Page:The English housekeeper, 6th.djvu/147

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
FISH.
119

white wine, not sweet, 6 oz. butter, two dozen oysters and their liquor, three blades of mace, salt, pepper, and a few crumbs of bread; stew this gently, and thicken with flour before you serve it.

Salmon to Boil,

Should be well cleaned and scaled (the less washing the better), and cut open as little as possible. Let there be water enough to well cover the fish, and salt in the proportion of 1 lb. to a gallon and a half. When it begins to boil, scum well, and put the fish in; for most cooks, I believe, are of opinion that salmon eats firmer when put on in hot or boiling water. A fish of 10 lbs. will take a full hour, or a little more, but it must only simmer all the time. Let the drainer be hot, put a folded napkin on it, and serve the fish directly. Garnish with curled parsley, horseradish, or slices of lemon. Serve shrimp, anchovy, or lobster sauce, also plain melted butter. Cucumber, and also salad, are eaten with salmon.

To boil Crimp.

Cut off the head, with about two inches of the neck, and clean the fish, opening it as little as possible, and do not cut it up the breast; also cut off the tail. Then cut the fish in circular slices, wash them, and lay them in salt and water. Put the head and tail on the strainer of the kettle, and pour in boiling water, with a little salt, and a very little vinegar; boil it five minutes, then put in the slices, and boil fifteen minutes, scumming all the time. Put the head and tail in the middle of the dish, the slices round. Sauces the same as the last.—Mustard is good with salmon.

Salmon to Grill.

Split the salmon, and endeavour not to mangle it in taking out the bone. Cut it into fillets four inches in breadth. Dry, but do not beat or press them, in the folds of a linen cloth, or dust them with flour to dry them. Have a clear fire, as for steaks, rub the gridiron with chalk, lay on the slices, and turn them occasionally. Serve very hot, with anchovy or shrimp sauce. French cooks steep the