Part 46

_Victoria Soup._--About 2 tablespoonfuls sago to 1 qt. of good stock; boil gently; then 5 minutes before dinner-time take it off the fire, and have ready the yolks of 2 eggs and ½ pint cream; beat them together and add to the soup; stir all together and serve at once with sippets of fried bread.

_White Soup._--Flavour some stock delicately with onion, parsley, mace, bay leaf, lemon peel, thyme, button mushrooms, white peppercorns, and salt. Take equal parts of this and new milk, and thicken slightly with arrowroot. Just before serving, stir in the yolk of an egg beaten up, with a little cold milk or stock. A smaller proportion of cream may be used instead of the milk, if preferred. Serve in a sauce tureen, and be sure to have it and the soup plate well warmed. To vary this soup, a few small dice of sweetbread or the white meat from a chicken, or a little of the meat from a calf’s foot and a few egg balls, may be added. _Egg balls._--Mix with the yolk of 1 hard-boiled egg 1 teaspoonful grated tongue or pounded ham, and 1 saltspoonful minced boiled parsley; season with cayenne and nutmeg. Bind with the yolk of a raw egg, form the paste into balls the size of a small marble, and poach them gently for 2 minutes in milk. Put them hot into the tureen.

See also Chicken, Milk, Onion, Palestine, Potato, Rice, and Vegetable-marrow Soups, and Veal Stock.

=Fish.=--The first consideration with regard to fish is freshness, as nothing deteriorates more rapidly with keeping. When economy must be practised, fish may be bought at lower rates in the evening, and will keep perfectly well till next day, even in hot weather, by being moistened with vinegar, which treatment is by some people considered to improve the flavour.

Before proceeding to give a catalogue of recipes for cooking various fish, it will be useful to introduce some general remarks on dressing and cooking fish as a class.

_Dressing._--(_a_) When fish are scaly they must be “scaled” very lightly and carefully with a knife, then well washed with salt and water to remove all slime. The gills and fins should be cut off; then the fish must be opened, and the insides removed, followed by well cleaning inside and out with a linen cloth. If to be fried, they are ready for flouring.

(_b_) If no scales, proceed as in (_a_) without scaling.

(_c_) If to be boiled, the wiping may be omitted, but they must be washed with salt and water inside and out.

(_d_) All cooking must be thorough.

_Baking._--This is a good way of cooking any flavourless fish. (_a_) Cut it in slices or pieces and make a mound of it on a flat dish, sprinkling between each layer chopped herbs and parsley, cayenne and lemon juice. Melt 1 oz. butter in a pan, add 1 oz. flour and 1 gill milk, and stir till very thick; squeeze in a little lemon and pour it over the fish. Cover the whole with browned breadcrumbs and cook in a good oven till the fish is done. Keep a few crumbs back to sprinkle over any cracks, and serve on the dish it is baked in. For the lemon juice and the crumbs Parmesan cheese can be substituted.

(_b_) Scald and then chop a small piece of onion and a few sprigs of parsley. Butter a baking tin and sprinkle half the mixture over and half under a thick slice of white fish. Cover the whole with browned breadcrumbs and pour round a little stock or water with a dessertspoonful of ketchup or vinegar. Bake for 10-15 minutes, and serve hot or cold, garnished with parsley and cut lemon, and the liquor poured round. Baking is the most economical way of cooking fish, because it does not destroy the flavour, and sauce is not necessary as when boiled.

_Boiling._--(_a_) The common way of boiling fish is to draw them, cut out their gills, scale them--if scaly--and wipe clean. Put into a fish kettle, with salt, fennel, a bundle of sweet herbs, enough water with a little vinegar to cover the fish. When quite boiling, put in the fish, and let it boil slowly; when perfectly done, pour off the water and serve in a hot dish with parsley and butter.

(_b_) The liquor in which fish is to be boiled should be boiling ¼ hour before the fish are put in; these latter must be boiled very gently, or they will fall to pieces.

(_c_) The liquor in which fish has been boiled should never be thrown away, as excellent soup can be made of it with a few cheap additions.

_Broiling._--(_a_) After the fish is scaled, &c., notch it 2 or 3 times on the back, strew some salt on, and broil, basting with butter, and turning frequently.

