A handbook of fish cookery

of either potted shrimps or shrimp butter. Hard boil two eggs. Remove the yolks, and pound them with a small bit of butter and a pinch of pepper and salt. Cut the whites into thin strips. Lay the strips in a lattice work over the rounds and place a pat of the yellow mixture in the middle of them, and a whole shrimp on that, or the very tiniest sprig of parsley. Make a bed of fresh dry parsley on a dish to lay the rounds upon. Skate. — Skate is an unwholesome fish if eaten out of season. Its best time is during the winter months, and it is positively improved by being kept for a day or two hung up. However it is dressed it should always be skinned first. The liver is a choice morsel. A method of dressing skate which is much liked by French people, is to do it a la Sainte Menehould. For this it should be skinned and cut into neat pieces, then simmered in white sauce till tender ; the pieces of fish should then be lifted out on to a shallow dish, the sauce to receive the addition of a yolk of egg and pinch of cayenne pepper, then to be poured over the fish, Parmesan or Cheshire cheese grated over the top. Set the dish in the oven to get thoroughly hot again. For boihng, large skate are preferable to small ones, and when possible they should be crimped. (N.B. — Crimping can only be done when the fish is perfectly fresh.) It should be plunged into boiling salt water, then gently simmered till tender. Let it drain well. Boiled skate is very good served with Black Butter sauce. For this last, a quarter pound of butter should be allowed to frizzle in a saucepan until of a light brown colour, then a few washed and dried parsley leaves should be thrown in, a tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar, ditto of mushroom ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and chopped capers, pepper and salt to taste. Let these boil once, then either pour over the fish or send to table in a tureen. Skate may also be fried, curried, or stewed, according to directions given for other fish. Smelts. — Smelts should be handled as little as possible ; not washed, but wiped with a cloth. The inside should be pulled out with the gills, as they must not be opened. It is most usual to fry smelts. Boiling is not to be recommended, unless for an invalid, in which case they should be put into boiling water which contains a few parsley leaves and a lump or two of sugar as well as salt ; four minutes cooking is ample time. A little of the liquor in which they were boiled should receive the addition of cream and chopped parsley, and be served with them. For frying, smelts should be first dipped into beaten egg, then into mixed flour and breadcrumbs, afterwards fried in a good depth of boiling fat. Lift them out with a slice, drain well, and garnish with cut lemon. Smelts are delicious as a breakfast relish if laid on a gridiron and broiled lightly on both sides, then placed on a hot dish, sprinkled with pepper and salt, lemon juice squeezed over, and a pat of butter placed on each. They may also be baked an gratin, and served in the same dish. Soles. — The popular method of cooking this favourite fish is to fry them Some persons declare it to be the best method. If it be so or not, certain it is