Cookery for every household

1. Wash and clean the fish, cutting off the heads and fins, and dry them lightly in a cloth. Then score the skin across diagonally on both sides to prevent it cracking during the process of cooking. Season the fish with pepper and salt, and brush it over with oil or melted butter, or allow it to soak for an hour in a mixture of oil and vinegar with a little chopped parsley and shallot : or 2. The fish may be split open, the bone removed and then lightly coated with flour or fine oatmeal. The latter is most suitable for herring, mackerel, or trout. A coating of egg and bread-crumbs may also be used if liked. Thoroughly heat the gridiron, grease it well, and lay the fish on it. Keep the fish rather near the fire while cooking or it will become flabby. Cook it from seven to ten minutes according to the thickness of the fish, and turn it once at least during the process. If a gas stove is used, place the fish on the grid tin and make the grill red hot before placing the fish under it. See also Grilling of Meat, p. 208. When finished it should be nicely browned on both sides and show the marks of the grill. Serve grilled fish at once with cut lemon and small pats of maître d'hôtel or any other savoury butter. If there are any roes belonging to the fish,- these may be cooked on a tin in the oven and used as a garnish. Some sharp sauce, such as tartare, cucumber, or tomato, may be served separately, and parsley or watercress used as a garnish. Grilling in Paper. — Fillets of fish, such as salmon, turbot, or sole, are sometimes wrapped in a heartshaped piece of greased paper with a spoonful of any good sauce and grilled thus. They may also be soaked or marinaded in a mixture of oil, &c., as above, previous to being wrapped up. They should be served in the paper ( en papillottes). See Recipe 290. Baking The simplest method of baking fish is to place it on a well-greased baking tin or fireproof dish with a little fat on buttei) round, and a seasoning of pepper and salt ; to cover it with greased paper and cook in a moderate oven until ready. The fish may be served with or without sauce. See Recipe 269. Or, the fish may be stuSed with one of the various stuffings given on p. 307 and then cooked in the oven with some butter or dripping to baste it. Sauce may be served round the fish if wished. See Recipe 207. Or, again, the fish may be baked au gratin, that is, with a seasoning of chopped parsley, mushrooms, and shallot, or grated cheese, sprinkled with bread-crumbs with butter on the top. (See Sole au Gratin, Recipe 252.) A little white wine or sauce may be poured round the fish before it is put in the oven. As baking is a very dry method of cooking, some butter or other fat must always be put along with the fish. Steaming Fish may be cooked by steam instead of boiling it. It is a slower process, but the flavour of the fish is retained better than by boiling, especially in smaller pieces of fish. The fish is placed in a steamer which fits on to a saucepan and success depends upon keeping plenty of water boiling under it.