_Frying._--(_a_) No way is more successful for cooking the cheaper kinds of fish. Plaice, ling, hake, haddock, small fresh-water fish, conger--all are good. The essential thing is to fry them properly. Cover each piece with egg and breadcrumb, or dip in a thick batter of flour and water; have perfectly fresh fat or sweet oil, and plenty of it; let it be sufficiently hot; and serve the hot fish nicely garnished with lemon and with slices of brown bread and butter. Conger must first be parboiled, or it will not be done enough. As for other fish, it is wise to cut them into strips or fillets.

(_b_) Frying fish in batter is often recommended, but it is not nearly so nice as egg-crumbing, and, indeed, when this is considered too troublesome or expensive, it is better merely to pass the fish through flour mixed with pepper and salt. Fish dipped in batter must be fried in a considerable quantity of fat, which, in small and poor households, it is generally impossible to procure. Egg-crumbed or dusted with flour, fish can be cooked in the frying-pan with a little fat, and is very good in this way.

(_c_) Plain flour may be used instead of breadcrumbs; in America “cracker-dust” (i.e. pounded biscuit) and Indian meal, the latter occasionally mixed equally with flour, are used instead of breadcrumbs.

(_d_) For eating cold. Well wash in water, rub with salt, dry, roll in a cloth, and place for a few minutes before the fire previous to cooking. Salmon, cod, and halibut should be cut into thick slices, other fish into convenient-sized pieces. Soles are done either whole or in fillets. Have ready a dish of beaten eggs, and another of flour; turn the fish well over first in the eggs, and then in the flour, so that each piece is completely covered, then place in a pan with plenty of the best olive oil at boiling heat, fry the fish gently till of a fine golden-brown colour on both sides. When done, place on a drainer before the fire, for the oil to drain off. Great care should be observed that the oil has ceased to bubble before the fish is put in, or the latter will be greasy. It is a good plan to try it with a crust of bread first. Tho oil can be used several times if carefully strained, and put aside in a jar, adding a little fresh each time if necessary.

_Stewing._--Put them in a stewpan; cover with water, and either white wine or claret; add some salt, spices, and anchovies, and a bundle of sweet herbs; cover the vessel, and put in a moderate oven. Garnish with green leaves, sippets, &c.

The following dishes are mainly adapted for using up remnants of fish, though whole fish may be employed if desired.

_Bouillabaisse._--Take several kinds of fish, such as whitings, gurnets, John dory, turbot; cut them in pieces the size of an egg; mince an onion, a small piece of garlic, one tomato, and a few sprigs of parsley; put the whole in a saucepan with ½ tumbler finest olive oil, a pinch of pepper, and one of mixed spice. When the onions are slightly coloured, add the fish, salt, and a very small pinch of powdered saffron; then fill up with sufficient boiling water to come up to, but not cover, the fish. This done, let the bouillabaisse boil fast for 20 minutes, or until the liquor be reduced by one-fourth. Serve the fish on one dish, and the liquor on another over thick but small slices of bread.

_Boudin._--Take the raw meat of either whiting, flounder, plaice, or pike; pound in a mortar, and pass through a sieve. Put ½ pint water into a saucepan with a pinch of salt, and a small piece of butter; when it boils, stir it in enough flour to make a thick paste; when cold, take of this paste, half the quantity there is of fish, and take of butter half the quantity there is of paste; thoroughly amalgamate the whole in the mortar, season with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg, work in 1 or 2 spoonfuls of white sauce (Béchamel), and lastly as many eggs, in the proportion of two yolks to one white, as will bind the mixture. Butter some small moulds, fill them with the mixture, and steam in a stewpan half full of water for 15-20 minutes. Turn out, and serve with white sauce.

_Cakes._--(_a_) Take the remnants of any cold fish, pull them to pieces, and thoroughly incorporate with them a small piece of butter and some mashed potatoes; season the whole with pepper and salt to taste, and a little cayenne. Form the mixture into cakes and fry in butter till of a golden colour. Serve garnished with fried parsley.

(_b_) Remove skin and bone from cold fish; to 1 lb. fish add 4 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs, 2 of suet finely chopped, and 1 of flour; mix well together while dry; then beat 1 egg with ¼ pint milk: mix all well together, and put in a greased mould; steam for 1 hour or bake for ½ hour.

