The Book of Household Management Part 27

_Time_.--3/4 hour. _Average cost_, with fresh fish, 3s.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

THE FOOD OF THE COD.--This chiefly consists of the smaller species of the scaly tribes, sh.e.l.l-fish, crabs, and worms. Their voracity is very great, and they will bite at any small body they see moved by the water, even stones and pebbles, which are frequently found in their stomachs. They sometimes attain a great size, but their usual weight is from 14 to 40 lbs.

COD A LA CREME.

238. INGREDIENTS.--1 large slice of cod, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1 chopped shalot, a little minced parsley, 1/4 teacupful of white stock, 1/4 pint of milk or cream, flour to thicken, cayenne and lemon-juice to taste, 1/4 teaspoonful of powdered sugar.

_Mode_.--Boil the cod, and while hot, break it into flakes; put the b.u.t.ter, shalot, parsley, and stock into a stewpan, and let them boil for 5 minutes. Stir in sufficient flour to thicken, and pour to it the milk or cream. Simmer for 10 minutes, add the cayenne and sugar, and, when liked, a little lemon-juice. Put the fish in the sauce to warm gradually, but do not let it boil. Serve in a dish garnished with crotons.

_Time_.--Rather more than 1/2 hour. _Average cost_, with cream, 2s.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 3 persons.

_Note_.--The remains of fish from the preceding day answer very well for this dish.

COD A LA BECHAMEL.

239. INGREDIENTS.--Any remains of cold cod, 4 tablespoonfuls of bechamel (_see_ Sauces), 2 oz. b.u.t.ter; seasoning to taste of pepper and salt; fried bread, a few bread crumbs.

_Mode_.--Flake the cod carefully, leaving out all skin and bone; put the bechamel in a stewpan with the b.u.t.ter, and stir it over the fire till the latter is melted; add seasoning, put in the fish, and mix it well with the sauce. Make a border of fried bread round the dish, lay in the fish, sprinkle over with bread crumbs, and baste with b.u.t.ter. Brown either before the fire or with a salamander, and garnish with toasted bread cut in fanciful shapes.

_Time_.--1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the fish, 6d.

THE HABITAT OF THE COD.--This fish is found only in the seas of the northern parts of the world, between the lat.i.tudes of 45 and 66. Its great rendezvous are the sandbanks of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and New England. These places are its favourite resorts; for there it is able to obtain great quant.i.ties of worms, a food peculiarly grateful to it. Another cause of its attachment to these places has been said to be on account of the vicinity to the Polar seas, where it returns to sp.a.w.n. Few are taken north of Iceland, and the shoals never reach so far south as the Straits of Gibraltar. Many are taken on the coasts of Norway, in the Baltic, and off the Orkneys, which, prior to the discovery of Newfoundland, formed one of the princ.i.p.al fisheries. The London market is supplied by those taken between the Dogger Bank, the Well Bank, and Cromer, on the east coast of England.

COD A LA MAITRE D'HOTEL.

240. INGREDIENTS.--2 slices of cod, 1/4 lb. of b.u.t.ter, a little chopped shalot and parsley; pepper to taste, 1/4 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, or rather less, when the flavour is not liked; the juice of 1/4 lemon.

_Mode_.--Boil the cod, and either leave it whole, or, what is still better, flake it from the bone, and take off the skin. Put it into a stewpan with the b.u.t.ter, parsley, shalot, pepper, and nutmeg. Melt the b.u.t.ter gradually, and be very careful that it does not become like oil.

When all is well mixed and thoroughly hot, add the lemon-juice, and serve.

_Time_.--1/2 hour. _Average cost_, 2s. 6d.; with remains of cold fish, 5d.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

_Note_.--Cod that has been left will do for this.

THE SEASON FOR FIs.h.i.+NG COD.--The best season for catching cod is from the beginning of February to the end of April; and although each fisherman engaged in taking them, catches no more than one at a time, an expert hand will sometimes take four hundred in a day. The employment is excessively fatiguing, from the weight of the fish as well as from the coldness of the climate.

COD A L'ITALIENNE.

241. INGREDIENTS.--2 slices of crimped cod, 1 shalot, 1 slice of ham minced very fine, 1/2 pint of white stock, No. 107; when liked, 1/2 teacupful of cream; salt to taste; a few drops of garlic vinegar, a little lemon-juice, 1/2 teaspoonful of powdered sugar.

_Mode_.--Chop the shalots, mince the ham very fine, pour on the stock, and simmer for 15 minutes. If the colour should not be good, add cream in the above proportion, and strain it through a fine sieve; season it, and put in the vinegar, lemon-juice, and sugar. Now boil the cod, take out the middle bone, and skin it; put it on the dish without breaking, and pour the sauce over it.

