THE PRACTICE OF COOKERY
CHAPTER II. - FISH

PREPARATORY REMARKS ON FISH.

TURBOT; - a good one is thick, and the belly cream-coloured. If the belly and fins be streaked with red, it is certainly fresh. When it must be kept, it should be hung up by the tail in a cool place. The same directions apply to Soles and Flounders.

COD; - when good, has a small head, broad shoulders, and a hollow at the back of the neck, and a small and stiff tail.

SALMON, HADDOCKS, MACKEREL, WHITING, HERRING, AND SPRATS; - should all be firm, and chosen with small heads, thick shoulders, and small tails.

SMELTS; - when perfectly fresh, smell like a newly-cut cucumber.

CARP, TENCH, PIKE, AND PERCH; - When fresh, the eyes are bright, the body stiff, the gills red, and hard to open.

THE SILVER EEL; - so called from the bright colour of the belly, is the most esteemed.

SKATE; - the female is the best, and when good is thick, and has a very white belly, tinged with lilac. That with large thorns is a very inferior fish.

LOBSTER; - should be rather heavy, in proportion to its size. When in perfection, the shell on the side will not yield to moderate pressure. Barnacles and other marine animals adhering to it are certain indications of superior goodness. If the berries appear large and brownish, it will be found watery and poor. The cock lobster is in general better than the hen, and is distinguished by its narrow tail.

CRABS; - the male is the best, and may be known by its narrow breast. When light, they are watery; which may more easily be detected after they are boiled; by then holding them firmly and shaking them, the rattling of the water will be heard.

PRAWNS AND SHRIMP; - are good when their tails turn strongly inwards, and when they have no unpleasant smell.

OYSTERS; - when oysters are alive and strong, the shell, in opening them, will close upon the knife. Those from the cost of Kent, and those called Pandore, from the Frith of Forth, are the most esteemed.

ON DRESSING FISH.

 Fish must by no means be allowed to remain in the water after it is boiled; if, therefore, it should be ready before it can be sent to table, it must be dished, the cover put on, and a cloth put over it. The dish is then to be set across the fish-kettle.

Fish should be fried over a clear quick fire, and with dripping, or hog’s lard, in preference to butter. The pan should be deep; and to ascertain that it is clean, a little fat is first dried in it, poured out, and the pan wiped with a clean cloth; as much dripping or lard is then put in as well entirely cover the fish. When it is boiling hot, and begins to smoke, the fish is put in; if small, they may be turned in three or four minutes, by sticking in a fork near the head with the one hand, and with the other supporting the tail with a fish-slice. When they are done, they should be laid before the fire upon an old soft towel, and turned now and then till they are dry upon both sides; or they may be put upon a large sieve, turned upwards, and which is kept for the purpose, or put on the underside of a dish.

The fire for broiling fish must be very clear, and the grid-iron perfectly clean, which, when hot, should be rubbed with a bit of suet. The fish, while broiling, must be often turned.

BERWICK RECEIPT FOR BOILING SALMON.

The tail of the salmon is first cut off near and below the last fin; the fish is then cut up the back, keeping the bone on one side, and then cut up into pieces of half a pound each, the blood well washed out of the fish, in cold water, but the scales not to be removed; a pickle to be made of salt and water, strong enough to bear an egg, and, when boiling, the fish to be put in, and boiled very quickly for fifteen minutes. During the boiling, the scum to be taken off carefully as soon as it rises. Sauces: - Lobster, melted butter, and anchovy sauce.

N.B. – The hardest water is preferable for boiling salmon.

A RECEIPT FOR BOILING SAMON, BY AN ABERDEEN FISHERMAN.

When the water is hot, put salt into it, and stir it well; taste it – when strong enough to force you to cast it from your mouth, it will do; when the water boils, put in the fish; when it boils again, give twenty minutes for a salmon, and sixteen for a grilse. When salmon is cut in slices an inch thick, let them boil from ten to fifteen minutes.

Serve with it a sauce tureen of the liquor the fish was boiled in.

TO BROIL SALMON STEAKS.

Cut the steaks from the thickest part of the fish, nearly an inch thick; butter pieces of white paper; fold the steaks in them, and broil them over a slow fire for ten or twelve minutes. Take off the paper; serve and garnish with plenty of fried parsley. Dressed in this way, they may be put round salmon boiled, in slices. Sauces: - Melted butter, lobster, or shrimp sauce.

TO BAKE SALMON.

Clean and cut the fish into slices, put it in a dish, and make the following sauce: - Melt an ounce of butter, kneaded in flour, in a pint and a half of gravy, with two glasses of port wine, two table-spoonfuls of catsup, two anchovies, and a little cayenne, When the anchovies are dissolved, strain and pour the sauce over the fish, tie a sheet of buttered paper over the dish, and bake it in an oven.

Trout answer well dressed in this way.

TO STEW SALMON.

Clean and scrape the fish; cut it into slices, and stew it in a rich white gravy. A little before serving, add two table-spoonfuls of soy, one of essence of anchovy, a little salt, some chopped parsley and chives.

KIPPER, OR DRIED SALMON.

Cut the fish up the back, and take out the bone; wipe it very clean with a cloth; and score it, and put a handful of salt on each side, and let it lie for three days; then hand it up to dry, and it well be fit for use in two days, and eats well with a little pepper put over it, and broiled.

TO SALT A SALMON.

Cut the fish up the back, and cut out the bone; wipe it clean, and sprinkle it with salt; let it lie a night to drain off the liquor; wipe it dry; rub on it two or three ounces of pounded saltpeter; cut it into pieces; pack it close in a pot, with a thick layer of salt between each layer of fish. If the brine does not rise in a few days, boil a strong one, and pour it, when cold, upon the salmon, which must always be covered with it.

The bone, or chine of salmon, as it is called in Leith, eats well with salt and pepper strewed over it, cut in bits of three or four inches, and broiled over a clear fire.

SALMON FRITTERS.

Cut small some cold boiled salted salmon; pound some boiled potatoes, moistened with cream, and the yolk of an egg beaten; mix them together, and make it into small fritters, and fry them of a light brown in fresh lard, or beef dripping; serve them with hard-boiled eggs, cut in quarters. For sauce, melt two ounces of butter, with a little cream and flour mixed, and add, when it is hot, a dessert-spoonful of soy, and two of mushroom catsup.

CAVEACH SALMON.

Boil in two quarts of vinegar three heads of shallots, half an ounce of whole black pepper, three cloves, two blades of mace, and a little salt. Cut the fish in slices, and fry them of a light-brown colour in fine oil, or clarified dripping; put them, when cold, into a pan; pour over them the vinegar and spices, and put on the top eight or ten spoonfuls of oil.

Soles may be done in this way, only lay over them sliced onions instead of shallots.

TO POT SALMON.

Take off the head; cut the salmon in thick slices; wipe it dry, but do not wash it; pound half an ounce of nutmeg, mace, and cloves, the least part of cloves, half an ounce of white pepper, and some salt; chop fine one onion, six bay leaves, and six anchovies; with this season each slice; put them into a pan, with very thin slices of butter between each layer; bake it; when well done, drain off the butter, and when cold, pour over it some clarified butter.

SPICED SALMON.

