There is no better way of dressing a good turbot, brill, John Dory,
or cod’s head and shoulders, than plain but careful boiling. Salmon
is excellent in almost every mode in which it can be cooked or used.
Boiled entire or in crimped slices ; roasted in a cradle-spit or
Dutch oven ; baked ; fried in small collops ; collared ; potted ;
dried and smoked ; pickled or soused (this is the coarsest and
least to be recommended process for it, of any) ; made into a
raised or common pie, or a potato-pasty ; served cold in or with sa-
voury jelly, or with a Mayonnaise sauce ; or laid on potatoes and
baked, as in Ireland, it will be found Good.
Soles may be either boiled, or baked, or fried entire, or in fillets ;
curried ; stewed in cream ; or prepared by any of the directions
given for them in the body of this chapter.
Plaice, unless when in full season and very fresh, is apt to be
watery and insipid ; but taken in its perfection and carefully cooked,
it is very sweet and delicate in flavour. If large, it may be boiled
with advantage either whole or in fillets ; but to many tastes it is
very superior when filleted, dipped into egg and bread crumbs, and
fried. The flesh may also be curried ; or the plaice may be converted
into water-souchy, or soupe-maigre : when small it is often fried
whole.
Bed mullet should always be baked , broiled , or roasted : it should
on no occasion be boiled.
Mackerel, for which many receipts will be found in this chapter,
when broiled quite whole , as we have directed, or freed from the bones,
divided, egged, crumbed, and fried, is infinitely superior to the same
fish cooked in the ordinary manner.
The whiting, when very fresh and in season, is always delicate and
good ; and of all fish is considered the best suited to invalids. Per-
haps quite the most wholesome mode of preparing it for them, is to
open it as little as possible Avhen it is cleansed, to leave the skin on,
to dry the fish well, and to broil it gently. It should be sent very
hot to table, and will require no sauce : twenty minutes will usually
be required to cook it, if of moderate size.
The haddock is sometimes very large. W e have had it occasionally
from our southern coast between two and three feet in length, and it
was then remarkably good when simply boiled, even the day after it
was caught, the white curd between the flakes of flesh being like that
of extremely fresh salmon. As it is in full season in mid-winter, it can
oe sent to a distance without injury. It is a very firm fish when
large and in season ; but, as purchased commonly at inland markets,
is often neither fine in size nor quality. One of the best modes of
poking it is, to take the flesh entire from the hopes, to divide it, dip
<m vt>. ii. 3
BTSIIe
53
it into egg and bread-crumbs, mixed with savoury herbs finely
minced, and a seasoning of salt and spice, and to fry it like soles,
Other receipts for it will be found in the body of this chapter.
The flesh of the gurnard is exceedingly dry, and somewhat over
firm , but when filled with well-made forcemeat and gently baked, it
is much liked by many persons. At good tables, it is often served in
fillets fried or baked, and richly sauced : in common cookery it is
sometimes boiled.
Page 75
Presented as published in 1884. 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
There is no better way of dressing a good turbot, brill, John Dory, or cod’s head and shoulders, than plain but careful boiling. Salmon is excellent in almost every mode in which it can be cooked or used. Boiled entire or in crimped slices ; roasted in a cradle-spit or Dutch oven ; baked ; fried in small collops ; collared ; potted ; dried and smoked ; pickled or soused (this is the coarsest and least to be recommended process for it, of any) ; made into a raised or common pie, or a potato-pasty ; served cold in or with savoury jelly, or with a Mayonnaise sauce ; or laid on potatoes and baked, as in Ireland, it will be found Good.
Soles may be either boiled, or baked, or fried entire, or in fillets ; curried ; stewed in cream ; or prepared by any of the directions given for them in the body of this chapter.
Plaice, unless when in full season and very fresh, is apt to be watery and insipid ; but taken in its perfection and carefully cooked, it is very sweet and delicate in flavour. If large, it may be boiled with advantage either whole or in fillets ; but to many tastes it is very superior when filleted, dipped into egg and bread crumbs, and fried. The flesh may also be curried ; or the plaice may be converted into water-souchy, or soupe-maigre : when small it is often fried whole.
Bed mullet should always be baked , broiled , or roasted : it should on no occasion be boiled.
Mackerel, for which many receipts will be found in this chapter, when broiled quite whole , as we have directed, or freed from the bones, divided, egged, crumbed, and fried, is infinitely superior to the same fish cooked in the ordinary manner.
The whiting, when very fresh and in season, is always delicate and good ; and of all fish is considered the best suited to invalids. Perhaps quite the most wholesome mode of preparing it for them, is to open it as little as possible AvWhen it is cleansed, to leave the skin on, to dry the fish well, and to broil it gently. It should be sent very hot to table, and will require no sauce : twenty minutes will usually be required to cook it, if of moderate size.
The haddock is sometimes very large. We have had it occasionally from our southern coast between two and three feet in length, and it was then remarkably good when simply boiled, even the day after it was caught, the white curd between the flakes of flesh being like that of extremely fresh salmon. As it is in full season in mid-winter, it can oe sent to a distance without injury. It is a very firm fish when large and in season ; but, as purchased commonly at inland markets, is often neither fine in size nor quality. One of the best modes of cooking it is, to take the flesh entire from the bones, to divide it, dip
it into egg and bread-crumbs, mixed with savoury herbs finely minced, and a seasoning of salt and spice, and to fry it like soles, Other receipts for it will be found in the body of this chapter.
The flesh of the gurnard is exceedingly dry, and somewhat over firm , but when filled with well-made forcemeat and gently baked, it is much liked by many persons. At good tables, it is often served in fillets fried or baked, and richly sauced : in common cookery it is sometimes boiled.