II.
266. INGREDIENTS.--1 large thick haddock, 2 bay-leaves, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs, not forgetting parsley, a little butter and pepper; boiling water.
_Mode_.--Cut up the haddock into square pieces, make a basin hot by means of hot water, which pour out. Lay in the fish, with the bay-leaves and herbs; cover with boiling water; put a plate over to keep in the steam, and let it remain for 10 minutes. Take out the slices, put them in a hot dish, rub over with butter and pepper, and serve.
_Time_.--10 minutes. _Seasonable_ at any time, but best in winter.
THE FINNAN HADDOCK.--This is the common haddock cured and dried, and takes its name from the fishing-village of Findhorn, near Aberdeen, in Scotland, where the art has long attained to perfection. The haddocks are there hung up for a day or two in the smoke of peat, when they are ready for cooking, and are esteemed, by the Scotch, a great delicacy. In London, an imitation of them is made by washing the fish over with pyroligneous acid, and hanging it up in a dry place for a few days.
RED HERRINGS, or YARMOUTH BLOATERS.
267. The best way to cook these is to make incisions in the skin across the fish, because they do not then require to be so long on the fire, and will be far better than when cut open. The hard roe makes a nice relish by pounding it in a mortar, with a little anchovy, and spreading it on toast. If very dry, soak in warm water 1 hour before dressing.
THE RED HERRING.--_Red_ herrings lie twenty-four hours in the brine, when they are taken out and hung up in a smoking-house formed to receive them. A brushwood fire is then kindled beneath them, and when they are sufficiently smoked and dried, they are put into barrels for carriage.
BAKED WHITE HERRINGS.
268. INGREDIENTS.--12 herrings, 4 bay-leaves, 12 cloves, 12 allspice, 2 small blades of mace, cayenne pepper and salt to taste, sufficient vinegar to fill up the dish.
_Mode_.--Take the herrings, cut off the heads, and gut them. Put them in a pie-dish, heads and tails alternately, and, between each layer, sprinkle over the above ingredients. Cover the fish with the vinegar, and bake for 1/2 hour, but do not use it till quite cold. The herrings may be cut down the front, the backbone taken out, and closed again. Sprats done in this way are very delicious.
_Time_.--1/2 an hour.
_Average cost_, 1d. each.
TO CHOOSE THE HERRING.--The more scales this fish has, the surer the sign of its freshness. It should also have a bright and silvery look; but if red about the head, it is a sign that it has been dead for some time.
[Illustration: THE HERRING.]
THE HERRING.--The herring tribe are found in the greatest abundance in the highest northern latitudes, where they find a quiet retreat, and security from their numerous enemies. Here they multiply beyond expression, and, in shoals, come forth from their icy region to visit other portions of the great deep. In June they are found about Shetland, whence they proceed down to the Orkneys, where they divide, and surround the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. The principal British herring-fisheries are off the Scotch and Norfolk coasts; and the fishing is always carried on by means of nets, which are usually laid at night; for, if stretched by day, they are supposed to frighten the fish away. The moment the herring is taken out of the water it dies. Hence the origin of the common saying, "dead as a herring."
KEGEREE.
269. INGREDIENTS.--Any cold fish, 1 teacupful of boiled rice, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of mustard, 2 soft-boiled eggs, salt and cayenne to taste.
_Mode_.--Pick the fish carefully from the bones, mix with the other ingredients, and serve very hot. The quantities may be varied according to the amount of fish used.
_Time_.--1/4 hour after the rice is boiled.
_Average cost_, 5d., exclusive of the fish.
TO BOIL LOBSTERS.
270. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of salt to each gallon of water.
_Mode_.--Buy the lobsters alive, and choose those that are heavy and full of motion, which is an indication of their freshness. When the shell is incrusted, it is a sign they are old: medium-sized lobsters are the best. Have ready a stewpan of boiling water, salted in the above proportion; put in the lobster, and keep it boiling quickly from 20 minutes to 3/4 hour, according to its size, and do not forget to skim well. If it boils too long, the meat becomes thready, and if not done enough, the spawn is not red: this must be obviated by great attention. Hub the shell over with a little butter or sweet oil, which wipe off again.
_Time_.--Small lobster, 20 minutes to 1/2 hour; large ditto, 1/2 to 1/3 hour.
_Average cost_, medium size, 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d.
_Seasonable_ all the year, but best from March to October.