_Chowder._--Cover the bottom of the pot in which the chowder is to be cooked with slices of pickled pork, or, if preferred, use a large teaspoonful of lard. Take any kind of firm fish (cod and bass are thought best), lay them over the pork or in the lard. If pork is used, first fry it slightly; if lard, make it boiling hot. Strew over the fish a layer of chopped onions if liked, one of split crackers (biscuits), pepper and salt; spices are used, but are not necessary; another layer of fish, onions, crackers, and seasoning until all the fish is in; dredge with flour, just cover the fish with water; stew gently; ½ hour will cook one of moderate size. Take up the chowder, thicken the gravy by adding a teaspoonful of flour to a teacup of butter, add this to the gravy; stew 2 minutes; add wine or ketchup if liked. Oyster or clam chowder may be made in the same way.

_Croquettes._--Take some remnants of boiled turbot, brill, haddock, or salmon; pick out the flesh carefully, and mince not too finely. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, add a little flour and some hot milk. Stir on the fire until the mixture thickens, add pepper and salt, a little grated nutmeg, some chopped parsley, lastly the fish; as soon as the mixture is quite hot, turn out on a dish to get cold. Shape like corks, roll in beaten-up egg, and then in baked breadcrumbs; repeat the process in an hour’s time; fry in hot lard, and serve with fried parsley.

_Curry._--Take 1 teaspoonful curry powder, 1 of raw rice pounded, 1 of chillies, 2 cloves of garlic, a little ginger, a few peppercorns, a little turmeric, half a coconut (remove the brown skin); grind all up with a coffee cup of water, then put half an onion, half cooked and minced, with ½ oz. butter in a stewpan, and melt it when quite dissolved. Add the curry stuff, also the gravy of ½ lb. beef, or some stock, and a dessertspoonful of vinegar; put 1½-2 lb. fish prepared in pieces about 1 in. square, and stew the whole.

_Cutlets._--Melt 1 oz. butter, add 1 oz. flour and ¼ pint milk; let it boil and thicken. Then stir in the flavouring--lemon juice or vinegar, salt, cayenne, a little anchovy sauce or paste, or, as a last resource, a tiny piece of bloater paste. Last of all, add about a breakfastcupful of cold cooked fish cut small. When this mixture is cold, shape it into cutlets or balls, egg and breadcrumb them, and fry in hot fat or oil.

_Jelly._--Put several large onions (sliced), some scraped horse-radish, lemon peel, pepper, salt, and mace into a stewpan with good white stock, simmer till the vegetables are tender; strain, remove the bones from 2 lb. turbot, sole, or any white fish; cut the fish into shapely pieces, stew in the liquor till quite done, strain the liquor, let it cool, add a glass of white wine, the whites of 2 or 3 eggs, and some lemon juice; hot it up. Lay the pieces of fish into a flat mould, fill up with the liquor, let get quite cold, turn out, and garnish with slices of cucumber. In very hot weather it will require ice.

_Moolie._--Take some fried fish, 2 tablespoonfuls cream, 1 dessertspoonful butter, 3 or 4 onions, green chillies (when they are to be had), a piece of ginger, and 2-3 tablespoonfuls vinegar; boil 10 minutes, then serve. An excellent breakfast dish.

_Omelet._--Beat up 3 fresh eggs with a quantity, equal to an egg in bulk, of the flesh of boiled salmon, shredded finely with a fork, a pinch of minced parsley, pepper, salt, and half a dozen bits of butter the size of a pea. Put a piece of butter the size of an egg into the pan, let it melt without browning, and as soon as it is melted and hot pour in your omelet mixture, and, holding the hand of the pan with one hand, stir the omelet with the other by means of a flat spoon. The moment it begins to set, cease stirring, but keep shaking the pan for a minute or so; then with the ladle or spoon double up your omelet, and keep on shaking the pan until one side of the omelet has become a golden colour, when you dexterously turn it out on a hot dish, the coloured side uppermost. (G. C.)