Mix together, in the proportion of one-third of salt-and-water to one pint of vinegar, one ounce of whole black pepper, and one ounce of cinnamon. Cut the salmon into slices, and boil it in this; when cold, pack it close in a pan, and pour over it the liquor it was boiled in, with the spices, so as to cover it completely; cover the pan closely, to exclude the air.

PICKLED SALMON.

Cut the salmon into pieces; boil it as for eating, and lay it on a dry cloth till the following day; boil two quarts of good vinegar with one of the liquor the fish was boiled in, one ounce of whole black pepper, half an ounce of allspice, and four blades of mace. Put the salmon into something deep, and pour over it the prepared vinegar when cold. A little sweet oil put upon the top will make it keep a twelve-month.

ANOTHER PICKLED SALMON.

To a quart of the liquor the fish has been boiled in, put rather more than half a pint of good vinegar, and half an ounce of whole black pepper; boil it, and when it is cold pour it over the fish, previously laid in a deep dish.

TO BOIL TURBOT.

Put into the turbot-kettle, with the water, two large handfuls of salt, and a tea-cupful of vinegar; when it boils very fast, take off the scum, put in the turbot, and when it boils again, keep it boiling fast till the turbot rises from the drainer, when it is sufficiently done. Dish and garnish it with a fringe of curled parsley and cut lemon. Sauces: - Lobster and melted butter.

Cold boiled turbot eats well with salad sauce.

Turbot is generally considered best perfectly fresh; but some people prefer it kept for a few days, hung up by the tail in a cool place.

TO BOIL A COD’S HEAD AND SHOULDERS.

Wash it clean; tie it up, and dry it with a cloth. Allow, in the proportion of every three measures of water, one of salt; when it boils, take off the scum, put in the fish, and keep it boiling very fast for twenty-five or thirty minutes. Serve with it the roe cut into slices, and fried with the chitterlings; and garnish with curled parsley and horse-radish. Sauces: - Oyster, melted butter, or anchovy and butter.

When the cod is to be kept for two or three days, cleanse it thoroughly, and sprinkle it with nearly equal proportions of salt and sugar; and before being boiled, cut it into slices, three inches thick; lay them in salt and water for two hours, changing the water once; tie them in a cloth, and boil them in boiling salt and water for fifteen minutes.

TO DRESS A COD’S HEAD AND SHOULDERS.

Wash the cod’s head and shoulders well; cut off the fins; lay it on a dish; pour some boiling water over part of the fish, and instantly scrape off all the black scales, taking care not to break the skin; repeat this till every part of the fish looks white, and then wash it in cold water. Put it on in boiling salt-and-water, and boil it for a quarter of an hour; then lay it on a dish, and rub it all over with the yolks of two or three beaten eggs, and strew it thickly with grated bread crumbs, mixed with pepper and minced parsley; stick it all over with little bits of butter, and put it in an oven to brown. Mix a large table-spoonful of flour with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quart of gravy, a tea-cupful of white wine, some pepper, salt, and a little grated nutmeg. Mince with white meat of a lobster; slightly brown three dozen of oysters in a frying-pan, and put them with half their liquor and the lobster to the gravy, and other things; heat it up, and pour it round the fish. Garnish with cut lemon. It is not necessary to have lobster and oysters, but it is the better for both.

To dress the same dish with a white sauce, the stock should be made of veal, or an old fowl, and seasoned with whit pepper and mace.

ANOTHER WAY TO DRESS A COD’S HEAD AND SHOULDER.

Parboil the head and shoulders; drain and put it on in some rich gravy, made with meat and fish; season it with pepper and salt, a little mace, one or two onions chopped, two table-spoonfuls of catsup. Any other seasoning may be added, such as coratch, anchovy, and lemon pickle. Care must be taken not to let it boil too long. A few minutes before serving, mix smooth in a little cold water two table-spoonfuls of flour, and add it to the sauce.

Haddocks may be dressed in the same manner.  

TO DRESS A COD’S HEAD.

Parboil the head and tail with the heads of three or fur haddocks, two onions cut small, some whole pepper, and salt. Take out the cod fish, and boil the stock for half an hour; strain and thicken it with butter mixed with flour, a table-spoonful of catsup, and two of white wine; cut the tail into slices, and pick off all the fish from the head; add this to the boiling sauce, and let it boil a few minutes. Some oysters or mussels may be added; and it may be made with the head and tail of a cod fish only.

TO BAKE COD, OR HADDOCK.

Take the middle piece of the fish and skin it; make a stuffing with a little of the roe parboiled, a piece of butter, the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, some grated bread crumbs, pepper, salt, lemon-peel, and nutmeg; bind it with the beaten white of an egg; put it into the fish, and sew it up. Place the whole in a tin dish, with bits of butter over and top of it, and bake it for an hour in a Dutch oven; turn and baste it frequently. Garnish with fried roe, or oysters. Sauces: - Melted butter, oyster, or shrimp sauce.

TO CRIMP COD.

Cut a fresh cod into slices or steaks; lay them for three hours in salt and water, adding a glass of vinegar; when they may be boiled, fried, or broiled.

Slices of fresh ling may be dressed in the same manner.

TO DRESS AND DEEP DRY SALTED TUSK, LING, OR COD FISH.

Cut into square bits, or put one large piece into cold water over night; wash it clean in fresh water, and put it on to boil in cold water for one hour and a half; then cool the water, so that the fish may be easily handled; take it out of the sauce-pan, and pick out the loose bones, and scrape it clean, without taking off the skin. Put it on in boiling water; and if the fish is too fresh, add a little salt with it, and let it boil gently from one hour to one and a half. The very thick part will take this time, the thin bits less, to dress. When dished, garnish with hard-boiled eggs and parsley.

Plain boiled parsnips, and a butter tureen of egg sauce, served with it.

When the fish is put on the second time, some people prefer boiling it in milk and water. To keep any of this sort of fish for winter use, it ought to be cut or sawed in pieces, and, when perfectly dry, laid in a small cask or wooden box, with oatmeal, oatmeal seeds, or malt dust, between each layer.

DRIED FISH PUDDING.

Boil the fish, take off the skin, and take out the bones; pound it, and add to it an equal quantity of mashed potatoes moistened with good mild and a bit of butter; put it in a dish, smooth it with  knife, and stick here and there little bits of butter, and brown it in a Dutch oven; serve it with egg sauce; round the edge of the dish may be put a potato paste.

BARRELLED COD FISH.

To a barrel that will contain four or five fish, allow three pounds of salt, and a quarter of a pound of sugar, thoroughly mixed; split the fish, wash and clean them extremely well, and let the water drain from them; strew over them the mixed salt and sugar, and pack them into the barrel, with the skin side down, till the last fish, which put with the skin side up.

COD SOUNDS ROASTED OR BAKED.

Wash and clean four or five cod sounds, and boil them till nearly done in milk and water; when cold, make a forcemeat of bread crumbs, a piece of butter, salt, nutmeg, white pepper, and some chopped oysters; beat up the yolks of two eggs to bind it, lay it over the sounds, roll them up, and fasten them with a small skewer, baste them with melted butter, and roll them in finely-grated bread crumbs seasoned with pepper and salt; put them on a tin in a Dutch oven, turn and baste them with a feather dipped in melted butter, and strew over bread crumbs as before; when done, and of a nice brown, serve them with oyster sauce in the dish.

COD’S SOUNDS BROILED.