TO CHOOSE LOBSTERS.--This shell-fish, if it has been cooked alive, as it ought to have been, will have a stiffness in the tail, which, if gently raised, will return with a spring. Care, however, must be taken in thus proving it; for if the tail is pulled straight out, it will not return; when the fish might be pronounced inferior, which, in reality, may not be the case. In order to be good, lobsters should be weighty for their bulk; if light, they will be watery; and those of the medium size, are always the best. Small-sized lobsters are cheapest, and answer very well for sauce. In boiling lobsters, the appearance of the shell will be much improved by rubbing over it a little butter or salad-oil on being immediately taken from the pot.
[Illustration: THE LOBSTER.]
THE LOBSTER.--This is one of the crab tribe, and is found on most of the rocky coasts of Great Britain. Some are caught with the hand, but the larger number in pots, which serve all the purposes of a trap, being made of osiers, and baited with garbage. They are shaped like a wire mousetrap; so that when the lobsters once enter them, they cannot get out again. They are fastened to a cord and sunk in the sea, and their place marked by a buoy. The fish is very prolific, and deposits of its eggs in the sand, where they are soon hatched. On the coast of Norway, they are very abundant, and it is from there that the English metropolis is mostly supplied. They are rather indigestible, and, as a food, not so nurtritive as they are generally supposed to be.
HOT LOBSTER.
271. INGREDIENTS.--1 lobster, 2 oz. of butter, grated nutmeg; salt, pepper, and pounded mace, to taste; bread crumbs, 2 eggs.
_Mode_.--Pound the meat of the lobster to a smooth paste with the butter and seasoning, and add a few bread crumbs. Beat the eggs, and make the whole mixture into the form of a lobster; pound the spawn, and sprinkle over it. Bake 1/4 hour, and just before serving, lay over it the tail and body shell, with the small claws underneath, to resemble a lobster.
_Time_.--1/4 hour. _Average cost_, 2s. 6d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
LOBSTER SALAD.
272. INGREDIENTS.--1 hen lobster, lettuces, endive, small salad (whatever is in season), a little chopped beetroot, 2 hard-boiled eggs, a few slices of cucumber. For dressing, equal quantities of oil and vinegar, 1 teaspoonful of made mustard, the yolks of 2 eggs; cayenne and salt to taste; 3 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce. These ingredients should be mixed perfectly smooth, and form a creamy-looking sauce.
_Mode_.--Wash the salad, and thoroughly dry it by shaking it in a cloth. Cut up the lettuces and endive, pour the dressing on them, and lightly throw in the small salad. Mix all well together with the pickings from the body of the lobster; pick the meat from the shell, cut it up into nice square pieces, put half in the salad, the other half reserve for garnishing. Separate the yolks from the whites of 2 hard-boiled eggs; chop the whites very fine, and rub the yolks through a sieve, and afterwards the coral from the inside. Arrange the salad lightly on a glass dish, and garnish, first with a row of sliced cucumber, then with the pieces of lobster, the yolks and whites of the eggs, coral, and beetroot placed alternately, and arranged in small separate bunches, so that the colours contrast nicely.
_Average cost_, 3s. 6d. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_ from April to October; may be had all the year, but salad is scarce and expensive in winter.
_Note_.--A few crayfish make a pretty garnishing to lobster salad.
THE SHELL OF THE LOBSTER.--Like the others of its tribe, the lobster annually casts its shell. Previously to its throwing off the old one, it appears sick, languid, and restless, but in the course of a few days it is entirely invested in its new coat of armour. Whilst it is in a defenceless state, however, it seeks some lonely place, where it may lie undisturbed, and escape the horrid fate of being devoured by some of its own species who have the advantage of still being encased in their mail.
LOBSTER (a la Mode Francaise).
273. INGREDIENTS.--1 lobster, 4 tablespoonfuls of white stock, 2 tablespoonfuls of cream, pounded mace, and cayenne to taste; bread crumbs.
_Mode_.--Pick the meat from the shell, and cut it up into small square pieces; put the stock, cream, and seasoning into a stewpan, add the lobster, and let it simmer gently for 6 minutes. Serve it in the shell, which must be nicely cleaned, and have a border of puff-paste; cover it with bread crumbs, place small pieces of butter over, and brown before the fire, or with a salamander.
_Time_.--1/4 hour. _Average cost_, 2s. 6d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
CELERITY OF THE LOBSTER.--In its element, the lobster is able to run with great speed upon its legs, or small claws, and, if alarmed, to spring, tail foremost, to a considerable distance, "even," it is said, "with the swiftness of a bird flying." Fishermen have seen some of them pass about thirty feet with a wonderful degree of swiftness. When frightened, they will take their spring, and, like a chamois of the Alps, plant themselves upon the very spot upon which they designed to hold themselves.
LOBSTER CURRY (an Entree).
