.
_Or thus._
Boil great oysters in their shells brown, and dry, but burn them
not, then take them out and put them in a pipkin with some good
sweet butter, the juice of two or three oranges, a little pepper,
and grated nutmeg, give them a warm, and dish them in a fair scowred
dish with carved sippets, and garnish it with dryed, grated, searsed
fine manchet.
_To make Oyster Pottage._
Take some boil'd pease, strain them and put them in a pipkin with
some capers, some sweet herbs finely chopped, some salt, and butter;
then have some great oysters fryed with sweet herbs, and grosly
chopped, put them to the strained pease, stew them together, serve
them on a clean scowred dish on fine carved fippets, and garnish the
dish with grated bread.
_Otherways._
Take a quart of great oysters, parboil them in their own liquor, and
stew them in a pipkin with some capers, large mace, a faggot of
sweet herbs, salt, and butter, being finely stewed, serve them on
slices of dryed _French_ bread, round the oysters slic't lemon, and
on the pottage boil'd spinage, minced, and buttered, but first pour
on the broth.
_To make a Hash of Oysters._
Take three quarts of great oysters, parboil them, and save their
liquor, then mince 2 quarts of them very fine, and put them a
stewing in a pipkin with a half pint of white wine, a good big onion
or two, some large mace, a grated nutmeg, some chesnuts, and
pistaches, and three or 4 spoonfuls of wine-vinegar, a quarter of a
pound of good sweet butter, some oyster liquor, pepper, salt, and a
faggot of sweet herbs; stew the foresaid together upon a soft fire
the space of half an hour, then take the other oysters, and season
them with pepper, salt and nutmeg, fry them in batter made of fine
flour, egg, salt, and cream, make one half of it green with juyce of
spinage, and sweet herbs chopped small, dip them in these batters,
and fry them in clarified butter, being fried keep them warm in an
oven; then have a fine clean large dish, lay slices of French bread
all over the bottom of the dish, scald and steep the bread with some
gravy of the hash, or oyster-liquor, & white wine boil'd together;
dish the hash all over the slices of bread, lay on that the fryed
oysters, chesnuts, and pistaches; then beat up a lear or sauce of
butter, juyce of lemon or oranges, five or six, a little white-wine,
the yolks of 3 or 4 eggs, and pour on this sauce over the hash with
some slic't lemon, and lemon-peel; garnish the dish with grated
bread, being dryed and searsed, some pistaches, chesnuts, carved
lemons, & fryed oysters.
Sometimes you may use mushrooms boild in water, salt, sweet
herbs--large mace, cloves, bayleaves, two or three cloves of
garlick, then take them up, dip them in batter & fry them brown,
make sauce for them with claret, and the juyce of two or three
oranges, salt, butter, the juyce of horse-raddish roots beaten and
strained, grated nutmeg, and pepper, beat them up thick with the
yolks of two or three eggs, do this sauce in a frying-pan, shake
them well together, and pour it on the hash with the mushrooms.
_To marinate great oysters to be eaten hot._
Take three quarts of great oysters ready opened, parboil them in
their own liquor, then take them out and wash them in warm water,
wipe them dry and flour them, fry them crisp in a frying-pan with
three pints of sweet sallet oyl, put them in a dish, and set them
before the fire, or in a warm oven; then make sauce with white wine;
wine-vinegar, four or five blades of large mace, two or three slic't
nutmegs, two races of slic't ginger, some twenty cloves, twice as
much of whole pepper, and some salt; boil all the foresaid spices in
a pipkin, with a quart of white wine, a pint of wine vinegar,
rosemary, tyme, winter savory, sweet marjoram, bay leaves, sage, and
parlsey, the tops of all these herbs about an inch long; then take
three or four good lemons, slic't dish up the oysters in a clean
scowred dish, pour on the broth, herbs, and spices on them, lay on
the slic't lemons, and run it over with some of the oyl they were
fried in, and serve them up hot. Or fry them in clarified butter.
_Oysters in Stoffado._
Parboil a pottle or three quarts of great Oysters, save the liquor
and wash the oysters in warm water, then after steep them in
white-wine, wine-vinegar, slic't nutmeg, large mace, whole pepper,
salt, and cloves; give them a warm on the fire, set them off and let
them steep two or three hours; then take them out, wipe them dry,
dip them in batter made of fine flour, yolks of eggs, some cream and
salt, fry them, and being fryed keep them warm, then take some of
the spices liquor, some of the oysters-liquor, and some butter, beat
these things up thick with the slices of an orange or two, and two
or three yolks of eggs; then dish the fryed oysters in a fine clean
dish on a chafing-dish of coals, run on the sauce over them with the
spices, slic't orange, and barberries, and garnish the dish with
searsed manchet.
_To Jelly Oysters._
Take ten flounders, two small pikes or plaice, and 4 ounces of ising
glass; being finely cleansed, boil them in a pipkin in a pottle of
fair spring-water, and a pottle of white-wine, with some large mace,
and slic't ginger; boil them to a jelly, and strain it through a
strainer into a bason or deep dish; being cold pare off the top and
bottom and put it in a pipkin, with the juyce of six or seven great
lemons to a pottle of this broth, three pound of fine sugar beaten
in a dish with the whites of twelve eggs rubbed all together with a
rouling-pin, and put amongst the jelly, being melted, but not too
hot, set the pipkin on a soft fire to stew, put in it a grain of
musk, and as much ambergriece well rubbed, let it stew half an hour
on the embers, then broil it up, and let it run through your
jelly-bag; then stew the oysters in white wine, oyster-liquor, juyce
of orange, mace, slic't nutmeg, whole pepper, some salt, and sugar;
dish them in a fine clean dish with some preserved barberries, large
mace, or pomegranat kernels, and run the jelly over them in the
dish, garnish the dish with carved lemons, large mace, and preserved
barberries.