Let them lie in boiling water till it is nearly cold, rub them with salt, and pull off the black and dirty skin, boil them in hot water, drain, and dust them with flour, rub them over with butter, season with white pepper and salt, and broil them. Put a table-spoonful of catsup, half a one of soy, and a little cayenne, into melted butter, heat and pour it over them.

COD SOUNDS FRICASSEED.

When cleaned as above, boil them in milk and water, drain, and put them into a sauce-pan with some white stock seasoned with mace, salt, and white pepper; thicken it with a bit of butter kneaded in flour, and, just before serving, stir in a table-spoonful of lemon pickle; garnish with sippets of thin toasted bread.

TO CRIMP SKATE.

Skin the skate on both sides, cut it an inch and a half broad, and as long as the skate; roll up each piece, and tie it with a thread; lay them for three hours in salt and water, and a little vinegar; boil them fifteen minutes in boiling salt and water; before serving, cut off the threads. Sauces: - Shrimp, butter, and anchovy. When skate are very small, they are preferable broiled.

LARGE SKATE DRESSED LIKE VEAL CUTTLETS.

Crimp or cut the skate in square pieces, roll them in beaten eggs, and then in grated bread, mixed with chopped parsley, pepper, and salt; fry them of a nice brown colour, and serve with a rich brown gravy.

STEWED SKATE.

Skin the skate, and cut it into square pieces, and brown it with butter in a frying-pan; make a rich sauce with the skin and parings, to be boiled in three pints of water, with an onion, some pepper and salt; strain and thicken it with a little butter mixed with flour, add some very finely-chopped parsley, and chives; of hot vinegar, mushroom catsup, and Harvey sauce, a table-spoonful each, and a little cayenne; boil it up, and put in the skate five minutes before serving it.

DRESSED SKATE.

Cut the skate into pieces; make a stock of the skin and fins with a haddock or a bit of veal, the shell of a lobster or crab washed, two or three onions, and a bunch of sweet herbs; boil it one hour, strain, and thicken it with flour and butter browned, a little soy, catsup, and a glass of white wine, some salt, and pepper; put in the skate, simmer it a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, and serve it as a side dish, or as a soup, when a few oyster loaves may be put in the tureen.

TO FRY SMALL SKATE.

Crimp or cut the skate into pieces, boil, and serve on it a sauce made as follows: - Put into a sauce-pan, parsley, cibol, mushrooms, a clove of garlic, all finely minced, and a little butter; give it a turn or two on the fire, and add a good dust of flour, then a bit of butter, capers, and a minced anchovy, the liver of the skate, first boiled and bruised, pepper, and salt; moisten it with gravy or water, and thicken it on the fire.

TO CLEAN AND PREPRE SKATE FOR KEEPING.

Wash them thoroughly, and rub them over with a handful of salt; rinse them, cut off the tail, and pare off the fins all round; hang them upon a fish-hake in the open air, and they will keep good for several days.

BOILED CARP.

Scale and clean a brace of carp, reserving the liver and roe; take half a pint of vinegar, or a quart of sharp cider; add as much water as will cover the fish, a piece of horse-radish, an onion cut into slices, a little salt, and a fagot of sweet herbs; boil the fish in this liquor, and make a sauce as follows: - Strain some of the liquor the fish has been boiled in, and put to it the liver minced, a pint of port wine, two anchovies, two or three heads of shallots chopped, some salt and black pepper, a little cayenne, a table-spoonful of soy; boil and strain it, thicken it with flour and butter, pour it over the carp hot, garnish with the roe fried, cut lemon, and parsley.

TO STEW CARP.

Scale and clean a brace of carp, reserving the liver and roe; pour over the fish in a deep pan a pint of vinegar, which may be elder vinegar, if the flavour is preferred, with a little mace, three cloves, some salt and Jamaica pepper, two onions sliced, a fagot of parsley, basil, thyme, and marjoram; let them soak an hour, then put them in a stew-pan with the vinegar, and other things, the liver chopped, a pint of Madeira, and three pints of veal stock; stew them an hour or two, according to their size; take out the fish and put them over a pan of hot water, to keep warm while the following sauce is made: - Strain the liquor, and add the yolks of three beaten eggs, half a pint of cream, a large spoonful of flour, and a quarter of a pound of butter; stir it constantly, and just before putting it over the carp, squeeze in the juice of a lemon. Boil or fry the roe.

Plain boiled carp may be served with this sauce, and is dished in a napkin.

ANOTHER WAY TO STEW CARP.

Clean a brace of carp, save the blood and roes; fry the fish slightly in fresh lard; mix the blood well with some cold highly-seasoned beef or mutton stock; strain it, and add as much port wine as there is of broth; when it boils, put in the fish, which must be covered with the liquor; let them stew gently till sufficiently done; take them out, and keep them hot before the fire; put to the liquor two table-spoonfuls of catsup, the same of lemon pickle, and thicken it with a bit of butter kneaded in a table-spoonful of flour, boil it up and pour it over the carp; garnish the dish with the fried roes, and sippets of fried bread.

STEWED FISH.

Add to a quart of good gravy, half a pint of Madeira; of Harvey sauce, lemon juice, essence of oysters, a table-spoonful each; two of anchovy, and a little pounded mace; thicken it with a bit of butter mixed with flour; boil it up, and put in slices of fresh cod, ling, haddock, or any firm white fish, and let them stew for fifteen minutes.

FISH PUDDING.

Bone and skin two raw fresh haddocks, pound them in a marble mortar, and rub them through a hair sieve; then put the fish again into the mortar with two eggs, a little parsley, and an onion cut small, some white pepper and salt, a slice of bread in crumbs, a quarter of a pound of veal suet, or marrow. Pound all well together, put it into a shape, and boil it an hour. The veal suet, or marrow, may be omitted.

SAUCE FOR THE FISH PUDDING.

Make a sauce with brown soup, in which boil the heads and fins of the haddocks, strain and thicken it with a little butter mixed with flour, and just before taking it off the fire add a tea-spoonful of anchovy sauce, and the same of essence of lobster, and of Harvey sauce; let it boil, and pour it round the pudding.

LITTLE FISH PUDDING.

Bone and skin two haddocks, pound them smooth. Boil the same quantity of bread and milk as there is of fish, with a little parsley, mix it with the fish, and rub it through a sieve; put in two eggs and the yolk of a third, some salt and pepper; stir them very well together, and add the white of the third egg well beaten; roll them into the form of small sausages, flour and boil them fifteen minutes in boiling salt and water. Have ready the following brown sauce to serve in the dish with them: - In a pint and a half of water, boil the heads, fins, and bones of the haddocks, with a bunch of parsley, an onion, salt and pepper, and a bit of toasted bread; when it has boiled nearly an hour, strain it, and thicken it with flour and butter; add a table-spoonful of catsup, half a one of soy, and a little cayenne.

COLD FISH PUDDING.

Pick the fish from the bones, mince it, and mix it with mashed potatoes, one or two well beaten eggs, a little milk, salt, and an onion minced and boiled; mix all well together, and press it into shape; turn it out, brush it over with beaten egg, and brown it in a Dutch oven. Serve with melted butter in a sauce-tureen.

WHITE FISH AND SAUCE.