274. INGREDIENTS.--1 lobster, 2 onions, 1 oz. butter, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 1/2 pint of medium stock, No. 105, the juice of 1/2 lemon.
_Mode_.--Pick the meat from the shell, and cut it into nice square pieces; fry the onions of a pale brown in the butter, stir in the curry-powder and stock, and simmer till it thickens, when put in the lobster; stew the whole slowly for 1/2 hour, and stir occasionally; and just before sending to table, put in the lemon-juice. Serve boiled rice with it, the same as for other curries.
_Time_.--Altogether, 3/4 hour. _Average cost_, 3s.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
LOBSTER CUTLETS (an Entree).
275. INGREDIENTS.--1 large hen lobster, 1 oz. fresh butter, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt, pounded mace, grated nutmeg, cayenne and white pepper to taste, egg, and bread crumbs.
_Mode_.--Pick the meat from the shell, and pound it in a mortar with the butter, and gradually add the mace and seasoning, well mixing the ingredients; beat all to a smooth paste, and add a little of the spawn; divide the mixture into pieces of an equal size, and shape them like cutlets. They should not be very thick. Brush them over with egg, and sprinkle with bread crumbs, and stick a short piece of the small claw in the top of each; fry them of a nice brown in boiling lard, and drain them before the fire, on a sieve reversed; arrange them nicely on a dish, and pour béchamel in the middle, but not over the cutlets.
_Time_.--About 8 minutes after the cutlets are made.
_Average cost_ for this dish, 2s. 9d.
_Seasonable_ all the year. _Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.
ANCIENT MODE OF COOKING THE LOBSTER.--When this fish was to be served for the table, among the ancients, it was opened lengthwise, and filled with a gravy composed of coriander and pepper. It was then put on the gridiron and slowly cooked, whilst it was being basted with the same kind of gravy with which the flesh had become impregnated.
TO DRESS LOBSTERS.
276. When the lobster is boiled, rub it over with a little salad-oil, which wipe off again; separate the body from the tail, break off the great claws, and crack them at the joints, without injuring the meat; split the tail in halves, and arrange all neatly in a dish, with the body upright in the middle, and garnish with parsley. (_See_ Coloured Plate, H.)
LOBSTER PATTIES (an Entree).
277. INGREDIENTS.--Minced lobster, 4 tablespoonfuls of béchamel, 6 drops of anchovy sauce, lemon-juice, cayenne to taste.
_Mode_.--Line the patty-pans with puff-paste, and put into each a small piece of bread: cover with paste, brush over with egg, and bake of a light colour. Take as much lobster as is required, mince the meat very fine, and add the above ingredients; stir it over the fire for 6 minutes; remove the lids of the patty-cases, take out the bread, fill with the mixture, and replace the covers.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
LOCAL ATTACHMENT OF THE LOBSTER.--It is said that the attachment of this animal is strong to some particular parts of the sea, a circumstance celebrated in the following lines:--
"Nought like their home the constant lobsters prize, And foreign shores and seas unknown despise. Though cruel hands the banish'd wretch expel, And force the captive from his native cell, He will, if freed, return with anxious care, Find the known rock, and to his home repair; No novel customs learns in different seas, But wonted food and home-taught manners please."
POTTED LOBSTER.
278. INGREDIENTS.--2 lobsters; seasoning to taste, of nutmeg, pounded mace, white pepper, and salt; 1/4 lb. of butter, 3 or 4 bay-leaves.
_Mode_.--Take out the meat carefully from the shell, but do not cut it up. Put some butter at the bottom of a dish, lay in the lobster as evenly as possible, with the bay-leaves and seasoning between. Cover with butter, and bake for 3/4 hour in a gentle oven. When done, drain the whole on a sieve, and lay the pieces in potting-jars, with the seasoning about them. When cold, pour over it clarified butter, and, if very highly seasoned, it will keep some time.
_Time_.--3/4 hour. _Average cost_ for this quantity, 4s. 4d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
_Note_.--Potted lobster may be used cold, or as _fricassee_ with cream sauce.
How the Lobster Feeds.--The pincers of the lobster's large claws are furnished with nobs, and those of the other, are always serrated. With the former, it keeps firm hold of the stalks of submarine plants, and with the latter, it cuts and minces its food with great dexterity. The knobbed, or numb claw, as it is called by fishermen, is sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left, indifferently.
BAKED MACKEREL.
279. INGREDIENTS.--4 middling-sized mackerel, a nice delicate forcemeat (_see_ Forcemeats), 3 oz. of butter; pepper and salt to taste.
