Part 48

Collared, to be eaten cold.--Prepare some large eels as for broiling, divide down the back and take out the bone, strew inside with powdered herbs (thyme, parsley, &c.) and spices (nutmeg, cloves, ginger, pepper), and salt; roll up the eels, tie in a cloth, bound close with packthread, and boil in water and vinegar, with salt, till quite tender--the liquor must boil before putting in the eels. When done, take them out of the liquor, which must be allowed to get cold, then put them back and let remain 5-6 days. Serve either in collars or in round slices, with vinegar. If to keep for a long time, no herbs ought to be put in, only the salt and spices; and the pickle they are kept in must be boiled every fortnight, vinegar and water being added as it wastes.

Fricassée.--Scour some moderate sized eels, cut off the heads, draw, &c., and cut them into pieces; put them into a frying pan with as much white wine and water as will cover them; add spice, cloves, mace, nutmeg, pepper, sweet herbs, and salt; boil well; when tender, dish them with 2 pounded anchovies, the yolks of eggs, and butter, added to the liquor and poured over.

Fried.--Wash clean, &c., cut them into pieces 3-4 in. long; put into some boiling water, with salt and fennel, and let them partly boil; drain the water well off, flour, and then fry till brown and crisp, first on one side and then on the other.

Galantine.--Split a good-sized conger, and take out the bone. Chop and mix a tablespoonful of parsley, the same quantity of sweet herbs, the thin rind of a lemon with a seasoning of salt, cayenne or pepper, and a little ground mace. A few mushrooms are an improvement. Sprinkle this on the inside of the fish, and roll up, beginning at the head end; wrap in a cloth to keep it in shape, and simmer in equal parts vinegar and water until tender. Let remain in the stock till both are cold, then take out of the cloth, and serve cold, garnished with parsley, and if possible glazed. It is also very good cut in slices, and set in a mould of clear jelly with hard-boiled eggs.

Matelote.--Take 2 or more eels, cut them up into pieces 2 in. long. Put ½ pint stock and the same quantity of claret into a saucepan with a sliced onion, a pod of garlic, some whole pepper, salt, cloves, thyme, bay leaf, and parsley, all according to taste, lay the eels in this, and let boil gently till done. Strain the sauce, and add to it a liqueur glass of brandy. Melt a good sized piece of butter in a saucepan, stir in 1 tablespoonful flour, then add the sauce; let boil, and pour over the fish which you serve with sippets of bread fried in butter round it.

Pie.--Skin, prepare, and cut up the eel, season the pieces with spices (cloves, mace, nutmeg, and pepper, well powdered) and salt; line a pie dish with paste, and lay in the pieces with some currants (well cleaned) and butter; cover over with paste, make a hole in the top, pour in 6-8 spoonfuls of white wine, and bake in the oven.

Roast.--Wash a large eel in salt and water, partly pull back the skin as far as to the vent, draw and clean but do not wash again; notch 2 or 3 times with a knife, and stuff with sweet herbs, an anchovy cut very small, and some grated nutmeg. Cut off the head, put the skin back and tie it, to keep in all the moisture, fasten to a spit and roast slowly, basting (till the skin breaks) with salt and water, then with butter. Sauce, melted butter, with the stuffing from the fish.

Stewed.--1 middle-sized onion sliced, 1 dessertspoonful chopped parsley, a small quantity of chopped lemon peel, 1 teaspoonful chopped capers. Fry in a stewpan in a little butter, stir a few minutes, add ½ pint good brown stock, with a little caper or tarragon vinegar in it, and pepper and salt to taste; then add 1½ lb. middle-sized eels, not skinned, but cut into pieces rather less than 3 in. long. Put in the heads, but take them away before sending the dish to table. Cook gently ½ hour, then thicken with flour and butter, and boil gently a few minutes to cook the flour. The sauce should adhere to each piece of eel the thickness of good cream. Serve in a hot covered dish, and send at once to table. (S. R.)

_Flounder_ (Carrelet).--The flounder may be cooked in any of the ways prescribed for other flat fish, and is capital when fried. Still, the highest expression of the flounder is found in the dish with which he is specially identified--water souchet.