Make a rich gravy with a bit of veal, the heads and fins of four or five haddocks, three or four onions, some parsley, a little cayenne, black pepper, and salt, the juice of a lemon, half the peel, a table-spoonful of catsup, half a pint of white wine, and two quarts of water; simmer them for an hour, strain, and put to it the meat of a lobster or crab minced, and forcemeat balls; thicken it with half a pint of cream, the yolks of three beaten eggs, and a bit of butter kneaded in flour. Have ready boiled three haddocks skinned and without their heads, pour the sauce over them in a deep dish. Made the forcemeat balls of a small boiled haddock finely minced, grated bread crumbs, butter, pepper, salt, grated nutmeg, and parsley; bind them with the whites of two eggs beaten; and fry them in fresh lard of a light brown.

BROWN FISH AND SAUCE.

Wash them clean, take off the heads, skin and cut them into two or three pieces; boil the heads and fins in water, with a large onion cut small, for half an hour; strain it, and add some brown gravy soup; brown four ounces of butter kneaded well with two table-spoonfuls of flour; add it to the liquor, with the peel of half a lemon, two blades of mace, some salt and pepper. Boil all these, and having put in the pieces of fish, let them boil fifteen minutes, and add, just before dishing, a glass of white wine, and a little mushroom catsup and soy. Pick out the lemon-peel and mace.

ANOTHER FISH AND SAUCE WITH WHITE SAUCE.

Prepare the fish as in the receipt for brown fish and sauce, substituting veal broth for the gravy soup, and adding minced parsley with the onions; omit the catsup and soy, and do not brown the butter. It will improve the fish to soak them for half an hour in sour beer, or vinegar and water; more particularly whitings, which may be dressed as the haddocks, and the sauce enriched by just adding, before serving, two yolks of eggs beat up in three spoonfuls of cream, after which the sauce must not be allowed to boil. The stock is frequently made without meat.

TO CLEAN AND PREPARE HADDOCKS FOR KEEPING.

Scrape them, and take out the entrails; cut them open considerable below the vent, so that the blood may be entirely scraped from the back bone; cut off the points of the tails, take out the eyes and gills, wash the fish, and put some salt into the bodies; let them lie till the next day, then place them upon a fish hake, or a wooden rod put through the eyes, and hang them put in a cool place in the open air. They may be boiled or broiled, taking off the heads and skin.

TO BOIL FRESH HADDOCK.

Clean them as above directed; take off the heads and skin; when the water boils up, throw in two large handfuls of salt; put in the haddocks, boil them as fast as possible till they rise to the surface of the water, which will be from ten to fifteen minutes, according to their size; take off the scum as it rises. Sauces: - Melted butter, and oyster sauce.

BAKED HADDOCKS.

Make a pint and a half of gravy with the heads and trimmings of three haddocks, one onion, some parsley, salt, pepper, and two anchovies cut small; strain and heat it again with an ounce of butter kneaded in a table-spoonful of flour, add two of catsup, one of vinegar, one of soy, and a small tea-cupful of white wine; have the fish ready skinned and cut into pieces; lay them into a deep dish, pour over them the sauce, and bake them in an oven.

ANOTHER WAY TO BAKE HADDOCKS.

Wash and scrape off the scales of three large fine haddocks, leaving on the heads; make a sauce with the heads of some haddocks, two onions sliced, a bunch of parsley, and season it with pepper and salt; boil in this a small haddock, strain it, and then make a stuffing with the boiled fish picked from the bones, a few bread crumbs, chopped parsley, and some butter, and season it with salt and pepper; stuff the haddocks, and put them with the sauce into a deep dish, and bake them. A pie is made in the same way, taking off the skin and the heads of the fish, cutting them in two, and adding a glass of white wine.

ANOTHER WAY TO BAKE HADDOCK.

Clean, skin, and take off the heads of three good-sized haddocks; season grated bread crumbs with pepper, salt, and finely-minced parsley; strew some over the bottom of a dish, put in the fish, and strew more seasoned bread crumbs all over them; then put a little bit of butter here and there, and pour in as much gravy or water as the dish will hold. They will take an hour to bake, and when they begin to look brown, strew over them a few more bread crumbs, seasoned as at first.

TO FRY SMALL FRESH HADDOCKS.

Clean and scrape off the scales; cut off the fins and tails, the heads may be taken off or not; wipe them dry, rub them over with the yolk of an egg beaten, and dust them with flour; fry them in boiling lard or beef dripping; when one side is of a brown colour, turn them, and when done, lay them upon the back of a sieve before the fire to drain. Garnish with fried parsley.

ANOTHER WAY TO FRY HADDOCKS.

When perfectly fresh, take off the heads and skins, and cut out the bones very carefully; divide each side in two, wash them well, and lay them in a cloth to dry; have the yolk of an egg beat up in a plate, dip the fish into it, and strew over them sifted bread crumbs, mixed with chopped parsley that has been boiled, and fry them in fresh beef dripping or lard; garnish the dish with fried parsley.

Haddocks dressed in this way make a nice garnish for boiled cod fish, or plain boiled haddocks.

TO FRY HADDOCKS IN SAUCE.

Skin and cut off the heads of three or four haddocks; divide each into four pieces, and wash them clean. Put a large table-spoonful of butter, with two spoonfuls of flour, into a frying-pan, and brown it; mince small two onions, and put pepper and salt upon them, and add them to the browned butter, and pour in as much boiling water as will nearly cover the pieces of fish; let it boil, put in the fish, and when one side is done, turn the other; dish it hot, and pour the sauce over it. Garnish with parsley. Omit the onions if the flavour is not liked, and substitute a table-spoonful of mushroom catsup, and one of lemon pickle.

FINNAN OR ABERDEEN HADDOCKS.

Clean the haddocks thoroughly, and split them; take off the heads, put some salt on them, and let them lie two hours, or all night, if they are required to keep more than a week; then, having hung them two or three hours in the open air to dry, smoke them in a chimney over peat or hardwood saw-dust.

Where there is not a chimney suitable for the purpose, they may be done in an old cask open at both ends, into which put some saw-dust with a red-hot iron in the midst; place rods of wood across the top of the cask, tie the haddocks by the tail in pairs, and hang them on the sticks to smoke; the heat should be kept as equal as possible, as it spoils the fish to get alternately hot and cold. When done, they should be of a fine yellow colour, which they should acquire in twelve hours at farthest. When they are to be dressed, the skin must be taken off. They may be boiled, or broiled; and are generally used for breakfast.

TO FRY WHITING.

Scrape off the scales and cut off the fins; wipe them dry with a clean cloth; dredge them with flour, or beat up the yolk of an egg, and with a feather rub them over with it, and sprinkle them with finely-grated bread crumbs. Fry them of a nice brown in boiling fresh lard or dripping. If small, and used as a garnish, they should be curled.

To broil them, they are previously prepared in the same way.

If boiled, the gut is drawn out, but they must not be washed.

TO BOIL MACKEREL.

Clean them well, and let them lie in vinegar and water for a short time; put them on in boiling salt and water for a quarter of an hour. Serve garnished with fennel. Sauces: - Fennel and butter, and green gooseberry sauce.

To souse them: Put in the proportion of half a pint of vinegar to a quart of the liquor the fish has been boiled in, half an ounce of whole black pepper, a little mace, two or three bay leaves; and when cold, cover the mackerel completely with it, picking out the bay leaves.

TO BROIL MACHEREL.

Clean and split them open, wipe them dry, rub them over with butter, and sprinkle them with pepper and salt.

