A gentle oven may be used with advantage, for cooking almost
every kind of fish, as we have ascertained from our own observation ;
but it must be subjected to a mild degree of heat only. This pene-
trates the flesh gradually, and converts it into wholesome succulent
food ; whereas, a hot oven evaporates all the juices rapidly, and
renders the fish hard and dry. When small, they should be wrapped
in oiled or buttered paper before they are baked ; and when filleted,
or left in any other form, and placed in a deep dish with or without
any liquid before they are put into the oven, a buttered paper should
still be laid closely upon them to keep the surface moist. Large pieces
of salmon, conger eel, and other fish of considerable size are some-
times in common cookery baked like meat over potatoes pared and
halved.
FAT FOR FRYING FISH.
This, whether it be butter, lard, or oil should always be excellent
in quality, for the finest fish will be rendered unfit for eating if it be
fried in fat that is rancid. When good, and used in sufficient quan-
tity, it will serve for the same purpose several times, if strained after
each frying, and put carefully away in a clean pan, provided always
that it has not been smoked nor burned in the using.
Lard renders fish more crisp thjin butter does ; but fresh, pure
olive-oil ( salad oil , as it is commonly called in England) is the best
ingredient which can be used for it, and as it will serve well for the
same purpose, many times in succession, if strained and carefully
stored as we have already stated, it is not in reality so expensive as
might be supposed for this mode of cooking. There should always
be an ample quantity of it (or of any other friture *) in the pan, as the
fish should be nearly covered with it, at the least; and it should cease
to bubble before either fish or meat is laid into it, or it will be too
much absorbed by the flesh, and will impart neither sufficient firm-
ness, nor sufficient colour.
The French term for fat of all kinds U3ed in frying.
MODERN COOKER?.
[chap. it.
5fi
TO KEEP FISII HOT FOR TABLE.
Never leave it in the water after it is done, but if it cannot be sent
to table as soon as it is ready to serve, lift it out, lay the fish-plate
into a large and ^ ery hot dish, and set it across the fish-kettle ; just
dip a clean cloth into the boiling water, and spread it upon the fish,
place a tin cover over it. and let it remain so until two or three
minutes before it is wanted, then remove the cloth, and put the fish
back into the kettle for an instant that it may be as hot as possible :
drain, dish, and serve it immediately : the water should be kept boil-
ing the whole time.
TO BOIL A TURBOT.
[In season all the year.] ✪ To Boil a Turbot
Page 78 · 1 recipe record on this page
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
A gentle oven may be used with advantage, for cooking almost every kind of fish, as we have ascertained from our own observation ; but it must be subjected to a mild degree of heat only. This penetrates the flesh gradually, and converts it into wholesome succulent food ; whereas, a hot oven evaporates all the juices rapidly, and renders the fish hard and dry. When small, they should be wrapped in oiled or buttered paper before they are baked ; and when filleted, or left in any other form, and placed in a deep dish with or without any liquid before they are put into the oven, a buttered paper should still be laid closely upon them to keep the surface moist. Large pieces of salmon, conger eel, and other fish of considerable size are sometimes in common cookery baked like meat over potatoes pared and halved.
FAT FOR FRYING FISH.
This, whether it be butter, lard, or oil should always be excellent in quality, for the finest fish will be rendered unfit for eating if it be fried in fat that is rancid. When good, and used in sufficient quantity, it will serve for the same purpose several times, if strained after each frying, and put carefully away in a clean pan, provided always that it has not been smoked nor burned in the using.
Lard renders fish more crisp than butter does ; but fresh, pure olive-oil ( salad oil , as it is commonly called in England) is the best ingredient which can be used for it, and as it will serve well for the same purpose, many times in succession, if strained and carefully stored as we have already stated, it is not in reality so expensive as might be supposed for this mode of cooking. There should always be an ample quantity of it (or of any other friture *) in the pan, as the fish should be nearly covered with it, at the least; and it should cease to bubble before either fish or meat is laid into it, or it will be too much absorbed by the flesh, and will impart neither sufficient firmness, nor sufficient colour.
The French term for fat of all kinds used in frying.
[chap. it.
5fi
TO KEEP FISII HOT FOR TABLE.
Never leave it in the water after it is done, but if it cannot be sent to table as soon as it is ready to serve, lift it out, lay the fish-plate into a large and ^ ery hot dish, and set it across the fish-kettle ; just dip a clean cloth into the boiling water, and spread it upon the fish, place a tin cover over it. and let it remain so until two or three minutes before it is wanted, then remove the cloth, and put the fish back into the kettle for an instant that it may be as hot as possible : drain, dish, and serve it immediately : the water should be kept boiling the whole time.
TO BOIL A TURBOT.
[In season all the year.]
Records on this page
To Boil a Turbot