Water souchet.--To prepare this dish properly, a good fish stock should be made of the heads, fins, and other trimmings of flounders, or of any fish that may be handy. This may be prepared while the flounders are crimping, an operation which should not be overlooked if the fish are of tolerable size. Throw the trimmings into a stewpan, with pepper and salt and sufficient water; add 6 parsley roots cut up small, and a handful of green parsley; bring this to the boil, let it simmer for 1-2 hours, and strain. Put some of this liquor with a few finely shred and blanched parsley roots into a saucepan, throw in a handful of salt, and boil for 5 minutes; then put in the fish and boil for 5 minutes, when add a large handful of green parsley, nicely washed and picked, and boil for 5 minutes longer. Take up the fish very carefully, strain the parsley and roots in a sieve, put them on the fish, and add enough of the liquor to cover them well. Garnish with lemon, and eat with brown bread and butter, cut very thin.

_Grayling_ (Ombre).--Stewed: see Carp, Trout.

_Gudgeon_ (Goujon).--Gudgeon requires a world of scraping and cleaning, but are well worth the preliminary pains, as they only need to be treated like whitebait, i.e. floured and fried in boiling lard, to be quite successful. They may or may not be garnished with fried parsley, and should be eaten with lemon, cayenne, and salt, and very thin slices of brown bread and butter.

_Gurnet_ (Rouget, grondin). Baked.--Take some fine breadcrumbs, add ¼ their bulk of shallots and the same quantity of mushrooms, both finely minced and lightly fried in butter; then add some chopped parsley and sweet herbs; season with pepper and salt, and make the mixture into a paste by working into it the yolks of 1 or 2 eggs, a pat of butter, and a little milk. Stuff the fish with this, and truss it with packthread. Butter a baking dish, dispose upon it an onion and a carrot cut in slices, a few sprigs of parsley, 2 or 3 cloves, and some whole pepper and salt to taste. Lay the fish on this, then add a good ½ pint stock and a wineglass of white wine, cover the fish with a sheet of buttered paper, and bake it ½-¾ hour, according to the size. Baste it now and then during the process with its own liquor. When done strain the liquor into a saucepan in which a piece of butter has been mixed with a tablespoonful of flour, add a little _suc colore_ to give the sauce a good colour, and as soon as it is boiling hot pour over the fish and serve.

With Caper Sauce.--Place the fish trussed with packthread in a fish kettle full of cold water, well salted; when the water comes near boiling point draw the fish kettle aside, let simmer gently till the fish is quite done, lift up to drain, then lay it on a dish; pour plenty of brown caper sauce over.

_Haddock_ (Eglefin).--Boiled.--Tie the fish with a string in the shape of an S, or with its tail in its mouth; lay it in plenty of cold water, well salted. Place the fish kettle on the fire, and by the time the water is on the point of boiling, the fish, unless it be a very large one, should be quite done. Let it drain across the kettle, and serve.

Broiled.--Split the fish open, wipe dry with a cloth, rub with salad oil and flour it, then broil over a clear fire; meanwhile knead 1 oz. butter with the juice of half a lemon, pepper and salt to taste, and a little parsley blanched, squeezed dry, and very finely minced; put this butter on a hot dish, the fish over, and serve.

Dried.--Warm the haddock before the fire, just long enough to make the skin peel off easily. Cut it into pieces down the middle, and 2 or 3 times across. Put it into a closed saucepan with a lump of butter and a small teaspoonful of water, stew gently for a few minutes.

In Jelly.--See Trout in Jelly.

_Hake_ (Merlus).--See Cod. Roast: see Pike. Stewed: see Ling.

_Halibut_ (Flétan).--Of the halibut little need be said. It is a large fish, endowed with firm and white, but rather coarse flesh. It is perhaps best stewed or fried. Boiled halibut is very apt to be woolly.

_Herrings_ (Harengs).--Fried.--Take care the fish is well cleaned, without being split; 2-3 hours before cooking, lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper; when ready to cook, wipe and flour the herrings. Have ready in the frying pan as much fat, at the proper temperature, as will cover the herrings. Cook quickly at first, then moderate the heat slightly, and fry for 10-12 minutes, when they should be crisp and brown. When done, lay them on a dish before the fire, in order that all fat and fish-oil may drain from them. With this precaution, fried herrings will be found more digestible than otherwise they would be. When herrings are large, there is sometimes a redness near the bone; this will be prevented by passing a knife, before cooking, a little way down the backbone, near the head.

