The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 37

Haddocks, salted a day or two, are eaten with egg sauce, or cut in fillets, and fried. Or, if small, very well broiled, or baked, with a pudding in their belly, and some good gravy.

_Obs._ A piscivorous epicure protests that "Haddock is the poorest fish that swims, and has neither the delicacy of the whiting, nor the juicyness of the cod."[176-*]

_Findhorn Haddocks._--(No. 157*.)

Let the fish be well cleaned, and laid in salt for two hours; let the water drain from them, and then wet them with the pyroligneous acid; they may be split or not: they are then to be hung in a dry situation for a day or two, or a week or two, if you please; when broiled, they have all the flavour of the Findhorn haddock, and will keep sweet for a long time.

The pyroligneous acid, applied in the same way to beef or mutton, gives the fine smoke flavour, and may be kept for a considerable length of time.

_Scotch way of dressing haddocks._--A haddock is quite like a different fish in London and in Edinburgh, which arises chiefly from the manner in which they are treated: a haddock should never appear at table with its head and skin on. For boiling, they are all the better for lying a night in salt; of course they do not take so long to boil without the skin, and require to be well skimmed to preserve the colour. After lying in salt for a night, if you hang them up for a day or two, they are very good broiled and served with cold b.u.t.ter. For frying, they should be split and boned very carefully, and divided into convenient pieces, if too large to halve merely; egg and crumb them, and fry in a good deal of lard; they resemble soles when dressed in this manner. There is another very delicate mode of dressing them; you split the fish, rub it well with b.u.t.ter, and do it before the fire in a Dutch oven.

_To stew Cod's Skull, Sole, Carp, Trout, Perch, Eel, or Flounder._--No.

158. (See also No. 164.)

When the fish has been properly washed, lay it in a stew-pan, with half a pint of claret or port wine, and a quart of good gravy (No. 329); a large onion, a dozen berries of black pepper, the same of allspice, and a few cloves, or a bit of mace: cover the fish-kettle close, and let it stew gently for ten or twenty minutes, according to the thickness of the fish: take the fish up, lay it on a hot dish, cover it up, and thicken the liquor it was stewed in with a little flour, and season it with pepper, salt, essence of anchovy, mushroom catchup, and a little Chili vinegar; when it has boiled ten minutes, strain it through a tamis, and pour it over the fish: if there is more sauce than the dish will hold, send the rest up in a boat.

The river trout comes into season in April, and continues till July; it is a delicious fish; those caught near Uxbridge come to town quite alive.

The eels and perch from the same water are very fine.

_Obs._--These fish are very nice plain boiled, with No. 261, or No. 264, for sauce; some cooks dredge them with flour, and fry them a light brown before they put them on to stew, and stuff them with No. 374, or some of the stuffings following.

_To dress them maigre._

Put the fish into a stew-pan, with a large onion, four cloves, fifteen berries of allspice, and the same of black pepper; just cover them with boiling water, set it where they will simmer gently for ten or twenty minutes, according to the size of the fish; strain off the liquor in another stew-pan, leaving the fish to keep warm till the sauce is ready.

Rub together on a plate as much flour and b.u.t.ter as will make the sauce as thick as a double cream. Each pint of sauce season with a gla.s.s of wine, half as much mushroom catchup, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy, and a few grains of Cayenne; let it boil a few minutes, put the fish on a deep dish, strain the gravy over it; garnish it with sippets of bread toasted or fried (No. 319).

N.B. The editor has paid particular attention to the above receipt, and also to No. 224, which Catholics, and those whose religious tenets do not allow them to eat meat on maigre days, will find a very satisfactory subst.i.tute for the meat gravy soup (No. 200).

For sauce for maigre dishes, see Nos. 225, 305, and 364--2.

_Obs._ Mushroom catchup (No. 439) and onions (No. 402) supply the place of meat better than any thing; if you have not these, wine, spice (No.

457), curry powder (No. 455), aromatic roots and herbs, anchovy and soy, or oyster catchup (No. 441), variously combined, and thickened with flour and b.u.t.ter, are convenient subst.i.tutes.

_Maigre Fish Pies._

Salt-fish pie. The thickest part must be chosen, and put in cold water to soak the night before wanted; then boil it well, take it up, take away the bones and skin, and if it is good fish it will be in fine layers; set it on a fish-drainer to get cold: in the mean time, boil four eggs hard, peel and slice them very thin, the same quant.i.ty of onion sliced thin; line the bottom of a pie-dish with fish forcemeat (No. 383), or a layer of potatoes sliced thin, then a layer of onions, then of fish, and of eggs, and so on till the dish is full; season each layer with a little pepper, then mix a tea-spoonful of made mustard, the same of essence of anchovy, a little mushroom catchup, in a gill of water, put it in the dish, then put on the top an ounce of fresh b.u.t.ter broke in bits; cover it with puff paste, and bake it one hour.

Fresh cod may be done in the same way, by adding a little salt.