_To pickle Oysters._
Take eight quarts of oysters, and parboil them in their own liquor,
then take them out, wash them in warm water and wipe them dry, then
take the liquor they were parboil'd in, and clear it from the
grounds into a large pipkin or skillet, put to it a pottle of good
white-wine, a quart of wine vinegar, some large mace, whole pepper,
and a good quantity of salt, set it over the fire, boil it
leisurely, scum it clean, and being well boil'd put the liquor into
eight barrels of a quart a piece, being cold, put in the oyster, and
close up the head.
_Otherways._
Take eight quarts of the fairest oysters that can be gotten, fresh
and new, at the full of the Moon, parboil them in their own liquor,
then wipe them dry with a clean cloth, clear the liquor from the
dregs, and put the oysters in a well season'd barrel that will but
just hold them, then boil the oyster liquor with a quart of
white-wine, a pint of wine-vinegar, eight or ten blades of large
mace, an ounce of whole pepper, four ounces of white salt, four
races of slic't ginger, and twenty cloves, boil these ingredients
four or five warms, and being cold, put them to the oysters, close
up the barrel, and keep it for your use.
When you serve them, serve them in a fine clean dish with bay-leaves
round about them, barberries, slic't lemon, and slic't orange.
_To souce Oysters to serve hot or cold._
Take a gallon of great oysters ready opened, parboil them in their
own liquor, and being well parboil'd, put them into a cullender, and
save the liquor; then wash the oysters in warm water from the
grounds & grit, set them by, and make a pickle for them with a pint
of white-wine, & half a pint of wine vinegar, put it in a pipkin
with some large mace, slic't nutmegs, slic't ginger, whole pepper,
three or four cloves, and some salt, give it four or five warms and
put in the oysters into the warm pickle with two slic't lemons, and
lemon-peels; cover the pipkin close to keep in the spirits, spices,
and liquor.
_To roast Oysters._
Strain the liquor from the oysters, wash them very clean and give
them a scald in boiling liquor or water; then cut small lard of a
fat salt eel, & lard them with a very small larding-prick, spit them
on a small spit for that service; then beat two or three yolks of
eggs with a little grated bread, or nutmeg, salt, and a little
rosemary & tyme minced very small; when the oysters are hot at the
fire, baste them continually with these ingredients, laying them
pretty warm at the fire. For the sauce boil a little white-wine,
oyster-liquor, a sprig of tyme, grated bread, and salt, beat it up
thick with butter, and rub the dish with a clove of garlick.
_To roast Oysters otherways._
Take two quarts of large great oysters, and parboil them in there
own liquor, then take them out, wash them from the dregs, and wipe
them dry on a clean cloth; then haue slices of a fat salt eel, as
thick as a half crown peice, season the oysters with nutmeg, and
salt, spit them on a fine small wooden spit for that purpose, spit
first a sage leafe, then a slice of eel, and then an oyster, thus do
till they be all spitted, and bind them to another spit with
packthread, baste them with yolks of eggs, grated bread and stripped
time, and lay them to a warm fire with here and there a clove in
them; being finely roasted make sauce with the gravy, that drops
from them, blow off the fat, and put to it some claret wine, the
juyce of an orange, grated nutmeg, and a little butter, beat it up
thick together with some of the oyster-liquor, and serve them on
this sauce with slices of orange.
_Otherways._
Take the greatest oysters you can get, being opened parboil them in
their own liquor, save the liquor, & wash the oysters in some water,
wipe them dry, & being cold lard them with eight or ten lardons
through each oyster, the lard being first seasoned with cloves,
pepper, & nutmeg, beaten very small; being larded, spit them upon
two wooden scuers, bind them to an iron spit and rost them, baste
them with anchove sauce made of some of the oyster-liquor, let them
drip in it, and being enough bread them with the crust of a roul
grated, then dish them, blow the fat off the gravy, put it to the
oysters, and wring on them the juyce of a lemon.
_To broil Oysters._
Take great oysters and set them on a gridiron with the heads
downwards, put them up an end, and broil them dry, brown, and hard,
then put two or three of them in a shell with some melted butter,
set them on the gridiron till they be finely stewed, then dish them
on a plate, and fill them up with good butter only melted, or beaten
with juyce of orange, pepper them lightly, and serve them up hot.
_To broil Oysters otherways upon paper._
Broil them on a gridiron as before, then take them out of the shells
into a dish, and chuse out the fairest, then have a sheet of white
paper made like a dripping pan, set it on the gridiron, and run it
over with clarified butter, lay on some sage leaves, some fine thin
slices of a fat fresh eel, being parboil'd, and some oysters, stew
them on the hot embers, and being finely broil'd, serve them on a
dish and a plate in the paper they are boil'd in, and put to them
beaten butter, juyce of orange, and slices of lemon.
_To broil large Oysters otherways._
Take a pottle of great oysters opened & parboil them in there own
liquor, being done, pour them in to a cullender, and save the
liquor, then wash the oysters in warm water from the grounds, wipe
them with a clean cloth, beard them, and put them in a pipkin, put
to them large mace, two great onions, some butter, some of their own
liquor, some white-wine, wine vinegar, and salt; stew them together
very well, then set some of the largest shells, on a gridiron, put 2
or 3 in a shell, with some of the liquor out of the pipkin, broil
them on a soft fire, and being broil'd, set them on a dish and
plate, and fill them up with beaten butter.
Sometimes you may bread them in the broiling.
_To fry Oysters._
Take two quarts of great Oysters being parboil'd in their own
liquor, and washed in warm water, bread them, dry them, and flour
them, fry them in clarified butter crisp and white, then have
butter'd prawns or shrimps, butter'd with cream and sweet butter,
lay them in the bottom of a clean dish, and lay the fryed oysters
round about them, run them over with beaten butter, juyce of
oranges, bay-leaves stuck round the Oysters, and slices of oranges
or lemons.