_Mode_.--Clean the fish, take out the roes, and fill up with forcemeat, and sew up the slit. Flour, and put them in a dish, heads and tails alternately, with the roes; and, between each layer, put some little pieces of butter, and pepper and salt. Bake for 1/2 an hour, and either serve with plain melted butter or a _maître d'hôtel_ sauce.
_Time_.--1/2 hour. _Average cost_ for this quantity, 1s. 10d.
_Seasonable_ from April to July.
_Sufficient_ for 6 persons.
_Note_.--Baked mackerel may be dressed in the same way as baked herrings (_see_ No. 268), and may also be stewed in wine.
WEIGHT OF THE MACKEREL.--The greatest weight of this fish seldom exceeds 2 lbs., whilst their ordinary length runs between 14 and 20 inches. They die almost immediately after they are taken from their element, and, for a short time, exhibit a phosphoric light.
BOILED MACKEREL.
280. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of salt to each gallon of water.
_Mode_.--Cleanse the inside of the fish thoroughly, and lay it in the kettle with sufficient water to cover it with salt as above; bring it gradually to boil, skim well, and simmer gently till done; dish them on a hot napkin, heads and tails alternately, and garnish with fennel. Fennel sauce and plain melted butter are the usual accompaniments to boiled mackerel; but caper or anchovy sauce is sometimes served with it. (_See_ Coloured Plate, F.)
_Time_.--After the water boils, 10 minutes; for large mackerel, allow more time.
_Average cost_, from 4d.
_Seasonable_ from April to July.
_Note_.--When variety is desired, fillet the mackerel, boil it, and pour over parsley and butter; send some of this, besides, in a tureen.
BROILED MACKEREL.
281. INGREDIENTS.--Pepper and salt to taste, a small quantity of oil.
_Mode_.--Mackerel should never be washed when intended to be broiled, but merely wiped very clean and dry, after taking out the gills and insides. Open the back, and put in a little pepper, salt, and oil; broil it over a clear fire, turn it over on both sides, and also on the back. When sufficiently cooked, the flesh can be detached from the bone, which will be in about 15 minutes for a small mackerel. Chop a little parsley, work it up in the butter, with pepper and salt to taste, and a squeeze of lemon-juice, and put it in the back. Serve before the butter is quite melted, with a _maître d'hôtel_ sauce in a tureen.
_Time_.--Small mackerel 15 minutes. _Average cost_, from 4d.
_Seasonable_ from April to July.
[Illustration: THE MACKEREL.]
THE MACKEREL.--This is not only one of the most elegantly-formed, but one of the most beautifully-coloured fishes, when taken out of the sea, that we have. Death, in some degree, impairs the vivid splendour of its colours; but it does not entirely obliterate them. It visits the shores of Great Britain in countless shoals, appearing about March, off the Land's End; in the bays of Devonshire, about April; off Brighton in the beginning of May; and on the coast of Suffolk about the beginning of June. In the Orkneys they are seen till August; but the greatest fishery is on the west coasts of England.
TO CHOOSE MACKEREL.--In choosing this fish, purchasers should, to a great extent, be regulated by the brightness of its appearance. If it have a transparent, silvery hue, the flesh is good; but if it be red about the head, it is stale.
FILLETS OF MACKEREL.
282. INGREDIENTS.--2 large mackerel, 1 oz. butter, 1 small bunch of chopped herbs, 3 tablespoonfuls of medium stock, No. 105, 3 tablespoonfuls of béchamel (_see_ Sauces); salt, cayenne, and lemon-juice to taste.
_Mode_.--Clean the fish, and fillet it; scald the herbs, chop them fine, and put them with the butter and stock into a stewpan. Lay in the mackerel, and simmer very gently for 10 minutes; take them out, and put them on a hot dish. Dredge in a little flour, add the other ingredients, give one boil, and pour it over the mackerel.
_Time_.--20 minutes. _Average cost_ for this quantity, 1s. 6d.
_Seasonable_ from April to July.
_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.
_Note_.--Fillets of mackerel may be covered with egg and bread crumbs, and fried of a nice brown. Serve with _maître d'hôtel_ sauce and plain melted butter.
THE VORACITY OF THE MACKEREL.--The voracity of this fish is very great, and, from their immense numbers, they are bold in attacking objects of which they might, otherwise, be expected to have a wholesome dread. Pontoppidan relates an anecdote of a sailor belonging to a ship lying in one of the harbours on the coast of Norway, who, having gone into the sea to bathe, was suddenly missed by his companions; in the course of a few minutes, however, he was seen on the surface, with great numbers of mackerel clinging to him by their mouths. His comrades hastened in a boat to his assistance; but when they had struck the fishes from him and got him up, they found he was so severely bitten, that he shortly afterward expired.