Rolled.--Choose herrings with soft roes. Having scraped and washed them, cut off the heads, split open, take out the roes, and cleanse the fish. Hold one in the left hand, and, with thumb and finger of the right, press the backbone to loosen it, then lay flat on the board, and draw out the bone; it will come out whole, leaving none behind. Dissolve a little fresh butter, pass the inner side of the fish through it, sprinkle pepper and salt lightly over, then roll it up tightly, with the fin and tail outwards, roll it in flour, and sprinkle a little pepper and salt, then put a little game skewer to keep the herring in shape. Have ready a good quantity of boiling fat; it is best to do the herrings in a wire basket, and fry them quickly for 10 minutes. Take them up and set them on a plate before the fire, in order that all the fat may drain from them. Pass the roes through flour mixed with a sufficient quantity of pepper and salt, fry them brown, and garnish the fish with them and crisp parsley. A difficulty is often felt in introducing herrings at dinner, on account of the number of small bones in them, but this is obviated by the above method of dressing, as with care not one bone should be left in.

_John Dory_ (Dorée).--Stuffed.--Pick out all the flesh from a whiting, pound it with an equal bulk of breadcrumbs soaked in milk, a piece of butter, a small onion or a shallot, blanched, pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg to taste; mix the whole very well, and work it into a paste with the yolks of one or two eggs. Lift up the flesh from the backbone of a good-sized John Dory, stuff it with the above composition, and tie up with string; lay in a buttered tin with a tablespoonful of minced shallots, a couple of bay leaves, some whole pepper, and salt to taste; pour in enough stock and white wine in equal parts to cover the fish, place a sheet of buttered paper over, and put the tin in the oven for about ¾ hour, more or less, according to the size of the fish. Remove the string, and serve with some of the liquor strained and thickened with a little butter and flour.

With Caper Sauce.--Place the fish, trussed with packthread, in a fish kettle full of cold water well salted; when the water comes near boiling point, draw the fish kettle aside, let it simmer gently till the fish is quite done, lift up to drain, then lay on a dish, pour plenty of brown caper sauce over.

_Lamperns._--These great delicacies are in season from October to April. Many persons confuse them with the lamprey, which is a totally different fish, being larger than an eel, while the lampern is not more than 8 in. long. They should be bought alive, killed by boiling water, cleaned by stirring them briskly round in the bucket in which they are killed, and after rinsing them in cold water, rubbed in a cloth. They should then have the points of their mouths and the tips of their tails cut off, taking care to remove as little as possible, else the gravy is lost, and the nature of these fish is the same as a snipe.

Stewed.--Have ready about 3 tablespoonfuls of good rich gravy, ¼ pint claret or port, a blade of mace, 3 cloves, a teaspoonful of salt, ½ teaspoonful of pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dessertspoonful of Worcester sauce. This is sufficient for stewing 3 doz. lamperns. Stew them very gently for about 1 hour, set them aside in the gravy till the following day, when they may be rewarmed; the gravy thickened with butter and arrowroot, a little more sauce added; serve very hot, garnished with lemon and horseradish. They should always stand a night in the gravy before being eaten, and will keep for a week. If potted, they should be curled round in a small jar when stewed; about 9 or more fish make a small pot; the gravy requires setting with a little isinglass, and when sent to table they should be turned out and garnished with parsley. The flavour of the lampern is totally unlike that of any other fish, and epicures in Worcestershire will pay a high price for them when they are scarce. (E. B. W.)

_Lamprey_ (Lamproie). Baked.--Skin, draw, and split the back from mouth to tail, remove the string in the back and truss it round; parboil it in salted water with sweet herbs, season when cold with nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Line a pie dish with paste, put butter at the bottom, then the lamprey, 2 or 3 onions, cloves, currants, a piece of butter; cover the pie, fill it up (through a hole in the top) with clarified butter--or boiling claret, this will not keep so long--and bake. Eels, lampreys, &c., may be baked in a glazed earthen pot (without paste) rubbed inside well with butter, and--if to keep long--they should be seasoned well with cloves, mace, pepper, and salt.