_Otherways._
Strain the liquor from the oysters, wash them, and parboil them in a
kettle, then dry them and roul them in flour, or make a batter with
eggs, flour, a little cream, and salt, roul them in it, and fry them
in butter. For the sauce, boil the juyce of two or three oranges,
some of their own liquor, a slic't nutmeg, and claret; being boil'd
a little, put in a piece of butter, beating it up thick, then warm
the dish, rub it with a clove of garlick, dish the oysters, and
garnish them with slices of orange.
_To bake Oysters._
Parboil your oysters in their own liquor, then take them out and
wash them in warm water from the dregs dry them and season them with
pepper, nutmeg, yolks of hard eggs, and salt; the pye being made,
put a few currans in the bottom, and lay on the oysters, with some
slic't dates in halves, some large mace, slic't lemon, barberries
and butter, close it up and bake it, then liquor it with white-wine,
sugar, and butter; or in place of white-wine, use verjuyce.
[Illustration: _The Forms of Oyster Pyes._]
_To bake Oysters otherways._
Season them with pepper, salt, and nutmegs, the same quantity as
beforesaid, and the same quantity oysters, two or three whole
onions, neither currans nor sugar, but add to it in all respects
else; as slic't nutmeg on them, large mace, hard eggs in halves,
barberries, and butter, liquor it with beaten nutmeg, white-wine,
and juyce of oranges.
Otherways, for change, in the seasoning put to them chopped tyme,
hard eggs, some anchoves, and the foresaid spices.
Or bake them in Florentines, or patty-pans, and give them the same
seasoning as you do the pies.
Or take large oysters, broil them dry and brown in the shells, and
season them with former spices, bottoms of boil'd artichocks,
pickled mushrooms, and no onions, but all things else as the former,
liquor them with beaten butter, juyce of orange, and some claret
wine.
_Otherways._
Being parboil'd in their own liquor, season them with a little salt,
sweet herbs minced small one spoonful, fill the pie, and put into it
three or four blades of large mace, a slic't lemon, and on flesh
days a good handful of marrow rouled in yolks of eggs and butter,
close it up and bake it, make liquor for it with two nutmegs grated,
a little pepper, butter, verjuyce, and sugar.
_To make an Oyster Pye otherways._
Take a pottle of oysters, being parboil'd in their own liquor, beard
and dry them, then season them with large mace, whole pepper,
a little beaten ginger, salt, butter, and marrow, then close it up
and bake it, and being baked, make a lear with white wine the oyster
liquor, and one onion, or rub the ladle with garlick you beat it up
with all; it being boil'd, put in a pound of butter, with a minced
lemon, a faggot of sweet herbs, and being boil'd put in the liquor.
_To make minced Pies or Chewits of Oysters._
Take three quarts of great oysters ready opened and parboil'd in
their own liquor, then wash them in warm water from the dregs, dry
them and mince them very fine, season them lightly with nutmeg,
pepper, salt, cloves, mace, cinamon, caraway-seed, some minced,
rasins of the sun, slic't dates, sugar, currans, and half a pint of
white wine, mingle all together, and put butter in the bottoms of
the pies, fill them up and bake them.
_To bake Oysters otherways._
Season them with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and sweet herbs strowed on
them in the pie, large mace, barberries, butter, and a whole onion
or two, for liquor a little white wine, and wine-vinegar, beat it up
thick with butter, and liquor the pie, cut it up, and lay on a
slic't lemon, let not the lemon boil in it, and serve it hot.
_Otherways._
Season them as before with pepper, nutmeg, and salt, being bearded,
but first fry them in clarified butter, then take them up and season
them, lay them in the pie being cold, put butter to them and large
mace, close it up and bake it; then make liquor with a little claret
wine and juyce of oranges, beat it thick with butter, and a little
wine vinegar, liquor the pie, lay on some slices of orange, and set
it again into the oven a little while.
_To bake Oysters otherways._
Take great oysters, beard them, and season them with grated nutmeg,
salt, and some sweet herbs minc'd small, lay them in the pye with a
small quantity of the sweet herbs strowed on them, some twenty whole
corns of pepper, slic't ginger, a whole onion or two, large mace,
and some butter, close it up and bake it, and make liquor with
white-wine, some of their own liquor, and a minced lemon, and beat
it up thick.
_Otherways._
Broil great oysters dry in the shells, then take them out, and
season them with great nutmeg, pepper, and salt, lay them in the
pye, and strow on them the yolks of two hard eggs minced, some
stripp'd tyme, some capers, large mace, and butter; close it up, and
make liquor with claret wine, wine vinegar, butter, and juyce of
oranges, and beat it up thick, and liquor the pye, set it again into
the oven a little while, and serve it hot.
_To make a made Dish of Oysters and other Compounds._
Take oysters, cockles, prawns, craw-fish, and shrimps, being finely
cleans'd from the grit, season them with nutmeg, pepper, and salt,
next have chesnuts roasted, and blanch't, skerrets boil'd, blanched
and seasoned; then have a dish or patty-pan ready with a sheet of
cool butter paste, lay some butter on it, then the fishes, and on
them the skirrets, chesnuts, pistaches, slic't lemon, large mace,
barberries, and butter; close it up and bake it, and being baked,
fill it up with beaten butter, beat with juyce of oranges, and some
white-wine, or beaten butter with a little wine-vinegar, verjuyce,
or juyce of green grapes, or a little good fresh fish broth, cut it
up and liquor it, lay on the cover or cut it into four or five
pieces, lay it round the dish, and serve it hot.
_To make cool Butter-Paste for this Dish._
Take to every peck of flour five pound of butter, and the whites of
six eggs, work it well together dry, then put cold water to it; this
paste is good only for patty-pans and pasties.
_To make Paste for Oyster-Pies._
The paste for thin bak't meats must be made with boiling liquor, put
to every peck of flour two pound of butter, but let the butter boil
in the liquor first.
