A handbook of fish cookery

Clams. — Clams, which are a species of cockle, were declared by the great Soyer to be superior to the oyster in flavour. They are very nice if fried, after dipping into beaten egg and breadcrumbs. In America they are stewed. Put into a stewpan with a little water, they are boiled for a few minutes, then seasoned with pepper and salt. Cockles. — Cockles should be roasted on a tin laid on the top of a stove ; they are eaten whilst hot with bread and butter. They require to be well washed, and the shells scrubbed with a brush. Cod, Baked. — Take a piece weighing about three pounds out of the middle of a large fish. Make a simple forcemeat of breadcrumbs, minced parsley, thyme, seasoning, and the yolk of an egg ; put this inside the fish and sew it up. Place in a baking- dish, and surround with a carrot sliced, and also a turnip and small onion. Pour a spoonful of vinegar over, and place two or three lumps of butter on the top ; bake for twenty minutes. Remove the vegetables, but serve the liquor with the fish instead of sauce. Cod, Fried a la Maitre d'hotel. — Take two or three slices of cod about an inch and a half in thickness, let them lie in salt water for half an hour, then drain and dry them. Cover with seasoned flour, and fry in a quantity of boiling fat for a few minutes. Pile in pyramid form on a hot dish, pouring the following sauce round them : two tablespoonsful of fresh green parsley chopped small, two ounces of butter, half an ounce of flour, a little salt, pepper, and a spoonful of vinegar ; add a little water if it thickens too much. Mix the ingredients well, let them boil up once, then serve. Cod, a la Creme. — The remains of boiled cod will do excellently well for this, or if fresh fish is used it must be first boiled till tender, then broken into flakes, all skin and bone removed. Into a saucepan put a pint of milk with a teaspoonful of salt and the rind of a lemon. Let this boil once, then pour off into a basin. In the saucepan melt an ounce of butter and stir in smoothly an ounce of flour, add a pinch of cayenne pepper, then the milk, and boil all together until thick. Put in the flakes of cod to heat through, then pour all on to a hot dish, garnish with tufts of parsley, and pass round strips of toasted bread to eat with it. Cod, Curried. — Take the remains of cold boiled cod broken into flakes, fry them a moment in butter. Lay them aside on a hot plate and prepare the curry. For this put an ounce of butter into a saucepan and slice into it two shallots and one small apple. When these have frizzled brown stir in a tablespoonful of flour, half a teaspoonful of curry powder, the same of salt, and a pinch of cayenne pepper, and lastly a teacupful of stock. Let this boil a few minutes, then put in the cod to warm up, and serve quickly. A wall of boiled rice round the edge of the dish is an improvement.