PICKLED MACKEREL.
283. INGREDIENTS.--12 peppercorns, 2 bay-leaves, 1/2 pint of vinegar, 4 mackerel.
_Mode_.--Boil the mackerel as in the recipe No. 282, and lay them in a dish; take half the liquor they were boiled in; add as much vinegar, peppercorns, and bay-leaves; boil for 10 minutes, and when cold, pour over the fish.
_Time_.--1/2 hour.
_Average cost_, 1s. 6d.
MACKEREL GARUM.--This brine, so greatly esteemed by the ancients, was manufactured from various kinds of fishes. When mackerel was employed, a few of them were placed in a small vase, with a large quantity of salt, which was well stirred, and then left to settle for some hours. On the following day, this was put into an earthen pot, which was uncovered, and placed in a situation to get the rays of the sun. At the end of two or three months, it was hermetically sealed, after having had added to it a quantity of old wine, equal to one third of the mixture.
GREY MULLET.
284. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of salt to each gallon of water.
_Mode_.--If the fish be very large, it should be laid in cold water, and gradually brought to a boil; if small, put it in boiling water, salted in the above proportion. Serve with anchovy sauce and plain melted butter.
_Time_.--According to size, 1/4 to 3/4 hour.
_Average cost_, 8d. per lb.
_Seasonable_ from July to October.
[Illustration: THE GREY MULLET.]
THE GREY MULLET.--This is quite a different fish from the red mullet, is abundant on the sandy coasts of Great Britain, and ascends rivers for miles. On the south coast it is very plentiful, and is considered a fine fish. It improves more than any other salt-water fish when kept in ponds.
RED MULLET.
285. INGREDIENTS.--Oiled paper, thickening of butter and flour, 1/2 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, 1 glass of sherry; cayenne and salt to taste.
_Mode_.--Clean the fish, take out the gills, but leave the inside, fold in oiled paper, and bake them gently. When done, take the liquor that flows from the fish, add a thickening of butter kneaded with flour; put in the other ingredients, and let it boil for 2 minutes. Serve the sauce in a tureen, and the fish, either with or without the paper cases.
_Time_.--About 25 minutes.
_Average cost_, 1s. each.
_Seasonable_ at any time, but more plentiful in summer.
_Note_.--Red mullet may be broiled, and should be folded in oiled paper, the same as in the preceding recipe, and seasoned with pepper and salt. They may be served without sauce; but if any is required, use melted _butter_, Italian or anchovy sauce. They should never be plain boiled.
[Illustration: THE STRIPED RED MULLET.]
THE STRIPED RED MULLET.--This fish was very highly esteemed by the ancients, especially by the Romans, who gave the most extravagant prices for it. Those of 2 lbs. weight were valued at about £15 each; those of 4 lbs. at £60, and, in the reign of Tiberius, three of them were sold for £209. To witness the changing loveliness of their colour during their dying agonies, was one of the principal reasons that such a high price was paid for one of these fishes. It frequents our Cornish and Sussex coasts, and is in high request, the flesh being firm, white, and well flavoured.
FRIED OYSTERS.
286. INGREDIENTS.--3 dozen oysters, 2 oz. butter, 1 tablespoonful of ketchup, a little chopped lemon-peel, 1/2 teaspoonful of chopped parsley.
_Mode_.--Boil the oysters for 1 minute in their own liquor, and drain them; fry them with the butter, ketchup, lemon-peel, and parsley; lay them on a dish, and garnish with fried potatoes, toasted sippets, and parsley. This is a delicious delicacy, and is a favourite Italian dish.
_Time_.--5 minutes. _Average cost_ for this quantity, 1s. 9d.
_Seasonable_ from September to April.
_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.
[Illustration: THE EDIBLE OYSTER.]
THE EDIBLE OYSTER:--This shell-fish is almost universally distributed near the shores of seas in all latitudes, and they especially abound on the coasts of France and Britain. The coasts most celebrated, in England, for them, are those of Essex and Suffolk. Here they are dredged up by means of a net with an iron scraper at the mouth, that is dragged by a rope from a boat over the beds. As soon as taken from their native beds, they are stored in pits, formed for the purpose, furnished with sluices, through which, at the spring tides, the water is suffered to flow. This water, being stagnant, soon becomes green in warm weather; and, in a few days afterwards, the oysters acquire the same tinge, which increases their value in the market. They do not, however, attain their perfection and become fit for sale till the end of six or eight weeks. Oysters are not considered proper for the table till they are about a year and a half old; so that the brood of one spring are not to be taken for sale, till, at least, the September twelvemonth afterwards.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS.