The art of living in Australia

To boil fish properly it must never really boil ; and in this lies the secret of success. If it boils it has a watery, insipid flavour, and drops to pieces very often when it is taken out of the water. The water must boil well before the fish is put in, and be seasoned with salt and a teaspoonful of vinegar or lemon juice ; lay the fish carefully in, and bring the water to the boil again. Then draw it away from the fire, cover down closely, and keep it just below the boil. The time it takes to cook depends so much on the size and thickness of the fish that no hard and fast rule can be given ; about ten minutes to every lb. will be sufficient. It is always done when it begins to leave the bone. Take it out of the water directly it is cooked, and if it is not wanted just at the time, cover it with a cloth and keep it hot. Any kind of fish sauce can be served with it, such as plain melted butter, parsley, or egg sauce. SALT FISH. To cook salt fish it should be soaked in cold water for twelve hours, then well washed in fresh water, scraped and cleaned. Lay it in a fish-kettle, cover with cold water, then simmer very gently indeed from one hour to one hour and a half, according to the thickness of the fish. It should be dished on a serviette, and garnished with sprigs of parsley and slices of lemon. Send it to table with boiled parsnips and egg sauce. DEVILLED SARDINES. 1 tin Sardines . , . . . Qd. i oz. Mustard \d. Buttered Toast \\d Cayenne . . . . . . j ' Total Cost — 'J\d. Time — 5 Minutes, Make the mustard with vinegar instead of water, and stir into it some cayenne and sait. Rub the sardines over with this, and either fry them in a little dripping or grilL them. Cut the toast into fingers, lay a sardine on each piece, and serve hot. Sardines are also very good dipped in French batter and fried and served with fried parsley. FISH A L'AURORE. 1 Jew-fish Qd. \ Small Onion . \ teaspoonful Parsley lEgg . . ■. \ pint White Sauce . Pepper and Salt Total Cost— Is. Time— 30 Minutes. U. Put some dripping on a tin dish, lay the fish in it, and COOKERY RECIPES, ETC. cover with a buttered paper and bake in the oven for twenty minutes. Take it out, split open and take out tlie centre bone ; sprinkle the inside of the fish with finely chopped onion and parsley, pepper, and salt. Put back the upper fillet, trim away some of the bones, pour over the melted butter or white sauce, and put back into the oven for ten minutes. Boil the egg hard, remove the shell, take out the yolk and either chop it or rub it through a sieve, cut the white into shapes. Take the fish from the oven and decorate the top with the yolk and white of egg ; serve hot. FILLETS A LA ORLY. 2 Bream . 8c?. Lemon Juice -) Parsley Half an Onion . ►3<i. i pint Tomato Sauce . Pepper and Salt Total Cost— Ud. Time — 5 Minutes Fillet the fish and lay them in a dish ; sprinkle them well with lemon juice, pepper, salt, and parsley. Lay over them some slices of onion and leave them for an hour, then fry them either in batter or flour. Drain them for a few moments on kitchen paper, and serve on a dish very hot with some good thick tomato sauce in a sauce-boat. SCANDINAVIAN PUDDING.