_Time_.--3/4 hour. _Average cost_, 3s. 6d., with fresh fish.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

THE FECUNDITY OF THE COD.--In our preceding remarks on the natural history of fishes, we have spoken of the amazing fruitfulness of this fish; but in this we see one more instance of the wise provision which Nature has made for supplying the wants of man. So extensive has been the consumption of this fish, that it is surprising that it has not long ago become extinct; which would certainly have been the case, had it not been for its wonderful powers of reproduction. "So early as 1368," says Dr. Cloquet, "the inhabitants of Amsterdam had dispatched fishermen to the coast of Sweden; and in the first quarter of 1792, from the ports of France only, 210 vessels went out to the cod-fisheries. Every year, however, upwards of 10,000 vessels, of all nations, are employed in this trade, and bring into the commercial world more than 40,000,000 of salted and dried cod. If we add to this immense number, the havoc made among the legions of cod by the larger scaly tribes of the great deep, and take into account the destruction to which the young are exposed by sea-fowls and other inhabitants of the seas, besides the myriads of their eggs destroyed by accident, it becomes a miracle to find that such mighty mult.i.tudes of them are still in existence, and ready to continue the exhaustless supply. Yet it ceases to excite our wonder when we remember that the female can every year give birth to more than 9,000,000 at a time."

BAKED CARP.

242. INGREDIENTS--1 carp, forcemeat, bread crumbs, 1 oz. b.u.t.ter, 1/2 pint of stock No. 105, 1/2 pint of port wine, 6 anchovies, 2 onions sliced, 1 bay-leaf, a f.a.ggot of sweet herbs, flour to thicken, the juice of 1 lemon; cayenne and salt to taste; 1/2 teaspoonful of powdered sugar.

_Mode_.--Stuff the carp with a delicate forcemeat, after thoroughly cleansing it, and sew it up to prevent the stuffing from falling out.

Rub it over with an egg, and sprinkle it with bread crumbs, lay it in a deep earthen dish, and drop the b.u.t.ter, oiled, over the bread crumbs.

Add the stock, onions, bay-leaf, herbs, wine, and anchovies, and bake for 1 hour. Put 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter into a stewpan, melt it, and dredge in sufficient flour to dry it up; put in the strained liquor from the carp, stir frequently, and when it has boiled, add the lemon-juice and seasoning. Serve the carp on a dish garnished with parsley and cut lemon, and the sauce in a boat.

_Time_.--1-1/4 hour. _Average cost_. Seldom bought.

_Seasonable_ from March to October.

_Sufficient_ for 1 or 2 persons.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CARP.]

THE CARP.--This species of fish inhabit the fresh waters, where they feed on worms, insects, aquatic plants, small fish, clay, or mould. Some of them are migratory. They have very small mouths and no teeth, and the gill membrane has three rays. The body is smooth, and generally whitish. The carp both grows and increases very fast, and is accounted the most valuable of all fish for the stocking of ponds. It has been p.r.o.nounced the queen of river-fish, and was first introduced to this country about three hundred years ago. Of its sound, or air-bladder, a kind of glue is made, and a green paint of its gall.

STEWED CARP.

243. INGREDIENTS.--1 carp, salt, stock No. 105, 2 onions, 6 cloves, 12 peppercorns, 1 blade of mace, 1/4 pint of port wine, the juice of 1/2 lemon, cayenne and salt to taste, a f.a.ggot of savoury herbs.

_Mode_.--Scale the fish, clean it nicely, and, if very large, divide it; lay it in the stewpan, after having rubbed a little salt on it, and put in sufficient stock to cover it; add the herbs, onions, and spices, and stew gently for 1 hour, or rather more, should it be very large. Dish up the fish with great care, strain the liquor, and add to it the port wine, lemon-juice, and cayenne; give one boil, pour it over the fish, and serve.

_Time_.--1-1/4 hour. _Average cost_. Seldom bought.

_Seasonable_ from March to October.

_Sufficient_ for 1 or 2 persons.

_Note_.--This fish can be boiled plain, and served with parsley and b.u.t.ter. Chub and Char may be cooked in the same manner as the above, as also Dace and Roach.

THE AGE OF CARP.--This fish has been found to live 150 years.

The pond in the garden of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, contained one that had lived there 70 years, and Gesner mentions an instance of one 100 years old. They are, besides, capable of being tamed. Dr. Smith, in his "Tour on the Continent," says, in reference to the prince of Conde's seat at Chantilly, "The most pleasing things about it were the immense shoals of very large carp, silvered over with age, like silver-fish, and perfectly tame; so that, when any pa.s.sengers approached their watery habitation, they used to come to the sh.o.r.e in such numbers as to heave each other out of the water, begging for bread, of which a quant.i.ty was always kept at hand, on purpose to feed them. They would even allow themselves to be handled."