TO BAKE MACKEREL.

Clean them; cut off the heads and tails; put them into a deep dish, and pour over them equal quantities of water and vinegar, some whole black pepper, a little mace, salt, one or two bay leaves, and a small quantity of port wine; tie over the dish a sheet of thick white paper buttered.

Another way is, to season them with pepper, salt, and a little mace, all finely powdered, putting bits of butter into the bottom of the dish, and a little more butter upon the mackerel. They may be eaten hot or cold; if cold, with vinegar. If hot, serve with parsley and butter; and melted butter with catsup and soy.

CAVEACH MACKEREL.

Clean and cut each mackerel into four or five pieces; to six large-sized fish, pound and mix well together one ounce of black pepper, three nutmegs, six blades of mace, and a handful of salt; rub each bit of fish extremely well with the spices, and fry them brown in oil; when they are cold, put them into a jar; fill it up with the best vinegar, and pour oil upon the surface; tie it down closely. They are best to be done in the height of the season, and will keep good for a twelvemonth, if not opened too soon, and answer well for a winter or spring dish.

TO PICKLE MACKEREL.

Clean, and split the mackerel in halves; strew over them a little salt, and a small quantity of the following herbs, finely minced: fennel, thyme, and parsley; fry the fish very carefully; boil some vinegar with black pepper, and three or four cloves, and a few bay leaves, and when cold, pour it over the mackerel, previously laid into a deep dish. Tie over the dish a sheet of white paper.

TO FRY HERRINGS.

Scrape off the scales; cut off the fins; draw out the gut, keeping in the roes and milts; wipe them in a clean cloth; dredge them with flour, and fry them in boiling dripping; put them before the fire to drain and keep hot. Sauces: - Melted butter, and parsley and butter.

When herrings are to be broiled, they are prepared in the same manner, and done upon the gridiron. They must not be washed.

RED HERRINGS.

Plain broil them; or pour over them some beer made hot, and when it is cold drain and wipe them dry; heat them thoroughly, and rub over them a little butter, and sprinkle them with pepper.

TO BACK HEARRINGS.

They must be perfectly fresh, and well cleaned, but not washed; the heads and fins cut off, and the bones cut out; strew over them pepper, salt, and  slice of onion minced very fine, to each; roll them up tight; pack them into a jar, and pour over them in the proportion of a pint of vinegar to two of water, with half an ounce of whole black pepper; tie over the jar a piece of bladder or paper, and bake them in an oven for an hour. Take off the cover when they are cold, and pour over them a little cold vinegar, and tie them up.

SOFT ROES OF HERRINGS IN CASES.

Rub butter over a round or square paper-case: its size must be according to the dish it is to be served in. Boil eight very fresh, soft-roed herrings; when done, take out the roes carefully, and put them whole into the case; sprinkle them over with a little pepper, salt, grated bread, and finely-chopped parsley. Put some little bits of butter here and there upon them, and bake them in a hot oven. When done, put a little “Maitre d’Hotel Sauce Maigre” into the case with the juice of a lemon. Serve them quite hot and firm.

TO SALT HERRINGS.

Cut them open carefully, separating the guts from the milts and roes; throw away the milts, and leave the roes in the fish; wash them, and then put them into a brine, strong enough to bear an egg; let them lie in that from twelve to sixteen hours; take them out and drain them well. In the bottom of a keg or jar, strew a good deal of salt; lay a row of herrings, and then sprinkle over them more salt, and repeat this till all are packed. Cover the top with salt, and stop it very closely, to exclude the air.

When to be dressed, put them on in cold water, and when it boils let them boil for ten minutes. Serve them with mashed potatoes.

TO SMOKE HERRINGS.

Lay them in salt and a little salt petre for ten or twelve hours, and follow the same directions as for smoking Finnan haddocks.

TO BROIL SPRATS.

Clean them well; dredge them slightly with flour, and put them in rows upon small skewers run through the heads; or they may be fried like herrings, and served hot and hot. Sauce: - Melted butter, with catsup, soy, and lemon pickle, a spoonful of each, in it.

TO BAKE SPRATS.

Clean them, take off the heads, put them into a deep dish, and cover them with vinegar and water, equal quantities of each. To a quart of liquid, put half an ounce of whole black pepper, a little allspice, two or three bay leaves, some salt, and an onion. Tie paper over the dish, and bake them in a cool oven, or do them over a slow fire in a water bath. Herrings may be done in this way. Both will keep good some weeks.

TO FRY SMELTS.

This delicate little fish, when perfectly fresh, must not be washed, but wiped with a clean cloth, and dredged with flour, or brushed over with a feather, dipped into the yolk of an egg beaten, and rolled in a plate of finely-grated bread crumbs, and fried in boiling dripping, or fresh lard. They vary in size, and some will be done sooner than others. When of a clear yellow brown, take them out carefully, and lay them before the fire upon the back of a sieve to drain and keep hot. Dish them, heads and tails alternately. Garnish with fried parsley, Sauce: - Melted butter.

They may also be broiled.

TO FRY SOLES.

Take off the brown skin, and scrape the other side; wash well, wipe, and lay them in a clean cloth to dry; beat up in a plate the yolks of one or two eggs; take the fish by the eyes, and draw them through the eggs, then sprinkle them over with finely-grated bread crumbs on both sides, never touching the fish but by the eyes; or they may be dredged with flour; slip them into a frying-pan full of boiling fresh lard, or good dripping; when they become of a clear yellow brown, lay them carefully upon the back of a sieve or cloth before the fire. Serve them with plenty of fried parsley. Sauces: - Shrimp sauce and melted butter.

TO BOIL SOES, CRILL, OR ANY OTHER FLAT FISH.

Clean them, cut off their fins, and put them on in boiling salt and water, and let it boil fast till the fish rises to the surface, when they will be done enough. Sauce: - Anchovy, and shrimp sauce.

TO BOIL TROUT.

Clean and gut them; make the water as salt as for boiling salmon in, and when it boils, put in the trout, and let them boil fast from fifteen to twenty minutes, according to their size. Sauce: - Melted butter.

TO FRY TROUT.

Cut off the fins, clean, and gut them; dust them with flour, and dip them into the yolk of an egg beaten; strew grated bread crumbs over them, and fry them in fresh dripping; lay them upon the back of a sieve before the fire to drain. Sauce: - Melted butter, with a table-spoonful of catsup and one of lemon pickle in it.

When they are small, roll them in oatmeal before they are fried.

TO BROIL TROUT.

Cut off the fins, and cut the fish down the back, close to the bone, and split the head in two.

Another way is, after they have been cut open, to rub a little salt over them; let them lie three or four hours, and then hang them up in the kitchen. They will be ready to broil the next morning for breakfast.

TO COLLAR TROUT.

Wash them clean, split them down the back, bone, and dry them well in a cloth; season them well with finely-pounded black pepper, salt, and mace; roll them tight, and lay them close into the dish; pour over them an equal quantity of vinegar and beer, with two or three bay leaves, and some whole black pepper; tie over the dish a sheet of buttered paper, and bake them an hour.

TO POT TROUT OR GRILSE.

