The encyclopædia of practical cookery

Carp Forcemeat. — Rub through a fine sieve 1ib. of cooked Carp flesh ; mix in 10oz. of butter, and an equal quantity of bread panada, sprinkle over with salt and pepper, and work in two eggs and a little reduced veloutd sauce. When well incorporated, it is ready for use. Carp Pie. — Prepare and clean a Carp and cut it up. Take a good-sized pie-dish, put a layer of butter at the bottom, and then put in the Carp, adding 2 handfuls each of capers, well-washed currants, a few cloves, a little mace, and nutmeg ; then mix a little salt with some butter, and put it over them ; cover the dish over with paste, make a hole at the top, pour in some white wine, and bake in a moderate oven till done. It may be served either hot or cold. Carp Stewed in Beer. — Take a medium-sized Carp, scale, clean, and cut it into two pieces. Take each half and cut it transversely into slices, taking away as much of the bone as [illustration: details respecting Culinary Processes, Utensils] Carp — continued. possible. Should the roe be soft, blanch it separately. Next take a flat stewpan and put some butter at the bottom, then a layer of onions sliced, and put in (on top of the onions) the Carp, keeping the pieces side by side, having also removed the gall stone, and cut the head into two pieces. Sprinkle over some salt and chopped celery, and add a bunch of parsley, thyme, bay-leaf, a piece of gingerbread about as large as the hand cut into small dice, peppercorns and cloves to taste. Then pour in sufficient of any light kind of beer (in Germany weissbier or white beer is used) to moisten it. Put the stewpan on a sharp fire and let the liquid boil up for seven or eight minutes, then remove the pan to the side of the fire, and finish cooking. Take out the pieces of Carp, and arrange them on a dish with the blanched soft roes ; skim the fat off the sauce (which should be rather thick), and pour it through a sieve over the fish. Christmas Carp in Poland. — The fish cooked in this way is the traditional dish of the feast celebrated on Christmas eve by the Poles and Italians. Take a good-sized live fish, and run a knife through the head to let it bleed, catching the blood in a basin ; then remove the scales and clean the fish thoroughly, putting the soft roe in vinegar and water to blanch. Cut the fish up into equal pieces. Take a stewpan, cover the bottom with a layer of sliced onions and parsley roots, and put the fish in upon this, salting it a little, and adding sprigs of parsley, thyme, a bay-leaf, some peppercorns and cloves, and pouring in (to about half the height of the fish) a mixture of half white wine and half hydromel (honey wine or mead). Put the pan on a brisk fire, and boil for ten minutes, then remove it to a more moderate one to finish cooking. When the Carp is done, take it out, strain the stock into another stewpan, remove the fat, and boil again, thickening with a small piece of kneaded butter. Let it boil for fifteen minutes, then pass it through a sieve, and add two lemons (without the peel), cut in slices, 1 teacupful of ground almonds, and a similar quantity of currants well- washed in warm water, and boiled for a minute or two in white wine. Let it bubble twice, and then add the blood diluted with a little vinegar. Put the Carp on a dish, pour over the sauce, place the roes round it, and serve.