_Carp._
Have a sharp-pointed kitchen knife, put the point carefully under the
scales (between the scales and the skin); at the tail of the fish pass
the knife gently up the back to the head, dividing the scales from the
skin carefully; you may then take off the whole of the scales in one
piece from each side, and your fish will look very white; (most cooks
are acquainted with this mode, but should it be too difficult for some,
they can scrape it in the common way; it will not look so white, but
will eat equally good;) then make a small incision in the belly, close
to the bladder; pull out the gills with a cloth, and the inside with
them; but if any remains, take it out of the incision, but be careful
not to disturb the roe or break the gall; lay it in spring water half an
hour to disgorge; dry it with a cloth.
_Pike._
Take off the scales as you would a carp; make two incisions in the
belly, a small one close to the bladder, and a larger one above; pull
one of the gills at the time with a strong cloth, and if the inside does
not come with them, take them out of the incisions, and wash it well;
the cutting of the fins is a matter of taste, but it is usually done.
_Trout_
Are sometimes served with the scales on, but they are usually taken off;
clean like salmon.
_Tench_
Are very difficult fish to clean; the best way is to form them in the
shape of the letter S, and instead of scraping them from the tail to the
head, like other fish, scrape upwards from the belly to the back with an
oyster knife, the scales running that way, take out the gills, open the
belly, take out the inside, and wash it clean.
_Perch_
Are very difficult to scrape; they must be done almost alive: form the
fish like an S, and scrape it with an oyster-knife; open the belly and
take out the inside; pull out the gills, and wash well; when large, they
are often boiled with the scales on, and they are taken off afterwards,
which is much easier; but it depends upon how they are to be cooked.
_Eels._
Kill them by knocking their heads upon a block or anything hard; then
take the head in your hand with a cloth, and just cut through the skin
round the neck, and turn it down about an inch; then pull the head with
one hand and the skin with the other, it will come off with facility;
open the belly and take out the inside; cut off the fins and those
bristles that run up the back; if the eel is large and oily, hold it
over a charcoal fire, moving it quickly all the while; but the small
ones will not require it. Nothing is harder to kill than eels; and it is
only by killing, or rather stunning them in the manner above described
that they suffer the least.
_Lampreys_
Are cleaned in the same manner as eels, but do not require skinning.