Mix together the following quantity of finely-pounded spices: - One ounce of cloves, half an ounce of Jamaica pepper, quarter of an ounce of black pepper, quarter of an ounce of cayenne, two nutmegs, a little mace, and two tea-spoonfuls of ginger; add the weight of the spices, and half as much again of salt, and mix all thoroughly. Clean the fish, and cut off the heads, fins, and tails; put a tea-spoonful of the mixed spices into each fish, and lay them into a deep earthen jar, with the backs downwards; cover them with clarified butter, tie a paper over the mouth of the jar, and bake them slowly for eight hours. When the back bone is tender, the fish are done enough. Take them out of the jar, and put them into a milk-pan with the backs upwards; cover them a board, and place upon it a heavy weight. When perfectly cold, remove the fish into fresh jars, smooth them with a knife, and cover them with clarified butter.

TO BROIL FRESH STURGEON.

Cut it into cutlets; rub them with the yolk of an egg beat up; strew them over with some parsley, minced very fine, and mixed with grated bread crumbs, pepper, and salt; put them into pieces of white paper buttered, and broil them gently. Sauces: - Oyster, melted butter, and anchovy.

SOUR KROUT WITH PIKE.

When the krout is boiled, clean a large pike, scrape and cut it into neat pieces, dip them into the beaten yolk of an egg, then into bread crumbs, and fry them of a nice brown; rub some butter upon a dish, and put into it a layer of krout, and some grated cheese, then a layer of pike, and a little sour cream; then krout, and so on till the dish be full. On the top put some bits of butter, and some good broth or gravy; strew crumbs of bread thickly over it, and bake it half an hour.

TO BOIL PIKE.

Wash clean, and take out the gills; stuff them with the following forcemeat: - Equal parts of chopped oysters, grated onion, pepper, salt, nutmeg, minced parsley, sweet marjoram, thyme, and savory with an egg to bind it. Stuff the insides and sew them up; put them on in boiling salt and water, with a glass of vinegar, and let them boil for half an hour. Sauces: - Oyster, and melted butter.

They may also be broiled.

BAKED PIKE.

Scrape the scales off a large pike, take out the gills, and clean it, without breaking the skin; stuff the fish with a forcemeat made of two handfuls of grated bread, one of finely minced suet, some chopped parsley, and a little fresh butter seasoned with pepper, salt, mace, grated lemon-peel and nutmeg, pounded all together in a mortar, with two whole eggs. Fasten the tail of the pike into its mouth with a skewer, and then dip it. First into a well-beaten egg, and then into grated bread, which repeat twice; baste it over with butter, and bake it in an oven.

If two of them are to be served, make one of them of a green colour, by mixing a quantity of finely-minced parsley with the grated bread. When the fish is of a fine brown colour, cover it with paper until it is done.  Serve with a Dutch sauce in a sauce-tureen.

TO ROAST A PIKE.

Wash clean, and scrape, off the scales, cut off the fins, and take out the inside carefully; stuff the fish with the crumb of two rolls, a quarter of a pound of butter, pepper, salt, grated nutmeg, and lemon-peel, with an egg to bind it; baste it well with butter. When dished, stick upon the back oblong bits of fried toast, and serve with the following sauce: - solve an anchovy in some highly-seasoned gravy, thicken it with butter mixed with flour, and a table-spoonful of cream; add a little coratch, cayenne vinegar, walnut catsup, and soy. Lobster sauce may also be served with roast pike.

MAIDS.

They are the better for being hung up for a day, and may be fried like soles; or, if large, boil the middle part, and fry the fins to put round the dish. Serve with shrimp sauce.

TO BROIL PERCH.

Scrape, gut, and wash them; dry them in a cloth, dust them with flour, and broil them. Sauce: - Melted butter. Or they may be broiled without gutting them.

When they are to be boiled, follow the directions for boiling haddocks. They may also be stewed as carp are done.

TO POT PERCH.

Clean the fish, take off the head and skin, and season them with a little pounded mace, and some salt; put them into a pan with some butter, and bake them two hours; drain off the butter, take out the back bone, and strew over the fish a little pounded cinnamon and grated nutmeg. Keep them in a pan, with clarified butter poured over them.

RED MULLET.

Scrape and wash them, fold them in buttered paper, lay them into a dish, and bake them gently. The liquor that comes from them, boil with a piece of butter, dusted with flour, a tea-spoonful of soy, two of essence of anchovy, and a little white wine. Serve the sauce in a butter-tureen.

This fish is called the sea woodchuck, from being dressed with the inside.

 TO BOIL EELS.

Small ones are preferable; clean them well, skin, wash, and cut off the heads. Curl and put them on in boiling water, with a little vinegar. Garnish with parsley. Sauce: - Parsley and butter.

TO FRY EELS.

Clean them as before directed; cut them into pieces of three or four inches long, and then score across in two or three places; season them with pepper and salt, and dust them with flour; or dip them into an egg beat up, and sprinkle them with finely-grated bread crumbs; fry them in fresh lard or dripping. Let them drain and dry upon the back of a sieve before the fire. Garnish with parsley. Sauce: - Melted butter and lemon pickle.

If small, they may be curled and fried whole.

TO ROAST EELS.

Clean and skin the eels; curl, and dip them into melted butter; sprinkle over them finely-minced parsley, mixed with pepper and salt; fasten them with skewers, and roast them quickly. Serve with fried parsley. Sauce:  - Melted butter and vinegar. 

TO BROIL EELS.

After they are prepared, score, and dip them into a beaten egg, then into grated bread, mixed with pepper, salt, and finely-minced parsley; cut and broil them. Sauce: - Melted butter with lemon pickle and catsup in it.

TO SPITCHCOCK EELS.

Clean and skin the eels, - large one are best for this purpose; cut them into pieces of three or four inches long, score and sprinkle them with pepper and salt, dip them into an egg beat up., and then into grated bread crumbs, mixed with chopped parsley, and seasoned with pepper, salt, and nutmeg; rub the gridiron with a bit of suet, and broil them over a clear fire; or they may be fried. Sauces: - Lemon pickle and catsup, in melted butter, or parsley and butter.

TO COLLAR EELS.

Clean and skin them, take out the bones, and cut off the heads and tails; lay them flat, and strew over plenty of the following seasoning: - Grated nutmeg, grated lemon-peel, some salt and pepper, minced parsley, sweet marjoram, a little thyme, savory, and a leaf or two of sage; roll them very tight, and bind them firmly with tape; boil the heads, tails and bones, in two quarts of water, and one pint of vinegar or cider, and one onion, three bay leaves, some salt and pepper; when it boils, put in the collars, and when tender take them out, and boil the liquor a little longer; strain and skim it, and when cold put in the fish. If the fish is to be kept long, it will be necessary to boil up the liquor, occasionally adding a little fresh vinegar.

TO POT EELS.

Clean, skin, and bone them; season them well upon both sides with pepper, salt, a little mace, and Jamaica pepper; let them lie for six hours, then cut them into small pieces and pack them close into a dish; cover them with a coarse paste, and bake them. When quite cold, take off the paste, and pour over them clarified butter.

STEWED EELS.

Clean and skin the eels, wipe them dry, and cut them into pieces about four inches long; take two onions, two shallots, a bunch of parsley, thyme, two bay leaves, a little mace, black and Jamaica pepper, a pint of good gravy, the same of port wine, and the same of vinegar, and six anchovies bruised; let all boil together for ten minutes; take out the eels; boil the sauce till reduced to a quart; strain and thicken it with a table-spoonful of flour, mixed smooth in a little cold water. Put in the eels, and boil them till they are tender.

