and then sprinkled over with fine bright golden bread-
raspings, in order to ensure the colour being right.
Suppose the cook has just sent up the flounders souchet ;
let the next course be fried eels, and salmon and pickle
sauce. Take the eels ready prepared and throw them
into the boiling fat ; if the fat boil, four or five minutes
is ample time, if the fat is deep enough to cover the fish.
Take a hot vegetable dish, turn out the salmon and
sauce into it, and put on the cover ; next take a clean
napkin and warm it, and fold it up, and put it on a
hot dish ; hold a dish-cover to the fire for a minute,
and cover over the napkin ; take the eels out of the
fat and put them for half a minute on to a hot coarse
cloth to drain, put them on the clean napkin with a few
pieces of green parsley round, and send them up with
the salmon. Suppose the next course is turbot, smelts,
and red mullet ; the turbot, or rather a slice of one,
is supposed to be boiling in a saucepan ; take it out
and put it on a cloth to drain ; take first half a dozen
smelts and pop them into the fat you have just taken
the eels out of j a very short time will cook them.
Place the turbot on a fish-napkin, put a piece of parsley
on the top of it, and place the fried smelts round the
edge. The red mullet simply wants slipping off the
tin on to an ordinary dish just at it is, and the next
course is done. The lobster cutlets might be sent up
with some fried fish instead, as we presume no one would
think of having all this fish at one dinner. We there-
fore now come to the whitebait, and will attempt to
describe the secret of having this really delicious and
delicate fish well cooked. Of course, in the first place,
it is absolutely indispensable to have the fish perfectly
fresh, and in an unbroken state, and it is on this account
that whitebait is always had in the greatest perfection
at the various hotels which overlook the river where the
whitebait is caught. We will suppose, therefore, the
174 PRACTICAL HOME COOKERY.
whitebait is ready. Now everything depends upon
expedition. The whitebait must be first dried and
then plunged as speedily as possible into boiling fat.
First we will suppose ready on the fire a deep frying-pan
full of boiling lard ; in order to ensure the lard being
sufficiently hot, let a drop of water fall into it and see
if it hisses ; next have ready a wire whitebait-basket,
then throw the whitebait into some fine dry flour on a
cloth ; don’t be afraid of having too much flour, as in
these water-side hotels the flour is an inch thick ; next
shake the whitebait free of the flour in a wide sieve,
something like what is used for sifting oats ; this is
for the purpose of getting rid as much as possible of
the flour, to avoid the whitebait being pasty and clammy.
Next, having put this floured whitebait into the wire
basket, plunge it into the boiling fat — one minute will
more than suffice to cook it — throw it on to a hot cloth
for a few seconds to drain, and serve it very quickly.
Whitebait sent to table properly should burn the mouth
with fire-heat. Do not try to cook too many at a time,
as they are liable to stick together. Also shake the
wire basket a little in cooking them, for the purpose of
avoiding this sticking-process ; and when they are
thrown on to the cloth, if you see one or two sticking
together, separate them.✪ Whitebait
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and then sprinkled over with fine bright golden bread-
raspings, in order to ensure the colour being right.
Suppose the cook has just sent up the flounders souchet ;
let the next course be fried eels, and salmon and pickle
sauce. Take the eels ready prepared and throw them
into the boiling fat ; if the fat boil, four or five minutes
is ample time, if the fat is deep enough to cover the fish.
Take a hot vegetable dish, turn out the salmon and
sauce into it, and put on the cover ; next take a clean
napkin and warm it, and fold it up, and put it on a
hot dish ; hold a dish-cover to the fire for a minute,
and cover over the napkin ; take the eels out of the
fat and put them for half a minute on to a hot coarse
cloth to drain, put them on the clean napkin with a few
pieces of green parsley round, and send them up with
the salmon. Suppose the next course is turbot, smelts,
and red mullet ; the turbot, or rather a slice of one,
is supposed to be boiling in a saucepan ; take it out
and put it on a cloth to drain ; take first half a dozen
smelts and pop them into the fat you have just taken
the eels out of j a very short time will cook them.
Place the turbot on a fish-napkin, put a piece of parsley
on the top of it, and place the fried smelts round the
edge. The red mullet simply wants slipping off the
tin on to an ordinary dish just at it is, and the next
course is done. The lobster cutlets might be sent up
with some fried fish instead, as we presume no one would
think of having all this fish at one dinner. We there-
fore now come to the whitebait, and will attempt to
describe the secret of having this really delicious and
delicate fish well cooked. Of course, in the first place,
it is absolutely indispensable to have the fish perfectly
fresh, and in an unbroken state, and it is on this account
that whitebait is always had in the greatest perfection
at the various hotels which overlook the river where the
whitebait is caught. We will suppose, therefore, the
174 PRACTICAL HOME COOKERY.
whitebait is ready. Now everything depends upon
expedition. The whitebait must be first dried and
then plunged as speedily as possible into boiling fat.
First we will suppose ready on the fire a deep frying-pan
full of boiling lard ; in order to ensure the lard being
sufficiently hot, let a drop of water fall into it and see
if it hisses ; next have ready a wire whitebait-basket,
then throw the whitebait into some fine dry flour on a
cloth ; don’t be afraid of having too much flour, as in
these water-side hotels the flour is an inch thick ; next
shake the whitebait free of the flour in a wide sieve,
something like what is used for sifting oats ; this is
for the purpose of getting rid as much as possible of
the flour, to avoid the whitebait being pasty and clammy.
Next, having put this floured whitebait into the wire
basket, plunge it into the boiling fat — one minute will
more than suffice to cook it — throw it on to a hot cloth
for a few seconds to drain, and serve it very quickly.
Whitebait sent to table properly should burn the mouth
with fire-heat. Do not try to cook too many at a time,
as they are liable to stick together. Also shake the
wire basket a little in cooking them, for the purpose of
avoiding this sticking-process ; and when they are
thrown on to the cloth, if you see one or two sticking
together, separate them.