gooseberries were put into certain ragouts, particularly of
fisb, to heighten the taste thereof. Thus the application
furnished a surname. {Gj. M^rat et Delens, ‘Diet. Mat.
Med.,’ art. Hibcs, vol. iv., p. 82.) The idea of combiniuf^
the sauce with the fish is evidently exclusively French, and
the sauce should pass under the name of a la Gauloise.
Marinaded and braised mackerel can be kept for a week or
two in the larder ready for use. Fillets of mackerel may be
grilled in ])aper ox fried. A recipe for stexoed mackerel is so
complicated as to suffocate all natural flavour of the fish.
Simpson, under a recipe entitled Mackarel a la Maitre
cVHotel, directs the cook to boil mackarel herbs, and chop
them quite fine, but without defining their nature ; but we
may infer from the composition of his mackarel sauce that
they were chopped parsley, fennel, and mint, parboiled.
Herrings, when iu season, that is, when the roe is just
forming, are excellent and wholesome fish. They are
generally of one size, because they are caught in nets of a
certain mesh, in which they are arrested hy their own act
of erecting the dorsal fin ; hut they are obtained otherwise
of various sizes, as short as six inches and as long as four-
teen inches, and of proportionate width and depth, weighing
up to 4 lb. When of this exceptional size a fish is called a
king or (iu,cen herring. You recognise them to be fresh by
the redness of their gills and the brightness of their skins.
The best herring for eating or preserving is the half full fish,
or so-called mafic. The earliest fisheries for herring, at the
time of King Alfred, were on the coast of Scotland. The
Dutch first bought the fish from the native Scotch, and
afterwards caught it themselves. The commerce in herrings,
according to Eidous, began about the year 1320, just after
the Teutons had established themselves on the Baltic. The
invention of the art of salting and barrelling herrings is
ascribed to a Dutch fisherman, whose name is variously
spelled as William Beuckels, or Biicking, or Buckling, and
HISTORY AXD PREPARATIONS OF HERRING 537
who died in 1449. The Dutch raised a mausoleum to his
memory, and it is related that Charles V. visited it in 1536.
The trade of the Dutch in herrings taken on the coasts of
Great Britain and Ireland in 1610 amounted to the value
of more than two and a half millions sterling.
While living the herring is green over its back, white on
flanks and belly ; on the dead herring the back becomes
blue. The fish ranges from high northern latitudes to
45° lat. N. From June 25 there appear in the Dutch seas
the herring flashes, caused by the reflection of the sunlight
from the shoals or banks of herrings which fill the water for
miles. A female herring may contain more than 60,000 eggs.
There are seven females for every two males. The finest
and best prepared bloaters (harengs saurs of the French)
were the saurets of Germath in Ireland {Hareng saicr and
saitret = smoked herring, horn saurer, to smoke). They were
smoked with juniper wood.
Herrings are now brought to market occasionally almost
fresh. In that state they are very delicate, and may be
prepared for the table by being boiled. Six herrings require
two quarts of hot water and a quarter of a pound of salt✪ Boiled Herrings ;
boil for twenty minutes, and send Dutch or allemande sauce
with them.
Page 338 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1895. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
gooseberries were put into certain ragouts, particularly of fish, to heighten the taste thereof. Thus the application furnished a surname. (Cf. Morat et Delens, 'Dict. Mat. Med.,' art. Ribes, vol. iv., p. 82.) The idea of combining the sauce with the fish is evidently exclusively French, and the sauce should pass under the name of a la Gauloise. Marinaded and braised mackerel can be kept for a week or two in the larder ready for use. Fillets of mackerel may be grilled in paper or fried. A recipe for stewed mackerel is so complicated as to suffocate all natural flavour of the fish. Simpson, under a recipe entitled Mackerel a la Maitre d'Hotel, directs the cook to boil mackerel herbs, and chop them quite fine, but without defining their nature ; but we may infer from the composition of his mackerel sauce that they were chopped parsley, fennel, and mint, parboiled.
Herrings, when in season, that is, when the roe is just forming, are excellent and wholesome fish. They are generally of one size, because they are caught in nets of a certain mesh, in which they are arrested hy their own act of erecting the dorsal fin ; but they are obtained otherwise of various sizes, as short as six inches and as long as fourteen inches, and of proportionate width and depth, weighing up to 4 lb. When of this exceptional size a fish is called a king or queen herring. You recognise them to be fresh by the redness of their gills and the brightness of their skins. The best herring for eating or preserving is the half full fish, or so-called magic. The earliest fisheries for herring, at the time of King Alfred, were on the coast of Scotland. The Dutch first bought the fish from the native Scotch, and afterwards caught it themselves. The commerce in herrings, according to Eideaux, began about the year 1320, just after the Teutons had established themselves on the Baltic. The invention of the art of salting and barrelling herrings is ascribed to a Dutch fisherman, whose name is variously spelled as William Beuckels, or Biicking, or Buckling, and
HISTORY AXD PREPARATIONS OF HERRING 537
who died in 1449. The Dutch raised a mausoleum to his memory, and it is related that Charles V. visited it in 1536. The trade of the Dutch in herrings taken on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland in 1610 amounted to the value of more than two and a half millions sterling.
While living the herring is green over its back, white on flanks and belly ; on the dead herring the back becomes blue. The fish ranges from high northern latitudes to 45° lat. N. From June 25 there appear in the Dutch seas the herring flashes, caused by the reflection of the sunlight from the shoals or banks of herrings which fill the water for miles. A female herring may contain more than 60,000 eggs. There are seven females for every two males. The finest and best prepared bloaters (harengs saurs of the French) were the saurets of Germath in Ireland (Hareng saucer and sauret = smoked herring, horn saurer, to smoke). They were smoked with juniper wood.
Herrings are now brought to market occasionally almost fresh. In that state they are very delicate, and may be prepared for the table by being boiled. Six herrings require two quarts of hot water and a quarter of a pound of salt ; boil for twenty minutes, and send Dutch or allemande sauce with them.
Records on this page
Boiled Herrings