Practical West African cookery

Fish cooked in the morning and kept till dinner time must be put in the meat safe and covered with a plate to prevent its drying; for the same reason, the skin should not be taken off till a short time before serving. Place the piece of fish whole upon a dish garnished with rounds of limes or tomatoes and with lettuce leaves or parsley. Serve a mayonnaise sauce (see Index) at the same time. Fish Salad. (I). Remains oi cold boiled fish. A piece of boiled yam or fair sized sweet potato. 2 tablespoonfuls olive or ground nut oil. 2 tablespoonfuls vinegar. 1 teaspoonful salt. 1 teaspoonful pepper. 1 teaspoonful chopped raw onion. (A hard-boiled egg, a teaspoonful chopped parsley and 1 tatassa.) 1. With a fork, break up the fish into flaky pieces, removing all the skin and bones. Slice the yam and mix lightly with the fish. 2. Mix the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, onion, (chopped parsley and tatassa if available,) and pour over the fish and yam. Mix well but without mashing, and garnish with the sliced egg. Note. Any mayonnaise left over from the day before can be beaten up with a little fresh oil and vinegar and used as a dressing for this salad. Fried Fish, large. (1). 5 or six fillets cut from any large fish. A breakfastcupful of ground nut oil (which can be kept and used again). 1 egg. 1 tablespoonful flour. 1 tablespoonful bread crumbs or 2 crushed biscuits. 1 teaspoonful salt. J teaspoonful pepper. A lime, 5 or 6 stalks of parsley. If you wish to fry any large fish such as ragon ruwa, giuan ruwa, dan sartki or man, take the middle piece, separate the flesh from the bones, and divide lengthways into fillets about four inches long, three inches broad, and half-inch thick. 1. Wash the pieces of fish in cold water, dry with a clean towel, and dust both sides with the salt and pepper mixed. 2. Put the oil into the fiat saucepan and set it to heat over a good fire, watching it from time to time to see that it does not burn. 3. Break the egg into a soup plate and beat it well. Spread the flour over one half of the cook’s board and the bread crumbs over the other. To obtain the bread crumbs put a piece of bread in the oven until it turns pale yellow, then crush it on the board with a bottle. 4. Turn the fillets of fish first in the flour, then in the egg, and lastly in the bread crumbs, presing them well into the latter, so that the crumbs adhere evenly to both sides of the fish. 5. By this time the fat should be ready for frying, that is to say it should have ceased to bubble and the smoke should be turning blue. It is as well though to test it by throwing in a small piece of bread, if you hear the little sizzling sound of frying, the fat is ready. Put the pieces of fish carefully into the fat which should cover them, turn them when they pass to a deep yellow colour, and take them out when they begin to turn light brown. Serve at once with quarters of lime. If parsley is obtainable, throw a few stalks into the fat while the fish is frying, and take them out as soon as they are crisp but not black. Serve scattered over the fisb ; this is a great improvement. Fried fish is improved by being served with a tomato (see Index) or hollandaise (see Index) sauce.