_To fry Mushrooms._
Blanch them & wash them clean if they be large, quarter them, and
boil them with water, salt, vinegar, sweet herbs, large mace,
cloves, bay-leaves, and two or three cloves of garlick, then take
them up, dry them, dip them in batter and fry them in clarifi'd
butter till they be brown, make sauce for them with claret-wine, the
juice of two or three oranges, salt, butter, the juyce of
horse-raddish roots beaten and strained, slic't nutmeg, and pepper;
put these into a frying pan with the yolks of two or 3 eggs
dissolved with some mutton gravy, beat and shake them well together
in the pan that they curdle not; then dish the mushrooms on a dish,
being first rubbed with a clove of garlick, and garnish it with
oranges, and lemons.
_To dress Mushrooms in the Italian Fashion._
Take mushrooms, peel & wash them, and boil them in a skillet with
water and salt, but first let the liquor boil with sweet herbs,
parsley, and a crust of bread, being boil'd, drain them from the
water, and fry them in sweet sallet oyl; being fried serve them in a
dish with oyl, vinegar, pepper, and fryed parsley. Or fry them in
clarified butter.
_To stew Mushrooms._
Peel them, and put them in a clean dish, strow salt on them, and put
an onion to them, some sweet herbs, large mace, pepper, butter,
salt, and two or three cloves, being tender stewed on a soft fire,
put to them some grated bread, and a little white wine, stew them a
little more and dish them (but first rub the dish with a clove of
garlick) sippet them, lay slic't orange on them, and run them over
with beaten butter.
_To stew Mushrooms otherways._
Take them fresh gathered, and cut off the end of the stalk, and as
you peel them put them in a dish with white wine; after they have
laid half an hour, drain them from the wine, and put them between 2
silver dishes, and set them on a soft fire without any liquor, &
when they have stewed a while pour away the liquor that comes from
them; then put your mushrooms into another clean dish with a sprig
of time, a whole onion, 4 or five corns of whole pepper, two or
three cloves, a piece of an orange, a little salt, and a piece of
good butter, & some pure gravy of mutton, cover them, and set them
on a gentle fire, so let them stew softly till they be enough and
very tender; when you dish them, blow off the fat from them, and
take out the time, spice, and orange from them, then wring in the
juyce of a lemon, and a little nutmeg among the mushrooms, toss them
two or three times, and put them in a clean dish, and serve them hot
to the table.
_To dress Champignions in fricase, or Mushrooms,
which is all one thing; they are called also Fungi,
commonly in English Toad Stools._
Dress your Champignions, as in the foregoing Chapter, and being
stewed put away the liquor, put them into a frying-pan with a piece
of butter, some tyme, sweet marjoram, and a piece of an onion minced
all together very fine, with a little salt also and beaten pepper,
and fry them, and being finely fried, make a lear or sauce with
three or four eggs dissolved with some claret-wine, and the juyce of
two or three oranges, grated nutmeg, and the gravy of a leg of
mutton, and shake them together in a pan with two or three tosses,
dish them, and garnish the dish with orange and lemon, and rub the
dish first with a clove of garlick, or none.
_To broil Mushrooms._
Take the biggest and the reddest, peel them, and season them with
some sweet herbs, pepper, and salt, broil them on a dripping-pan of
paper, and fill it full, put some oyl into it, and lay it on a
gridiron, boil it on a soft fire, turn them often, and serve them
with oyl and vinegar.
Or broil them with butter, and serve them with beaten butter, and
juyce of orange.
_To stew Cockles being taken out of the shells._
Wash them well with vinegar, broil or broth them before you take
them out of the shells, then put them in a dish with a little
claret, vinegar, a handful of capers, mace, pepper, a little grated
bread, minced tyme, salt, and the yolks of two or three hard eggs
minced, stew all together till you think them enough; then put in a
good piece of butter, shake them well together, heat the dish, rub
it with a clove of garlick, and put two or three toasts of white
bread in the bottom, laying the meat on them. Craw-fish, prawns, or
shrimps, are excellent good the same way being taken out of their
shells, and make variety of garnish with the shells.
_To stew Cockles otherways._
Stew them with claret wine, capers, rose or elder vinegar, wine
vinegar, large mace, gross pepper, grated bread, minced tyme, the
yolks of hard eggs minced, and butter: stew them well together. Thus
you may stew scollops, but leave out capers.
_To stew Scollops._
Boil them very well in white wine, fair water, and salt, take them
out of the shells, and stew them with some of the liquor elder
vinegar, two or three cloves, some large mace, and some sweet herbs
chopped small; being well stewed together, dish four or five of them
in scollop shells and beaten butter, with the juyce of two or three
oranges.
_To stew Muscles._
Wash them clean, and boil them in water, or beer and salt; then take
them out of the shells, and beard them from gravel and stones, fry
them in clarified butter, and being fryed put away some of the
butter, and put to them a sauce made of some of their own liquor,
some sweet herbs chopped, a little white-wine, nutmeg, three or four
yolks of eggs dissolved in wine vinegar, salt, and some sliced
orange; give these materials a warm or two in the frying-pan, make
the sauce pretty thick, and dish them in the scollop shells.
_To fry Muscles._
Take as much water as will cover them, set it a boiling, and when it
boils put in the muscles, being clean washed, put some salt to them,
and being boil'd take them out of the shells, and beard them from
the stones, moss, and gravel, wash them in warm water, wipe them
dry, flour them and fry them crisp, serve them with beaten butter,
juyce of orange, and fryed parsley, or fryed sage dipped in batter,
fryed ellicksander leaves, and slic't orange.