_Patties._--1 moderate-sized haddock, 12 cooking oysters, 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley, a very little pounded mace, a pinch of cayenne, a little salt, 1 teaspoonful anchovy essence, 2 oz. butter, ½ pint good white sauce, yolks of 2 eggs, ½ lb. good puff paste, and a little lemon juice. Skin and fillet the haddock, dissolve the butter in a stewpan; put in the fish, sprinkle with a little salt, and let stand on the stove, where it will cook without taking any colour. When the fish is done on one side turn carefully; while the fish is cooking, beard the oysters, put the beards with the liquor from them on the fire, in a small stewpan, and simmer for a few minutes. When done, strain off and save the liquor for the sauce. When the fish is done, which should be in 15-20 minutes, lift it out of the butter on to a plate; and when cool, roughly mince, or cut it into small dice; cut the oysters in quarters, and mix them with the haddock. Put into a small stewpan ½ pint good white sauce, and when it boils stir into it 1 oz. butter, the chopped parsley, anchovy essence, mace, and cayenne. Let it boil up, then draw it back from the fire, and stir in the yolks of the eggs, a little lemon juice, a little salt, and lastly the fish. Let it stand by the fire a few minutes, but do not let it boil, as this would curdle the egg, and harden the oysters. Now turn the fish out on a plate ready for use. Have ready some good puff paste, roll it out to the thickness of ½ in., cut out the patty cases with a tin cutter; and with another, half this size, mark the cover by gently pressing it on the paste, so as to make a slight incision; egg over the top, and bake in a quick oven. When done, take off the covers, scoop out the underdone paste inside, and leave the patties till dinner-time, then fill with the prepared fish, and set in the oven to get hot. Serve as an entrée in the first course. Note: The butter in which the fish was cooked would make a fish sauce.

_Pudding._--Equal quantities of fish rubbed through a sieve, and fine breadcrumbs, with seasoning to taste, and eggs sufficient to bind the whole. Steam 1 hour in a buttered mould, turn out, and serve with sauce poured round. (B.)

_Pulled Fish._--After any solid fish is boiled, pick it clear from the bones in small pieces, and to 1 lb. fish add ½ pint cream, 1 tablespoonful mustard, 1 oz. anchovy sauce, and 1½ spoonfuls of ketchup, a little pepper, flour, and butter mixed; make it quite hot in a saucepan and serve.

_Quenelles._--Pound the raw flesh of any kind of fish, and pass it through a sieve; take of breadcrumbs soaked in milk and squeezed dry, half the quantity there is of fish, and take of butter the same quantity there is of breadcrumbs; amalgamate the whole in a mortar, seasoning with pepper, salt, and nutmeg according to taste; add a little cream, one whole egg, and as many more yolks as may be necessary to bind the mixture. Shape it into small quenelles, and cook them as meat quenelles.

_Salad._--Fish makes an agreeable variety in the daily _menu_, and the following mode of cooking plaice may be acceptable as a substitute for soles. Select a moderate-sized one, which will divide into 8 fillets; cover with egg and breadcrumbs, and fry a light brown. Let them drain on white paper, and when quite cold put in the centre of a dish, and surround with salad, garnished with sliced beetroot, hard-boiled eggs, and sprigs of parsley. An excellent supper dish. A small lobster added to the salad is a great improvement.

_Toast._--Toast 6 rounds of bread about the size of a large tumbler, and spread them with butter and anchovy or bloater paste. Put in a saucepan the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 gill cream or milk, and any cold fish cut small. When thick, spread it on the toasts, sprinkle some breadcrumbs over, and brown in a very quick oven. Serve very hot on a napkin.

Special recipes for each fish will now be given in alphabetical order.

_Anchovy_ (Anchois). Butter.--Wash, bone, and pound in a mortar some anchovies, with an equal quantity of fresh butter and cayenne to taste. Mix well together, pass them through a hair sieve, and either spread it on slices of thin toast, or shape the butter into balls; ice, and serve with a piece of toast under each ball.

With Eggs and Endive.--Boil 6 eggs quite hard, shell them carefully, then cut the white with a sharp knife carefully across the middle of the egg, and, taking care not to break it, remove it like a case from the yolk. Mix the yolk with a little anchovy sauce. Form it again into a ball, and replace it within the white. Close the latter carefully, and when the eggs are thus prepared, place them in a pile upon a nest of endive, the points of the leaves towards the edge of the dish, which should be round.

Fried.--Slightly fry the little fish in their own oil, and serve them on thin fried toast; they make a nice accompaniment to the cheese course at dinner.

With Olives, Cold.--9 Spanish olives, 9 croûtons of fried bread, 4 anchovies, a little chopped parsley, ¼ teaspoonful chopped onion; take the stones from the olives in the usual way, wash and fillet the anchovies, and mince them very fine, also the parsley and onion; pound altogether in a mortar, and season with a little red pepper. Take a small portion of this preparation, and put into each olive in place of the stone. Now, with a small tin cutter, stamp out 9 croûtons of bread a little larger than a five-shilling piece; scoop out the middle, fry in some clean lard to a nice golden brown, and drain on a piece of kitchen paper; when cold, put an olive on each croûton, arrange them neatly in a silver dish, and put on each a little mayonnaise sauce and a little round the base.

