FoodNet

Home cookery

1898

Page 17 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Smelts are cooked without being opened, and the liver, which is considered a delicacy, is left in red mullet. The fins must be cut off, and the tail trimmed. BOILING Fish. This method, although a very usual one, is not to be recommended, as much of the nourishment and flavour of the fish is lost. The fish most commonly boiled are cod, haddock, salmon, turbot, brill and mackerel. Of these, cod (fresh), salmon and haddock should be put into hoiliiig water. Turbot, brill and mackerel should be put into cold water, as their skin is more tender than that of the fish that is put into boiling water. All salt fish should be put into cold water. METHOD OF BOILING FiSH, 1. Allow sufficient water to cover ; add two table- spoonfuls of salt and two tablespoonfuls of vinegarBoiling Fish to each gallon of water. 2. Skim well. 3. Keep the lid on the fish-kettle and cook gently ; when the flesh leaves the bone it is cooked sufficiently. No certain time can be given for boiling fish, but the following facts may be some guide. The fish that are put into boiling water should generally simmer six minutes to every pound, and six minutes over. Fish up to about three pounds weight, when put into cold water and brought gradually to boiling point, will be sufficiently cooked by the time they boil. If larger, they must cook longer in proportion. All fish must be served as hot as possible, and must be w^ell drained. 45 Salmon. This fish IS considered to be in perfection in May. The head and shoulders are the best parts for boiling. The middle may be made into steaks ; and the tail is excellent split open and cooked with a sprinkling of cayenne and salt, and plenty of fresh butter, before the fire, and is then a good breakfast dish. Salmon should be put into boiling water, and boiled as directed (p. 44). Salmon may be eaten with sliced cucumber and vinegar, or with any of the following sauces : — Parsley and butter (p. 165). Fennel (p. 165). Tartare (p. 164). Hollandaise (p. 164). Mayonnaise (p. 163). Maitre d'Hotel (p. 165). Cold salmon is excellent in Mayonnaise (p. 163). Salmon Trout May be boiled in the same manner as salmon, but one of the best ways of cooking them, if small, is to bake them or cook them before the fire with a sprinkling of cayenne and salt, and plenty of fresh butter. About ten or fifteen minutes will be usually long enough to bake them, and they should be served in the dish in which they are cooked. Cod. This fish may be bought all the year round, but is really in season in the winter. The large fish are the best, and the head and shoulders are the best part. A whole fish can often be bought at a very moderate price ; it is then a good plan to boil the head and shoulders while fresh, to make the middle into steaks (p. 51), or stuff and bake it (p. 52), and to salt the tail. Cod should be put into boili7ig water, and boiled as directed (p. 44). Oyster Sauce (p. 161) is practically the only sauce that can be said to be suitable to boiled cod, though other sauces may be used according to taste, or when oysters are out of season. 46 Haddock.