with the
champagne or sauterne. Trout may be prepared axi gmtin,
or boiled, sauced, egged, and baked, (d VAxurore), or baked in
envelopes with fine herbs, or stujfed and stexoed (trnites
farcies), or filleted and fried.
550
THE SJTE/T OF COOKERy
We have just related that the ‘ stuffed trout ’ was to have
been boiled in wine. This recipe comes from Eeyni^re, of
‘ Ahnanach ’ notoriety ; he directed that the wine in which
the trout was boiling should he. made to take fire, probably
as a proof of the alcohol having in the main been expelled.
Many cookery-book compilers in succession copy this one
from the other without seeing its purport, saying that, if
the wine took fire, it would improve the sauce. None of
these writers has ever made this sauce, simply because a
composition such as the recipe of Eeyniere indicates does
not, because it cannot, take fire, even if it flashed when a
lighted match were put to it. Eeyniere recommended the
addition of a little wine to the mixture of bouillon and vege-
tables ; the next generation of cookery-book compilers pre-
scribed a bottlefid of chablis ; the latest lights with the
coeur leger, two or three bottles full. Such a sautapan they
no doubt could have fired, and the kitchen chimney, perhaps
the kitchen as well. These recipes are striking instances of
the errors of some of these writers — namely, of attempting
to give themselves an air of magnificence by written pro-
positions, which, when closely considered, are entirely im-
practicable.
Trout may be filleted, fried, and be formed into an
‘ epigram,’ a mysterious name from early French cookery,
in which there was an element of symbolic mysticism. A
good cold entrde for supper is Trout loith Montpellier
Blotter✪ Trout with Montpellier Butter.
Char is taken in the lakes of Cumberland and Westmore-
land, and is in season from July till October. When fresh
it may be eaten as souchet ; it is brought to London as
p)otted char, and, curiously enough, reported to be fresh in
April. Char may be boiled, skinned, and glaced, and makes
a good basis for a steived matelote.
Lampreys have a halo of anecdote around them, which
might fill many pages; most of these are fables, such as
LAMPREYS AND FABLES CONCERNING THEM 55T
that the Eomans fed lamprej^s upon tlie dead bodies of
slaves ; or that Pollio ordered a living slave, who had
maliciously broken a glass vessel, ‘ to be thrown to the
lampreys’ (as if they were tigers); or that Henry L, King
of England, died (1135) of a surfeit of lampreys ; and that
other persons in subsequent centuries had a similar mis-
fortune. The lamprey resembles the eel in shape ; it lives
in the sea, but in spring rises into rivers ; in colour it is
greenish yellow, with golden patches and black points ; its
under side is paler ; it grows up to 7 lb. in weight. The
river Severn yielded some of the best, and the town of
Gloucester used to present annually (about New Year) a
pasty of lampreys to the sovereign of England. Platina
reproved the popes and great folks of Eome for their luxury
in lampreys, which were, he said, drowned in Cyprus wine,
with a nutmeg in the mouth and a clove in each gill-hole.
Perhaps the wine was drunk after all, as in the case of
salmon a la CiSnevoise, and appeared only in the kitchen
bills as the court bouillon of the fish.
Page 347 · 2 recipe records 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
with the champagne or sauterne. Trout may be prepared a l'amtin, or boiled, sauced, egged, and baked, (à l'Aurore), or baked in envelopes with fine herbs, or stuffed and stewed (truite farcie), or filleted and fried.
THE SJTE/T OF COOKERy
We have just related that the ‘ stuffed trout ’ was to have been boiled in wine. This recipe comes from Eeynière, of ‘ Ahnanach ’ notoriety ; he directed that the wine in which the trout was boiling should he. made to take fire, probably as a proof of the alcohol having in the main been expelled. Many cookery-book compilers in succession copy this one from the other without seeing its purport, saying that, if the wine took fire, it would improve the sauce. None of these writers has ever made this sauce, simply because a composition such as the recipe of Eeyniere indicates does not, because it cannot, take fire, even if it flashed when a lighted match were put to it. Eeyniere recommended the addition of a little wine to the mixture of bouillon and vegetables ; the next generation of cookery-book compilers prescribed a bottlefid of chablis ; the latest lights with the coeur leger, two or three bottles full. Such a sautapan they no doubt could have fired, and the kitchen chimney, perhaps the kitchen as well. These recipes are striking instances of the errors of some of these writers — namely, of attempting to give themselves an air of magnificence by written propositions, which, when closely considered, are entirely impracticable.
Trout may be filleted, fried, and be formed into an ‘ epigram,’ a mysterious name from early French cookery, in which there was an element of symbolic mysticism. A good cold entrde for supper is Trout loith Montpellier Blotter.
Char is taken in the lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland, and is in season from July till October. When fresh it may be eaten as souchet ; it is brought to London as p)otted char, and, curiously enough, reported to be fresh in April. Char may be boiled, skinned, and glaced, and makes a good basis for a steived matelote.
Lampreys have a halo of anecdote around them, which might fill many pages; most of these are fables, such as
LAMPREYS AND FABLES CONCERNING THEM 55T
that the Eomans fed lamprej^s upon tlie dead bodies of slaves ; or that Pollio ordered a living slave, who had maliciously broken a glass vessel, ‘ to be thrown to the lampreys’ (as if they were tigers); or that Henry L, King of England, died (1135) of a surfeit of lampreys ; and that other persons in subsequent centuries had a similar misfortune. The lamprey resembles the eel in shape ; it lives in the sea, but in spring rises into rivers ; in colour it is greenish yellow, with golden patches and black points ; its under side is paler ; it grows up to 7 lb. in weight. The river Severn yielded some of the best, and the town of Gloucester used to present annually (about New Year) a pasty of lampreys to the sovereign of England. Platina reproved the popes and great folks of Eome for their luxury in lampreys, which were, he said, drowned in Cyprus wine, with a nutmeg in the mouth and a clove in each gill-hole. Perhaps the wine was drunk after all, as in the case of salmon à la Genevoise, and appeared only in the kitchen bills as the court bouillon of the fish.
Records on this page
Trout with Montpellier ButterStuffed Trout