Eels may also be roasted, with a common stuffing.

ANOTHER WAY TO STEW EELS.

After the eels are cleaned and skinned, cut them into pieces; season well two pounds and a half with salt and black pepper, put an ounce of butter into a stew-pan with a large handful of sorrel, three or four sage leaves, half an onion cut small, a little grated lemon-peel, and one anchovy chopped; put in the eels, and pour over them half a pint of water; stew them gently for half an hour, shaking them occasionally; before serving, add a little grated nutmeg, and the juice of half a lemon.

TO STEW LAMPREYS.

Clean them well with salt and warm water, and remove the cartilage which runs down the back; season them with black and Jamaica pepper, grated nutmeg, two or three cloves, and some salt; stew them till tender in equal parts of port wine and water, with some horse-radish and an onion; strain and thicken the liquor with flour and butter, and add a table-spoonful of lemon pickle and one of mushroom catsup; heat it, and pour it hot over the lampreys.

Eels may be stewed in this way, keeping on the skins, curling and first frying them in a good brown.

FISH SOUP CAKE.

Pick free from bones and skin any cold boiled white fish; weigh it, and add one third of grated bread crumbs, a little cold melted butter, a small onion minced very fine, some pepper and salt, and the whites of two eggs to bind it; mix it well together, and make it up into the form of a thick cake the size of the dish it is to be sent to table in, and fry it on both sides a nice brown; then stew it in a gravy made of weak stock, and the fish bones boiled in it, with an onion, pepper, and salt; thicken the sauce with a little flour and water, and add a dessert-spoonful of mushroom catsup, and one of soy.

Veal, beef, or mutton, dressed in this way, is very good.

FISH RECHAUFFE.

After pike, cod, skate, turbot, soles, or any other white fish, has been dressed, pick it from the bones into small bits; add to a pound of fish, or in the same proportion, half a pint of good cream, one table-spoonful of mustard, the same of anchovy essence, the same of catsup, and of Harvey sauce, a little flour, some salt, pepper, and butter; make it all hot in a sauce-pan; then put it into the dish in which it is to be served up, strew crumbs of bread over it, and baste it with butter till it is a little moist, then brown it with a salamander or in a Dutch oven.

A wall of mashed potatoes round the dish is an improvement.

ANOTHER WAY TO MAKE FISH RECHAUFFE.

Pick from the bone in large flakes about two pounds of cold salmon, cod fish, or soles; melt a quarter of a pound of butter, in half a pint of cream, with a little flour and salt; add the fish, and heat it thoroughly.

TO BOIL LOBSTERS.

Tie the claws with a bit of twine, and put them on in boiling water; boil them for twenty minutes, or half an hour, according to the size; rub them over with a small bit of butter, and lay them upon their claws to drain till they become cold.

Crabs are boiled in the same manner.

DRESSED LOBSTER.

Pick out all the meat, and mince it finely with one anchovy; mix it with a large table-spoonful of grated bread, a little salt, cayenne, and Indian pickle vinegar; moisten it with melted butter, and heat it thoroughly; split the tail, and fill it, as also the body shell, and brown it with a salamander.

TO FRICASSEE LOBSTER.

Break the shells, and take out the meat carefully; cut it and the red part, or coral, into pieces, adding the spawn; thicken with flour and butter some white stock, with which the shells have been boiled; season it with white pepper, mace, and salt; put in the lobster and heat it up; just before serving, add a little lemon juice, or lemon pickle. The stock may be made with the shells only, boiled in a pint of water, with some white pepper, salt, and a little mace, thickened with cream, flour, and butter.

ANOTHER WAY TO FRICASSEE LOBSTER.

Take the meat out of the shell in large pieces, and simmer it for half an hour in the following sauce: - Thicken a pint of veal or beef stock with a bit of butter mixed with flour. The beaten yolk of an egg, a quarter of a pint of cream, a little pepper, and salt. If the lobster has any spawn, pound and add it to the sauce.

TO DRESS LOBSTER.

Pick out all the meat, mince and mix it with crumbs of bread, butter, a little salt and pepper; put it into the body shell, and bake it in a Dutch oven. Garnish with the small claws and parsley.

TO POT LOBSTER.

Pick out all the meat with the red part, and the spawn; season it with pepper, mace, and salt; lay it in a dish, and put over it clarified butter. Tie a sheet of buttered paper over it, and bake it twenty minutes; when it is cold, pound it and the butter that was baked with it, pack it into potting jars, and pour upon the top a little more clarified butter. Allow to one lobster two ounces of butter in baking.

TO POT LOBSTERS, A NORTH AMERICAN RECEIPT.

Pick out all the meat, red part, and the spawn, of twenty lobsters, keeping it as entire as possible; divide the tail pieces into two, and remove the gut. Pound, and mix together, three quarters of an ounce of mace, one small nutmeg, four or five cloves, one ounce of pepper, and two of salt; sprinkle this over the lobster, put it into a jar, or potting-pan, with a layer of butter, then one of fish, till the jar is full; tie a paper over it, and bake it gently till hot through. Take out the lobster, and drain it upon the bottom of sieves; with a spoon, lay the pieces again into the jar, and pour upon the top a little of the drained butter; place the jar before the fire, or in a pan of hot water, to dissolve the butter. When cold, melt a little white wax, with the remainder of the butter, and pour it upon the top. Tie bladder and paper over the jar. This quantity of lobsters will require four pounds of butter.

LOBSTER A LA BRAISE.

Pound the meat of a large lobster very fine with two ounces of butter, and season it with grated nutmeg, salt, and white pepper; add a little grated bread, beat up two eggs, reserve part to put over the meat, and with the rest make it up into the form of a lobster. Pound the spawn and red part, and spread it over it; bake it a quarter of an hour, and, just before serving, lay over it the tail and body shell, with the small claws put underneath to resemble a lobster.

TO BUTTER LOBSTERS OR CRABS.

Pick all the meat from the bodies of either; mince it small, put it into a sauce-pan with two or three table-spoonfuls of white wine, one of lemon pickle, and three or four of rich gravy, a bit of butter, some salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg; thicken it with the yolks of two eggs beat up, and when quite hot, put it into the large shells; garnish them with an edging of bread toasted.

CUTLETS OF LOBSTER, CRAB, OR OYSTER.

Pick out carefully all the meat of a large lobster; mince it, and add it to two ounces of butter, which has been browned with two table-spoonfuls of flour, and seasoned with a little white pepper, salt, and cayenne; add about half a pint of strong stock; stir it over the fire till it is quite hot; put it in separate table-spoonfuls upon a large dish. When cold, make them up into the form of mutton cutlets, brush over them the beaten yolks of eggs, dip them into grated bread, and fry them of a light brown colour in boiling clarified beef dripping. Stick into the narrow end of the cutlet a bit of a small claw, about an inch long; place the cutlets round the dish, one a little over the other, and lay fried parsley in the centre of the dish.

Instead of the claw, a bit of stick may be put into the end of the oyster cutlet.

BRADU FAGADU.

Pick the meat out of a lobster; cut it into small bits, season it with two table-spoonfuls of currie powder, some salt, and a little cayenne. Well wash and pick a quantity of spinach sufficient for a dish; half stew it, closely covered, without any water; then strain off the liquor from it, and add the lobster to it, with a large piece of butter; cover the stew-pan, and let it stew a quarter of an hour.