Sandwiches.--Take the contents of a bottle of anchovies, wash them in several waters, remove the bones, and put them in a mortar with a quantity of butter equal to them in bulk; pound thoroughly, so as to get a smooth paste, wherewith spread slices of bread.

Toast.--Bone, clean, and wash a number of anchovies; make some slices of toast, butter them on one side very plentifully, cut in pieces the size of finger biscuits; lay 3 fillets of anchovy on each piece, throw a dash of pepper and the least bit of cayenne on them, and put them in the oven just long enough to get thoroughly hot, and so serve.

_Barbel_ (Barbeau).--Broiled: see Chub. Roast: see Chub.

_Bloater_ (Hareng pee).--On Toast.--Parboil 3 or 4 bloaters just long enough to allow the skin to come off easily; remove it, and take out the meat in fillets (4 to each fish). Have some slices of well-buttered toast of a proportionate shape to the fillets, lay one fillet on each, and trim them all to the same size. Rub each fillet over with some butter, sprinkle a slight dust of cayenne and black pepper over, put them in the oven to get quite hot, and serve.

À la Sefton.--The flesh of 3 bloaters well soaked, ½ lb. Parmesan cheese grated; mixed together, seasoned to taste, and divided into pieces the size of respectable minnows; then egged and breadcrumbed, fried, and served hot. (E. P.)

_Bombay Ducks or Bumaloes._--(_a_) Soak ½ hour to soften them; then beat out flat with a pestle, sprinkling with flour the while; cut off heads and tails, and toast on an iron plate over the fire, with another plate above to prevent curling up. They should be made quite crisp.

(_b_) They are generally bought in tin boxes, prepared for table, and only require crisping in the oven for a few minutes. They are served with or after the cheese course, before the dessert, or, as in India, as an accompaniment to curry, which in that country is always the last dish.

_Bream_ (Brème).--Put into a deep dish, or baking tin, a marinade of oil, vinegar, onions, thyme, bay leaf, pepper, salt, and a few cloves; lay a good-sized sea bream in this for some hours, basting occasionally; then cover with oiled paper, and put the dish or tin in the oven till the fish is done (about 30 minutes). Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, mix with it a good pinch of flour, strain the marinade into this, add a little stock, then one shallot and a little parsley chopped very fine; let the sauce boil, add more pepper and salt if necessary; pour over the fish and serve. River bream is far inferior to sea bream--a misunderstood and underrated fish--but may be cooked as a poor substitute for carp.

Broiled: see Carp. Roast: see Carp, Chub. Soused: see Carp. Stewed: see Carp, Trout.

_Brill_ (Barbue).--Brill is very like turbot, but less firm, thus requiring more care in the dressing. (_a_) After thoroughly cleansing, cut off the fins and rub the fish over with lemon juice 2-3 hours before cooking to make it white. Place it in the fish kettle with sufficient cold water to cover it, add 3-4 oz. salt and a little vinegar to 1 gal. water, heat it gradually by the side of the fire. As soon as it boils, skim, or the scum will fall on the fish and spoil its appearance. Let simmer till well done, but not broken. A large brill will take, after it boils, about 15 minutes, but to make sure of its being nicely cooked, lift up the drainer and try the fish with a fork (not steel). If the fish slips from the bone easily, and the bone is not the least red, the brill is ready to drain. It should be carefully drained before placing it on a hot napkin, garnished with slices of lemon and some lobster coral. Serve with lobster or shrimp sauce in a sauce tureen.

Brill, although inferior in plumpness and in the beautiful texture and abundance of skin and fins to the turbot, is nevertheless a very delicate fish, and worthy of the care often bestowed upon it. It is very good when boiled and served with shrimp sauce, and may also be cut into fillets and stewed or fried. (_b_) It is also nice when dressed as follows: Cleanse the brill and cut its back down to the central bone. Butter the bottom of a baking dish, and sprinkle this with finely chopped shallots and mushrooms, a very little onion, and some parsley similarly treated. Moisten these herbs with a mixture of Madeira or brown sherry and some good brown gravy. Lay the brill on his back on the couch of herbs, sprinkle a little more minced mushroom and shallot over him, and pour over some rich melted butter. Put the dish on the fire till it shows signs of boiling, and then into a moderate oven till done.