All fish for making pies, whether soles, flounders, herrings, salmon, lobster, eels, trout, tench, &c. should be dressed first; this is the most economical way for Catholic families, as what is boiled one day will make excellent pies or patties the next.

If you intend it for pies, take the skin off, and the bones out; lay your salmon, soles, turbot, or codfish, in layers, and season each layer with equal quant.i.ties of pepper, allspice, mace, and salt, till the dish is full. Save a little of the liquor that the fish was boiled in; set it on the fire with the bones and skin of the fish, boil it a quarter of an hour, then strain it through a sieve, let it settle, and pour it in the dish; cover it with puff-paste; bake it about an hour and a quarter.

Shrimps, prawns, or oysters added, will improve the above; if for patties, they must be cut in small pieces, and dressed in a bechamel sauce (No. 364).

Cod-sounds for a pie should be soaked at least twenty-four hours, then well washed, and put on a cloth to dry. Put in a stew-pan two ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter, with four ounces of sliced onions; fry them of a nice brown, then put in a small table-spoonful of flour, and add half a pint of boiling water; when smooth, put in about ten cod-sounds, and season them with a little pepper, a gla.s.s of white wine, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy, the juice of half a lemon; stir it well together, put it in a pie-dish, cover it with paste, and bake it one hour.

_Perch, Roach, Dace, Gudgeons, &c. fried._--(No. 159.)

Wash the fish well, wipe them on a dry cloth, flour them lightly all over, and fry them ten minutes (No. 145) in hot lard or drippings; lay them on a hair-sieve to drain; send them up on a hot dish, garnished with sprigs of green parsley. Anchovy sauce, Nos. 270 and 433.

_Perch boiled._[179-*]--(No. 160.)

Clean them carefully, and put them in a fish-kettle, with as much cold spring-water as will cover them, with a handful of salt; set them on a quick fire till they boil; when they boil, set them on one side to boil gently for about ten minutes, according to their size.

_Salmon, Herrings, Sprats, Mackerel, &c. pickled._--(No. 161.)

Cut the fish into proper pieces; do not take off the scales; make a brine strong enough to bear an egg, in which boil the fish; it must be boiled in only just liquor enough to cover it; do not overboil it. When the fish is boiled, lay it slantingly to drain off all the liquor; when cold, pack it close in the kits, and fill them up with equal parts of the liquor the salmon was boiled in (having first well skimmed it), and best vinegar (No. 24); let them rest for a day; fill up again, striking the sides of the kit with a cooper's adze, until the kit will receive no more; then head them down as close as possible.

_Obs._ This is in the finest condition when fresh. Salmon is most plentiful about midsummer; the season for it is from February to September. Some sprigs of fresh-gathered young fennel are the accompaniments.

N.B. The three indispensable marks of the goodness of pickled salmon are, 1st, The brightness of the scales, and their sticking fast to the skin; 2dly, The firmness of the flesh; and, 3dly, Its fine, pale-red rose colour. Without these it is not fit to eat, and was either stale before it was pickled, or has been kept too long after.

The above was given us as the actual practice of those who pickle it for the London market.

N.B. Pickled salmon warmed by steam, or in its pickle liquor, is a favourite dish at Newcastle.

_Salmon[180-*] boiled._--(No. 162.)

Put on a fish-kettle, with spring-water enough to well cover the salmon you are going to dress, or the salmon will neither look nor taste well: (boil the liver in a separate saucepan.) When the water boils, put in a handful of salt: take off the sc.u.m as soon as it rises; have the fish well washed; put it in, and if it is thick, let it boil very gently.

Salmon requires almost as much boiling as meat; about a quarter of an hour to a pound of fish: but practice only can perfect the cook in dressing salmon. A quarter of a salmon will take almost as long boiling as half a one: you must consider the thickness, not the weight: ten pounds of fine full-grown salmon will be done in an hour and a quarter.

Lobster Sauce, No. 284.

_Obs._ The thinnest part of the fish is the fattest; and if you have a "grand gourmand" at table, ask him if he is for thick or thin.

The Thames salmon is preferred in the London market; and some epicures pretend to be able to distinguish by the taste, in which reach of the river it was caught!!!

N.B. If you have any left, put it into a pie-dish, and cover it with an equal portion of vinegar and pump-water, and a little salt: it will be ready in three days.

_Fresh Salmon broiled._--(No. 163.)

Clean the salmon well, and cut it into slices about an inch and a half thick; dry it thoroughly in a clean cloth; rub it over with sweet oil, or thick melted b.u.t.ter, and sprinkle a little salt over it: put your gridiron over a clear fire, at some distance; when it is hot wipe it clean; rub it with sweet oil or lard; lay the salmon on, and when it is done on one side, turn it gently and broil the other. Anchovy sauce, &c.

_Obs._ An oven does them best.

_Soles or Eels,[181-*] &c. &c. stewed_ Wiggy's _way._--(No. 164.)