_To make a Muscle Pye._
Take a peck of muscles, wash them clean, and set them a boiling in a
kettle of fair water, (but first let the water boil) then put them
into it, give them a warm, and as soon as they are opened, take them
out of the shells, stone them, and mince them with some sweet herbs,
some leeks, pepper, and nutmeg; mince six hard eggs and put to them,
put some butter in the pye, close it up and bake it, being baked
liquor it with some butter, white wine, and slices of orange.
_To stew Prawns, Shrimps, or Craw-Fish._
Being boil'd and picked, stew them in white wine, sweet butter,
nutmeg, and salt, dish them in scollop shells, and run them over
with beaten butter, and juyce of orange or lemon.
Otherways, stew them in butter and cream, and serve them in scollop
shells.
_To stew Lobsters._
Take claret-wine vinegar, nutmeg, salt, and butter, stew them down
some what dry, and dish them in a scollop-shell, run them over with
butter and slic't lemon.
Otherways, cut it into dice-work, and warm it with white-wine and
butter, put it in a pipkin with claret wine or grape verjuyce, and
grated manchet, and fill the scollop-shells.
_Otherways._
Being boil'd, take out the meat, break it small, but break the
shells as little as you can, then put the meat into a pipkin with
claret-wine, wine-vinegar, slic't nutmeg, a little salt, and some
butter; stew all these together softly an hour, being stewed almost
dry, put to it a little more butter, and stir it well together; then
lay very thin toasts in a clean dish, and lay the meat on them. Or
you may put the meat in the shells, and garnish the dish about with
the legs, and lay the body or barrel over the meat with some sliced
lemon, and rare coloured flowers being in summer, or pickled in
winter. Crabs are good the same way, only add to them the juyce of
two or three oranges, a little pepper, and grated bread.
_To stew Lobsters otherways._
Take the meat out of the shells, slice it, and fry it in clarified
butter, (the Lobsters being first boil'd and cold), then put the
meat in a pipkin with some claret wine, some good sweet butter,
grated nutmeg, salt, and 2 or three slices of an orange; let it stew
leisurely half an hour, and dish it up on fine carved sippets in a
clean dish, with sliced orange on it, and the juyce of another, and
run it over with beaten butter.
_To hash Lobsters._
Take them out of the shells, mince them small, and put them in a
pipkin with some claret wine, salt, sweet butter, grated nutmeg,
slic't oranges, & some pistaches; being finely stewed, serve them on
sippets, dish them, and run them over with beaten butter, slic't
oranges, some cuts of paste, or lozenges of puff-paste.
_To boil Lobsters to eat cold the common way._
Take them alive or dead, lay them in cold water to make the claws
tuff, and keep them from breaking off; then have a kettle over the
fire with fair water, put in it as much bay-salt, as will make it a
good strong brine, when it boils scum it, and put in the Lobsters,
let them boil leisurely the space of half an hour or more according
to the bigness of them, being well boil'd take them up, wash them,
and then wipe them with beer and butter; and keep them for your use.
_To keep Lobsters a quarter of a year very good._
Take them being boil'd as aforesaid, wrap them in course rags having
been steeped in brine, and bury them in a cellar in some sea-sand
pretty deep.
_To farce a Lobster._
Take a lobster being half boil'd, take the meat out of the shells,
and mince it small with a good fresh eel, season it with cloves &
mace beaten, some sweet herbs minced small and mingled amongst the
meat, yolks of eggs, gooseberries, grapes, or barberries, and
sometimes boil'd artichocks cut into dice-work, or boil'd aspragus,
and some almond-paste mingled with the rest, fill the lobster
shells, claws, tail, and body, and bake it in a blote oven, make
sauce with the gravy and whitewine, and beat up the sauce or lear
with good sweet butter, a grated nutmeg, juyce of oranges, and an
anchove, and rub the dish with a clove of garlick.
To this farcing you may sometime add almond paste currans, sugar,
gooseberries, and make balls to lay about the lobsters, or serve it
with venison sauce.
_To marinate Lobsters._
Take lobsters out of the shells being half boil'd, then take the
tails and lard them with a salt eel (or not lard them) part the
tails into two halves the longest way, and fry them in sweet sallet
oyl, or clarified butter; being finely fryed, put them into a dish
or pipkin, and set them by; then make sauce with white wine, and
white wine vinegar, four or five blades of large mace, three or four
slic't nutmegs, two races of ginger slic't, some ten or twelve
cloves twice as much of whole pepper, and salt, boil them altogether
with rosemary, tyme, winter-savory, sweet marjoram, bay-leaves,
sage, and parsley, the tops of all these herbs about an inch long;
then take three or four lemons and slice them, dish up the lobsters
on a clean dish, and pour the broth, herbs and spices on the fish,
lay on the lemons, run it over with some of the oyl or butter they
were fryed in, and serve them up hot.
_To broil Lobsters._
Being boil'd lay them on a gridiron, or toast them against the fire,
and baste them with vinegar and butter, or butter only, broil them
leisurely, and being broil'd serve them with butter and vinegar beat
up thick with slic't lemon and nutmeg.
_Otherways._
Broil them, the tail being parted in two halves long ways, also the
claws cracked and broil'd; broil the barrel whole being salted,
baste it with sweet herbs, as tyme, rosemary, parsley, and savory,
being broil'd dish it, and serve it with butter and vinegar.
_To broil Lobsters on paper._
Slice the tails round, and also the claws in long slices, then
butter a dripping-pan made of the paper, lay it on a gridiron, and
put some slices of lobster seasoned with nutmeg and salt, and slices
of a fresh eel, some sageleaves, tops of rosemary, two or three
cloves, and sometimes some bay-leaves or sweet herbs chopped; broil
them on the embers, and being finely broil'd serve them on a dish
and a plate in the same dripping-pan, put to them beaten butter,
juyce of oranges, and slices of lemon.
_To roast Lobsters._
Take a lobster and spit it raw on a small spit, bind the claws and
tail with packthred, baste it with butter, vinegar, and sprigs of
rosemary, and salt it in the roasting.
