Buckmaster's cookery

Whitebait should be cooked as soon as possible after they are caught, or kept on ice. 1. With a skimmer remove them to a colander to drain (it is better to avoid as much as possible handling so delicate a fish). 2. Dry them carefully in a clean cloth, which has been previously sprinkled rather thickly with dry flour. 3. Remove them to a coarse wicker sieve. 4. Gently shake the sieve to remove Buckmaster s Cookery. any excess of flour. 5. Put them into the frying basket and fry at a temperature of 400° for fifty seconds or one minute. The instant they are sufficiently fried, which is indicated by their whitey-brown appearance, or better by eating one, remove the whitebait on to kitchen paper, and place them in a sieve before the fire. Serve on a hot napkin, with brown bread and butter and lemon and cayenne. Precautions. — Whitebait are very delicate, and should not be bruised or broken by rough handling. BOILED COD. Ingredients. A Cod Fish. Parsley. Melted Butter. 1. Put the fish, or a piece of it, into cold water for one hour, and wash it. 2. Place it in a fish-kettle with sufficient cold water to cover it, with plenty of salt. 3. Bring it quickly to the boil. 4. Skim. 5. Simmer till it is done. 6. Drain it, and dish on a hot napkin. 7. Garnish with parsley. 8. Serve with melted butter or oyster sauce in a sauce boat. Time, about fifteen minutes for a pound. Precautions. — Be particular that the fish does not break in boiling. SALT COD. Ingredients. Salt Fish. Potatoes. Lemon. 1. Soak a piece of salt fish for six hours in tepid water, and then in cold water for six hours, changing the water three or four times. 2. Take a stewpan or Fish. *93 saucepan. 3. Put in the fish and nearly fill with cold water. 4. Let it come to the boil. 5. Skim. 6. Simmer till cooked. 7. Drain it. 8. Place it on a dish. 9. Make some plain melted butter, and squeeze in the juice of a lemon (some prefer egg sauce), pour over the fish, and garnish with plain boiled potatoes. Precautions. — Careful soaking of the fish is necessary to remove the salt. Lemon juice according to taste. GREY MULLET BROILED. Ingredients. Grey Mullet, Parsley and Butter. Lemon. Oil. / 1, Remove the gills and scales, and cleanse the inside of the fish. 2. Wash and wipe it. 3. Score it on each side a dozen times a quarter of an inch deep. 4. Lay it on a dish and sprinkle with a little salt. 5. Pour over it three tablespoonfuls of oil. 6. Broil on a moderate clear fire on each side for ten minutes. 7. Place it on a dish, and serve with parsley and butter, with a little lemon juice stirred in. Precautions. — Broiling can only be done properly over a bright, clear fire. Time, according to size. RED MULLET BAKED. Ingredients. Red Mullet. 1. Clean the fish as for grey mullet. 2. Score them. 3. Fold them in white oiled or buttered paper. 4. Bake them slowly in an oven ; when baked, (5) pour the liquor into a stewpan with an ounce of H Buckmaster s Cookery , butter. 6. Thicken with flour. 7. Season with salt, a little dust of cayenne, and chopped parsley. 8. Let it come to the boil, and serve the sauce in a tureen. Precautions. — Let the paper be well buttered to keep the surface of the fish moist. Time, about fifteen minutes. BROILED MACKEREL. Ingredients. Mackerel. Maitre d’Hotel Butter.*