_Ling._--Cut 1 lb. ling into slices, rub with flour, and fry a nice brown. When done, fry a stick of celery and a very small onion. Add ½ pint stock with a dessertspoonful of flour, a sprig of parsley, a piece of lemon peel, a blade of mace, salt, and peppercorns. When it boils, put the fish back in the saucepan, and simmer very gently until done, i.e. 15-20 minutes. Put the slices on a hot dish and strain the gravy over. The sauce may be varied by adding the chopped whites of a hard-boiled egg just before serving, and rubbing the yolk over the dish through a sieve as a garnish. Conger requires longer cooking; hake and most other white fish, which can be used for this same recipe, not so long.

_Lobster_ (Homard).--During the early summer months lobsters are in prime condition, and may be bought either alive or dead. As they are very tenacious of life, and indeed will live on till their substance is utterly wasted, it is clearly better to buy them alive, taking care not to kill them till just before cooking. The heaviest are the best; and if the tail strikes quick and strong, they are in good condition, but if weak and light and frothing at the mouth, are exhausted and worthless. In like manner, when buying a boiled lobster put your finger and thumb on the body and pinch it; if it feels firm, and the tail goes back with a strong spring, the lobster--if heavy and of a good colour--is a desirable specimen.

À la St. Malo.--Take a lobster, cut in two lengthwise; take out all the flesh, and scallop it, making the claws and coral into lobster butter. Reduce some good gravy with a little double cream, and add two spoonfuls of tomato sauce: stir all well together, with a pinch of cayenne pepper. Roll the lobster scallops in the sauce, and place them in the shell, on the top of a few minced truffles, and cover with the thick sauce; mix a little butter and shallot with breadcrumbs and finely-chopped parsley. Scatter this over the lobster, and cook _au gratin_ for ¼ hour. (Mrs. C.)

À l’Enfant Prodigue.--Get a couple of lobsters, and cut them down the back, leaving the shell of the heads intact; remove the non-edible portions and break the claws. Put the whole into a stewpan with a bottle of champagne (sweet champagne will do), 4 spoonfuls fine salad oil, 3 cloves of garlic, a sprig of basil, and a lemon (sliced and freed from peel and pips), salt, pepper, chervil, parsley, a few mushrooms, and 2 lb. truffles (whole). When done, take out the sweet herbs, cut off the heads of the lobsters, place them erect in the middle of the dish, and dispose the other pieces around. Impale the truffles on the antennæ of the lobsters, pour the sauce over, and above all, serve Clos de Vougeôt, Chambertin, or Côte Rôtie with this dish.

Au gratin.--Split the tail and body of the lobster, removing the fish and taking care not to break the shells, mince up the fish and put all into a stewpan with a little good stock, and pepper and salt, mix it well, fill the shells with the mixture, cover them with breadcrumbs, brush over with clarified butter, and brown with a salamander.

Boiled.--A fine lobster simply boiled and served piping hot is a capital dish. To produce this, tie up the lobster’s tail fast to the body with a string, put on a saucepan or fish-kettle with sufficient water; let it boil, put in the lobster with a handful of salt, and boil for about ½ hour (a small one will not require more than 15-20 minutes), then take it out, wipe all the scum off, break the claws, split it through the tail and back, and lay it in a hot dish, “displayed” with a claw on each side. Melted butter is generally served with this dish, and is much improved by the addition of pounded spawn; but a hot _ravigote_ or _tartare_ sauce will be found an improvement on the traditional accompaniment.

Broiled.--After being boiled as above, a lobster may be broiled in this wise: Take the claws off and crack them, split the body and tail in two, season well with pepper, salt, and cayenne, and broil. Serve with plain butter or with a little heated ketchup, dashed with Worcestershire sauce.

Roast.--There are 3 methods of roasting a lobster. One is to boil it and put it in a dish before the fire, and baste it with butter till it froths, and then “display” it in a hot dish, and serve. Another plan is only to half boil the lobster, then butter its shell, and tie it to the spit before a brisk fire. After a plentiful basting with butter, it may be served with a hot _sauce tartare_. A more thorough method than either of these is to tie a large uncooked lobster to a long skewer, using plenty of packthread, and attaching it firmly, for a reason to be presently stated. Tie the skewer to a spit, and put the lobster down to a sharp fire; baste with champagne, butter, pepper and salt. After a while the shell of the animal will become tender, and will crumble between the fingers. When it comes away from the body the operation of roasting is complete. Take down the lobster, skim the fat from the gravy in the dripping-pan, add the juice of a Seville orange, pepper, salt, and spice, and serve in a lordly dish.