_Otherways._
Half boil them, take them out of the shells, and lard them with
small lard made of a salt eel, lard the claws and tails, and spit
the meat on a small spit, with some slices of the eel, and sage or
bay leaves between, stick in the fish here and there a clove or two,
and some sprigs of rosemary; roast the barrel of the lobsters whole,
and baste them with sweet butter, make sauce with claret wine, the
gravy of the lobsters, juyce of oranges, an anchove or two, and
sweet butter beat up thick with the core of a lemon, and grated
nutmeg.
_Otherways._
Half boil them, and take the meat out of the tail, and claws as
whole as can be, & stick it with cloves and tops of rosemary; then
spit the barrels of the lobsters by themselves, the tails and claws
by themselves, and between them a sage or bay-leaf; baste them with
sweet butter, and dredg them with grated bread, yolks of eggs, and
some grated nutmeg. Then make sauce with claret wine, vinegar,
pepper, the gravy of the meat, some salt, slices of oranges, grated
nutmeg, and some beaten butter; then dish the barrels of the
lobsters round the dish, the claws and tails in the middle, and put
to it the sauce.
_Otherways._
Make a farcing in the barrels of the lobsters with the meat in them,
some almond-paste, nutmeg, tyme, sweet marjoram, yolks of raw eggs,
salt, and some pistaches, and serve them with venison sauce.
_To fry Lobsters._
Being boil'd take the meat out of the shells, and slice it long
ways, flour it, and fry it in clarified butter, fine, white, and
crisp; or in place of flouring it in batter, with eggs, flour, salt,
and cream, roul them in it and fry them, being fryed make a sauce
with the juyce of oranges, claret wine, and grated nutmeg, beaten up
thick with some good sweet butter, then warm the dish and rub it
with a clove of garlick, dish the lobsters, garnish it with slices
of oranges or lemons, and pour on the sauce.
_To bake Lobsters to be eaten hot._
Being boil'd and cold, take the meat out of the shells, and season
it lightly with nutmeg, pepper, salt, cinamon, and ginger; then lay
it in a pye made according to the following form, and lay on it some
dates in halves, large mace, slic't lemons, barberries, yolks of
hard eggs and butter, close it up and bake it, and being baked
liquor it with white-wine, butter, and sugar, and ice it. On flesh
days put marrow to it.
_Otherways._
Take the meat out of the shells being boil'd and cold, and lard it
with a salt eel or salt salmon, seasoning it with beaten nutmeg,
pepper, and salt; then make the pye, put some butter in the bottom,
and lay on it some slices of a fresh eel, and on that a layer of
lobsters, put to it a few whole cloves, and thus make two or three
layers, last of all slices of fresh eel, some whole cloves and
butter, close up the pye, and being baked, fill it up with clarified
butter.
If you bake it these ways to eat hot, season it lightly, and put in
some large mace; liquor it with claret wine, beaten butter, and
slices of orange.
_Otherways._
Take four lobsters being boil'd, and some good fat conger raw, cut
some of it into square pieces as broad as your hand, then take the
meat of the lobsters, and slice the tails in two halves or two
pieces long wayes, as also the claws, season both with pepper,
nutmeg and salt then make the pie, put butter in the bottom, lay on
the slices, of conger, and then a layer of lobsters; thus do three
or four times till the pie be full, then lay on a few whole cloves,
and some butter; close it up and bake it, being baked liquor it with
butter and white-wine, or only clarified butter. Make your pyes
according to these forms.
If to eat hot season it lightly, and being baked liquor it with
butter, white-wine, slic't lemon, gooseberries, grapes, or
barberries.
_To pickle Lobsters._
Boil them in vinegar, white-wine, and salt, being boiled take them
up and lay them by, then have some bay-leaves, rosemary tops,
winter-savory, tyme, large mace, and whole pepper: boil these
foresaid materials all together in the liquor with the lobsters, and
some whole cloves; being boil'd, barrel them up in a vessel that
will but just contain them, and pack them close, pour the liquor to
them, herbs spices, and some lemon peels, close up the head of the
kegg or firkin; and keep them for your use; when you serve them,
serve them with spices, herbs, peels, and some of the liquor or
pickle.
_To jelly Lobsters, Craw-fish, or Prawns._
Take a tench being new, draw out the garnish at the gills, and cut
out all the gills, it will boil the whiter, then set on as much
clear water aswil conveniently boil it, season it with salt,
wine-vinegar, five or six bay-leaves large mace, three or four whole
cloves, and a faggot of sweet herbs bound up hard together: so soon
as this preparative boils, put in the tench being clean wiped, do
not scale it, being boil'd take it up and wash off all the loose
scales, then strain the liquor through a jelly-bag, and put to it a
piece of ising-glass being first washed and steeped for the purpose,
boil it very cleanly, and run it through a jelly-bag; then having
the fish taken out of the shells, lay them in a large clean dish,
lay the lobsters in slices, and the craw fish and prawns whole, and
run this jelly over them. You may make this jelly of divers colours,
as you may see in the Section of Jellies, page 202.
Garnish the dish of Jellies with lemon-peels cut in branches, long
slices as you fancy, barberries, and fine coloured flowers.
Or lard the lobsters with salt eel, or stick it with candied
oranges, green citterns, or preserved barberries, and make the jelly
sweet.
_To stew Crabs._
Being boil'd take the meat out of the bodies or barrels, and save
the great claws, and the small legs whole to garnish the dish,
strain the meat with some claret wine, grated bread, wine-vinegar,
nutmeg, a little salt, and a piece of butter; stew them together an
hour on a soft fire in a pipkin, and being stewed almost dry, put in
some beaten butter with juyce of oranges beaten up thick; then dish
the shells being washed and finely cleansed, the claws and little
legs round about them, put the meat into the shells, and so serve
them.