INDIAN FAGADU.

Clean and wash a quantity of spinach; put it into a sauce-pan without any water, and the meat of a lobster, or a pint of shrimps, picked from the shells and cut small, an onion, and a clove of garlic minced fine, some salt, a few chilies, or cayenne; when nearly done, add some onions sliced, and fried brown; cover the stew-pan close for a short time, then keep stirring it till it becomes quite dry; sour it with lemon juice.

LOBSTER SALAD.

Broil a boiled lobster; mince the meat with minced onions, pickled green apples, green capisicums, lemon juice, and salt.

DRESSED CRABS.

After the crabs are boiled, break the claws, and pick out all the meat carefully from them, and the breast; taking the roe along with a little of the inside. Keep the shell whole; mince up the meat, season it with grated nutmeg, white pepper, salt, some white wine, and a little vinegar; mix in a few bread crumbs, and a good bit of butter; put it into a sauce-pan to heat, stirring it all the time; when thoroughly heated, fill the shells, previously washed clean, with or without puff-paste round the edge. Brown them in an oven.

ANOTHER WAY TO PREPARE DRESSED CRABS.

Pick out the meat from the shell; mince it finely with a bit of butter, and season it high with pepper, salt, and nutmeg, a glass of port wine, and a dessert-spoonful of vinegar; mix it all together, put it into the shell, and strew over it finely grated bread crumbs, melted butter, salt, pepper, cayenne, and vinegar.

DRESSED COLD CRABS OR LOBSTERS.

Pick the meat from the shells, dress it with a sauce as for salad, adding a little pepper and cayenne; or mix the meat with bread crumbs, melted butter, salt, pepper, cayenne, and vinegar.

TO POT PRAWNS, OR SHIMPS.

After they are boiled, pick them from the shells, season them with grated nutmeg, ditto lemon-peel, white pepper, and salt; pack them close into a jar, put over the top a thin bit of butter; tie paper over it, and bake them for eight or ten minutes. When cold, put over them clarified butter.

TO STEW FRAWNS, SHRIMPS, OR CRAY FISH.

Pick the meat from the shells; bruise the shells and put them into half a pint of white wine, the same quantity of water, and a spoonful of vinegar, seasoned with salt, pepper, and mace. Stew them for half an hour, strain them, and thicken the sauce with flour and butter; add a little grated nutmeg and the fish, heat them thoroughly; toast a slice of thin bread, cut off the crust, and cut it into six pieces; lay it on a dish, and pour over it the stewed prawn, shrimps, or cray fish.

TO DEEP AND FATTEN OYSTERS.

Put them into water, and wash and clean them with a birch broom; lay them with the deep shell downwards into a tub or broad platter, and then sprinkle them over with salt. The following day pour over them and fill the vessel with clean cold water, in which they must remain an hour, then pour it off again; sprinkle them with salt, and let this be repeated every day. This method will keep them good for a fortnight.

TO FRY OYSTERS.

Make a batter as for pancakes, seasoned with grated nutmeg, white pepper, and salt, and add some finely-grated bread crumbs; dip in the oysters, and fry them of a light brown in beef dripping.

ANOTHER WAY TO FRY OYSTERS.

Is, to dip them into the white of an egg beat up, and roll them in finely-grated bread crumbs, seasoned with grated nutmeg, pepper, and salt; and fry them as directed.

TO STEW OYSTERS.

Stew with a quart of oysters, and their liquor strained, a glass of white wine, one anchovy bruised, seasoned with white pepper, salt, a little mace, and a bunch of sweet herbs; let all stew gently a quarter of an hour. Pick out the bunch of herbs, and add a quarter of a pound of fresh butter kneaded in a large table-spoonful of flour, and stew them ten or twelve minutes. Serve them garnished with bread sippets and cut lemon.

They may be stewed simply in their own liquor, seasoned with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, and thickened with cream, flour, and butter.

TO SCALLOP OYSTERS.

Put them, with their liquor strained, two or three blades of mace, a few pepper-corns, a little cayenne, and a piece of butter the size of a walnut, kneaded with flour, into a stew-pan. Simmer them very gently for half an hour, by no means letting them boil; pick out the mace and pepper; have ready finely-grated bread crumbs, seasoned with pepper and salt; put into the scallop-shells, or into a dish, alternately, a layer of bread crumbs, then one of oysters, and part of their liquor; and stick over the last layer of bread crumbs a few bits of butter, and brown them in a Dutch oven for fifteen or twenty minutes.

ANOTHER WAY TO SCALLOP OYSTERS.

Take off the beards, stew them in their liquor strained, with a little mace, white pepper, and salt. Fry in a stew-pan, with a bit of butter, some grated bread crumbs, till of a nice brown; put them alternately with the oysters into a dish.

TO PICKLE OYSTERS.

Open them carefully, preserving all their liquor; put them into a sauce-pan over the fire, stirring them now and then, and when the liquor boils take them off, skim the surface, and put the oysters into a bowl; let the liquor settle, pour off the clear part, and put it on to boil, with spices, allowing for three hundred oyster, half an ounce of whole black pepper, a little mace and allspice; boil it ten minutes, then add the oysters, and let them boil two minutes; put them into a jar, and when they are cold, tie a paper over it.

OYSTER LOAVES.

Cut off the top of some small French rolls, take out the crumb, and fry them brown and crisp with clarified butter; then fry some bread crumbs; stew the requisite quantity of oysters, bearded, and cut into two, in their liquor, with a little white wine, some gravy, and seasoned with grated lemon-peel, pounded mace, pepper, and salt; add a bit of butter; fill the rolls with oysters, and serve them with the fried bread crumbs in the dish.

OYSTER ATTELETS.

Cut into small pieces a sweetbread and a slice or two of bacon; beard some large oysters, and season all highly with chopped parsley, shallot, a little thyme, pepper, and salt. Then fasten them alternately upon wire skewers; put sifted bread crumbs over them, and boil or fry them of a light brown colour. Take them off the skewers, and serve them with some rich gravy, to which add a little catsup and lemon pickle.

TO PICKLE MUSSELS.

Shell and beard them, save their liquor, put them on with it and some whole black and Jamaica pepper, ginger, mace, and salt; boil them five minutes, and when cold, if they are required to be kept, add a little vinegar.

ANOTHER WAY TO PICKLE MUSSELS.

Wash them clean, and put them into a sauce-pan over a quick fire; shake them, that all may be done equally; take them off as soon as the shells open, pick out the mussels and beard them, and keep the liquor separate; let it settle, strain it, and boil it with a little whole black and Jamaica pepper and salt; put in the mussels, and boil them for three minutes.

Cockles are managed in the same manner, and both ought to be eaten quite fresh.

IMITATION ANCHOVIES.

To a peck of perfectly fresh sprats just taken out of the water, and neither washed nor wiped, allow the following quantity of ingredients, all to be finely pounded, and well mixed together: - Two pounds of common salt, a quarter of a pound of bay salt, four ounces of saltpeter, two ounces of prunella salt, and a small portion of cochineal. Lay alternately in a stone pan till it be full, a layer of the sprats, and a layer of the prepared mixture; press the whole well down, and cover the pan closely. They will require to stand six months before they are used. 

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