Buttered.--A buttered lobster should be first boiled and broken up. Take out all the meat, cut it small, and put it into a stewpan with plenty of butter, a little pepper, salt, and vinegar, and stir till it is hot. If a handsome dish of 2 or 3 lobsters be desired, the tails should be halved and broiled, and put round the dish with the minced lobster in the middle.

Cream.--Take the flesh from 2 lobsters, cut up small, and then pound in a mortar with the spawn until reduced to a smooth paste; then pass through a fine sieve, add pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg, and mix gradually sufficient double cream to make it of the consistency of a thick purée. Just before serving, put into small paper cases and serve cold with some of the spawn sprinkled over the top.

Croquettes.--Mince the flesh of a lobster to the size of small dice, season with pepper, salt, spices, and as much cayenne as will rest on the point of a trussing needle. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, mix with it 1 tablespoonful flour, then the lobster, and some chopped parsley; moisten with a little stock until the mixture looks like minced veal; then stir into it off the fire 2 yolks of eggs, and put by to get cold. When nearly so, shape into the form of corks, egg them, and roll in baked breadcrumbs. After the lapse of an hour, egg and breadcrumb them again, taking care to preserve the shape. After a little time fry them a nice colour in hot lard.

Croustades.--Cut the crumb of a loaf of bread into slices 2 in. thick, and then with a round paste cutter about 2 in. diameter, cut out of each slice as many pieces as you can; with another paste cutter, about 1½ in. diameter, make a mark on one side of each cylinder of breadcrumb. When all are ready fry them a golden colour in very hot lard; a deep frying-pan should be used, and plenty of lard, so that the croustades fairly swim in the fat. When done lay them in front of the fire to drain, and afterwards remove the cover (marked with the smaller paste cutter), and with the handle of a teaspoon scoop out all the inside of each croustade. Then fill them with the following mixture:--Mince the flesh of a hen lobster to the size of small dice, season with pepper, salt, and spice, and as much cayenne as will rest on the point of a trussing needle. Pound some of the spawn with 1 oz. butter, pass it through a hair sieve. Take another ounce of butter, melt it in a saucepan with a teaspoonful of flour, add a very small quantity of white stock and the flesh of the lobster; when the mixture is thoroughly hot, put in a pinch of finely minced parsley, the juice of half a lemon and the butter which was pounded with the spawn.

Curry.--Lobster curry is made by frying sliced onions in butter till they are done enough. The flesh of a boiled lobster is then added, and the curry powder (made into a paste) is put in with a liberal allowance of cream. 15-20 minutes will cook this dish, which should be carefully stirred all the time. It may be served within a wall of rice, or, better still, with the rice in a separate dish.

Cutlets.--Take out the meat of either a lobster or crab, mince it up, and add 2 oz. butter, browned with 1 tablespoonful flour, and seasoned with a little pepper, salt, and cayenne. Add about ½ pint strong stock, stir the mixture over the fire until quite hot, and lay it in separate tablespoonfuls on a large dish. When cold, form into the shape of cutlets, brush over with yolk of egg (beaten), dip in breadcrumbs, fry of a light-brown colour in clarified beef dripping, and place round a dish, with a little fried parsley in the centre.

Kromeskies.--Mince finely a small quantity of the flesh of lobster, toss it in butter on the fire, adding a pinch of flour, a little white stock, salt, pepper, and spices to taste, and lastly the yolk of an egg beaten up with a little lemon juice; but this should be done off the fire. Spread the mixture on a dish to cool; divide it into portions the size of a walnut; wrap each portion in a piece of white wafer, previously wetted; then dip them in batter, and fry a golden colour in hot lard. Serve piled up on a dish, with fried parsley.

Omelet.--Slice a quantity of the flesh of a lobster, equal in bulk to 2 eggs, season with pepper, salt, and nutmeg; mix on the fire some butter and a little flour, moisten with a little stock, add the lobster, and stir in, off the fire, the yolk of an egg beaten up with the juice of half a lemon. Insert this ragout in the fold of a plain omelet. Turn out on a dish, and serve.