Sometimes you may use yolks of eggs strained with butter.
_To stew Crabs otherways._
Being boil'd take the meat out of the shells, and put it in a pipkin
with some claret wine, and wine vinegar, minced tyme, pepper, grated
bread, salt, the yolks of two or three hard eggs strained or minced
very small, some sweet butter, capers, and some large mace; stew it
finely, rub the shells with a clove or two of garlick, and dish them
as is shown before.
_Otherways._
Take the meat out of the bodies, and put it in a pipkin with some
cinamon, wine vinegar, butter, and beaten ginger, stew them and
serve them as the former, dished with the legs about them.
Sometimes you may add sugar to them, parboil'd grapes, gooseberries,
or barberries, and in place of vinegar, juyce of oranges, and run
them over with beaten butter.
_To butter Crabs._
The Crabs being boil'd, take the meat out of the bodies, and strain
it with the yolks of three or four hard eggs, beaten cinamon, sugar,
claret-wine, and wine-vinegar, stew the meat in a pipkin with some
good sweet butter the space of a quarter of an hour, and serve them
as the former.
_Otherways._
Being boil'd, take the meat out of the shells, as also out of the
great claws, cut it into dice-work, & put both the meats into a
pipkin, together with some white wine, juyce of oranges, nutmeg, and
some slices of oranges, stew it two or three warms on the fire, and
the shells being finely cleansed and dried, put the meat into them,
and lay the legs round about them in a clean dish.
_To make a Hash of Crabs._
Take two crabs being boil'd, take out the meat of the claws, and cut
it into dice-work, mix it with the meat of the body, then have some
pine-apple seed, and some pistaches or artichock-bottoms, boil'd,
blanched, and cut into dice-work, or some asparagus boil'd and cut
half an inch long; stew all these together with some claret wine,
vinegar, grated nutmeg, salt, sweet butter, and the slices of an
orange; being finely stewed, dish it on sippets, cuts, or lozenges
of puff paste, and garnish it with fritters of arms, slic't lemon
carved, barberries, grapes, or gooseberries, and run it over with
beaten butter, and yolks of eggs beaten up thick together.
_To farce a Crab._
Take a boil'd crab, take the meat out of the shell, and mince the
claws with a good fresh eel, season it with cloves, mace, some sweet
herbs chopped, and salt, mingle all together with some yolks of
eggs, some grapes, gooseberries, or barberres, and sometimes boil'd
artichocks in dice-work, or boil'd asparagus, some almond-paste, the
meat of the body of the crab, and some grated bread, fill the shells
with this compound, & make some into balls, bake them in a dish with
some butter and white wine in a soft oven; being baked, serve them
in a clean dish with a sauce made of beaten butter, large mace,
scalded grapes, gooseberries, or barberries, or some slic't orange
or lemon and some yolks of raw eggs dissolved with some white-wine
or claret, and beat up thick with butter; brew it well together,
pour it on the fish, and lay on some slic't lemon, stick the balls
with some pistaches, slic't almonds, pine-apple-seed, or some pretty
cuts in paste.
_To broil Crabs in Oyl or Butter._
Take Crabs being boil'd in water and salt, steep them in oyl and
vinegar, and broil them on a gridiron on a soft fire of embers, in
the broiling baste them with some rosemary branches, and being
broil'd serve them with the sauces they were boil'd with, oyl and
vinegar, or beaten butter, vinegar, and the rosemary branches they
were basted with.
_To fry Crabs._
Take the meat out of the great claws being first boiled, flour and
fry them, and take the meat out of the body strain half of it for
sauce, and the other half to fry, and mix it with grated bread,
almond paste, nutmeg, salt, and yolks of eggs, fry it in clarified
butter, being first dipped in batter, put in a spoonful at a time;
then make sauce with wine-vinegar, butter, or juyce of orange, and
grated nutmeg, beat up the butter thick, and put some of the meat
that was strained into the sauce, warm it and put it in a clean
dish, lay the meat on the sauce, slices of orange over all, and run
it over with beaten butter, fryed parsley, round the dish brim, and
the little legs round the meat.
_Otherways._
Being boil'd and cold, take the meat out of the claws, flour and fry
them, then take the meat out of the body, butter it with butter
vinegar, and pepper, and put it in a clean dish, put the fryed crab
round about it, and run it over with beaten butter, juyce and slices
of orange, and lay on it sage leaves fryed in batter, or fryed
parsley.
_To bake Crabs in Pye, Dish, or Patty pan._
Take four or five crabs being boil'd, take the meat out of the shell
and claws as whole as you can, season it with nutmeg and salt
lightly; then strain the meat that came out of the body, shells,
with a little claret-wine, some cinamon, ginger, juyce of orange and
butter, make the pie, dish, or patty pan, lay butter in the bottom,
then the meat of the claws, some pistaches, asparagus, some bottoms
of artichocks, yolks of hard eggs, large mace, grapes, gooseberries
or barberries, dates of slic't orange, and butter, close it up and
bake it, being baked, liquor it with the meat out of the body.
_Otherways._
Mince them with a tench or fresh eel, and season it with sweet herbs
minced small, beaten nutmeg, pepper, and salt, lightly season, and
mingle the meat that was in the bodies of the crabs with the other
seasoned fishes; mingle also with this foresaid meat some boil'd or
roasted chesnuts, or artichocks, asparagus boil'd and cut an inch
long, pistaches, or pine-apple-seed, and grapes, gooseberries or
barberries, fill the pie, dish, or patty-pan, close it up and bake
it, being baked, liquor it with juyce of oranges, some claret wine,
good butter beat up thick, and the yolks of two or three eggs; fill
up the pie, lay slices of an orange on it and stick in some lozenges
of puff-paste, or branches of short paste.
_To make minced Pies of a Crab._
Being boil'd, mince the legs, and strain the meat in the body with
two or three yolks of eggs, mince also some sweet herbs and put to
it some almond-paste or grated bread, a minced onion, some fat eel
cut like little dice, or some fat belly of salmon; mingle it all
together, and put it in a pie made according to this form, season it
with nutmeg, pepper, salt, currans, and barberries, grapes, or
gooseberries, mingle also some butter, and fill your pie, bake it,
and being baked, liquor it with beaten butter and white wine. Or
with butter, sugar, cinamon, sweet herbs chopped, and verjuyce.
_To dress Tortoise._
Cast off the head, feet, and tail, and boil it in water, wine, and
salt, being boil'd, pull the shell asunder, and pick the meat from
the skins, and the gall from the liver, save the eggswhole if a
female, and stew the eggs, meat and liver in a dish with some grated
nutmeg, a little sweet herbs minced small, and some sweet butter,
stew it up, and serve it on fine sippets, cover the meat with the
upper shell of the tortoise, and slices or juyce of orange.
Or stew them in a pipkin with some butter, whitewine some of the
broth, a whole onion or two, tyme, parsley, winter savory, and
rosemary minc't, being finely stewed serve them on sippets, or put
them in the shells, being cleansed; or make a fricase in a
frying-pan with 3 or four yolks of eggs and some of the shells
amongst them, and dress them as aforesaid.
_To dress Snails._
Take shell snails, and having water boil'd, put them in, then pick
them out of the shells with a great pin into a bason, cast salt to
them, scour the slime from them, and after wash them in two or three
waters; being clean scowred, dry them with a clean cloth; then have
rosemary, tyme, parsley, winter-savory, and pepper very small, put
them into a deep bason or pipkin, put to them some salt, and good
sallet oyl, mingle all together, then have the shells finely
cleansed, fill them, and set them on a gridiron, broil them upon the
embers softly, and being broil'd, dish four or five dozen in a dish,
fill them up with oyl, and serve them hot.
_To stew Snails._
Being well scowred and cleansed as aforesaid, put to them some
claret wine and vinegar, a handful of capers, mace, pepper, grated
bread, a little minced tyme, salt, and the yolks of two or 3 hard
eggs minced; let all these stew together till you think it be
enough, then put in a good piece of butter, shaking it together,
heat the dish, and rub it with a clove of garlick, put them on fine
sippets of French bread, pour on the snails, and some barberries, or
slic't lemons.
_Otherways._
Being cleansed, fry them in oyl or clarified butter, with some
slices of a fresh eel, and some fried sage leaves; stew them in a
pipkin with some white-wine, butter, and pepper, and serve them on
sippets with beaten butter, and juyce of oranges.
_Otherways._
Being finely boil'd and cleansed, fry them in clarified butter;
being fryed take them up, and put them in a pipkin, put to them some
sweet butter chopped parsley, white or claret wine, some grated
nutmeg, slices of orange, and a little salt; stew them well
together, serve them on sippets; and then run them over with beaten
butter, and slices of oranges.
_To fry Snails._
Take shell snails in _January_, _February_, or, _March_, when they
be closed up, boil them in a skillet of boiling water, and when they
be tender boil'd, take them out of the shell with a pin, cleanse
them from the slime, flour them, and fry them; being fryed, serve
them in a clean dish, with butter, vinegar, fryed parsley, fryed
onions, or ellicksander leaves fryed, or served with beaten butter,
and juyce of orange, or oyl, vinegar, and slic't lemon.
_Otherways._
Fry them in oyl and butter, being finely cleansed, and serve them
with butter, vinegar, and pepper, or oyl, vinegar, and pepper.
_To make a Hash of Snails._
Being boil'd and cleansed, mince them small, put them in a pipkin
with some sweet herbs minced, the yolks of hard eggs, some whole
capers, nutmeg, pepper, salt, some pistaches, and butter, or oyl;
being stewed the space of half an hour on a soft fire; then have
some fried toasts of French bread, lay some in the bottom, and some
round the meat in the dish.
_To dress Snails in a Pottage._
Wash them very well in many waters, then put them in an earthen pan,
or a wide dish, put as much water as will cover them, and set your
dish on some caols; when they boil take them out of the shells, and
scowr them with water and salt three or four times, then put them in
a pipkin with water and salt, and let them boil a little, then take
them out of the water, and put them in a dish with some excellent
sallet oyl; when the oyl boils put in three or four slic't onions,
and fry them, put the snails to them, and stew them well together,
then put the oyl snails and onions all together in a pipkin of a fit
size for them, and put as much warm water to them as will make a
pottage, with some salt, and so let them stew three or four hours,
then mince tyme, parsley, pennyroyal, and the like herbs; when they
are minced, beat them to green sauce in a mortar, put in some crumbs
of bread soakt with that broth or pottage, some saffron and beaten
cloves; put all in to the snails, and give them a warm or 2, and
when you serve them up, squeeze in the juyce of a lemon, put in a
little vinegar, and a clove of garlick amongst the herbs, and beat
them in it; serve them up in a dish with sippets in the bottom
of it.
This pottage is very nourishing, and excellent good against a
Consumption.
_To bake Snails._
Being boil'd and scowred, season them with nutmeg, pepper, and salt,
put them into a pie with some marrow, large mace, a raw chicken cut
in pieces, some little bits of lard and bacon, the bones out, sweet
herbs chopped, slic't lemon, or orange and butter; being full, close
it up and bake it, and liquor it with butter and white-wine.
_To bake Frogs._
Being flayed, take the hind legs, cut off the feet, and season them
with nutmeg, pepper, and salt, put them in a pye with some sweet
herbs chopped small, large mace, slic't lemon, gooseberries, grapes,
or barberries, pieces of skirrets, artichocks, potatoes, or
parsnips, and marrow; close it up and bake it; being baked, liquor
it with butter, and juyce of orange, or grape-verjuyce.
* * * * *
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