Practical West African cookery

Note. It is absolutely essential that fish should not be fried till just before the time to serve, and that the fat should have reached the right degree of heat. The reason why things fried usually appear at table as black and sodden horrors is that the cook, faithful to his habit of preparing meals an hour or two before the appointed time, has cooked them too slowly to begin with, and has then left them to soak in tepid grease till it is time to dish them up. Once the fish is prepared, it takes less than five minutes to fry it. Fried Fish, small. (I). Any small fish, usage preferably. A breakfastcupful of ground nut oil. 1 tablespoonful flour. 1 teaspoonful salt, i teaspoonful pepper. (A lime, 5 or 6 stalks of parsley.) If the fish are very small, less than three inches long, they need not be cleaned out. Wash them in cold water, dry with a clean cloth, sprinkle with pepper and salt, roll in the flour, fry in the same manner as described in the preceding recipe, and serve with quartered limes and fried parsley. Fish Croquettes. (I). $ teacupful cold boiled fish. 1 breakfastcupful ground nut oil. 1 teacupful mashed boiled yam or sweet potato. 2 eggs. 1 teaspoonful butter, lard or ground nut oil. 1 tablespoonful bread crumbs or crushed biscuits. 2 tablespoonfuls flour. 1 teaspoonful finely chopped onion. 1 pinch salt and pepper, black or red. (A teaspoonful minced parsley or tatassa and a pinch of nutmeg.) 1. Break up the fish with a fork, removing bones and skin. Mix to a paste with the mashed yam, add the salt, pepper, the chopped onion, (and if available, the nutmeg, chopped parsley and tatassa,) the butter, and lastly one of the eggs well beaten. If this paste is not quite thiok enough to be shaped, add a pinch of flour; if too thick, a little more butter or lard ; then shape with two knives into round cakes, ½-inch thickness, and about two inches in diameter. 2. Put the oil into the flat 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 second egg into a soup plate and beat it slightly. Spread the flour over one half of the cook’s board and the bread crumbs over the other; turn the cakes first in the flour, then in the egg, and lastly in the bread crumbs, pressing them well into the latter so that the crumbs adhere evenly to both sides of the cakes. 4. By this time the fat should be ready for frying; when it has ceased to bubble, carefully slide in the cakes, which should be covered by the fat. Turn them over as soon as they are yellow, and take them out when pale brown. Serve very hot ; a good tomato sauce (see Index) improves them. Note. These cakes can be prepared some time in advance and set aside between two plates to keep them from drying, but they should not be fried before the time to serve. This is the best way of using any muddy tasting fish. Fish Pie. (I). £ teacupful cold boiled fish. 2 teacupful mashed boiled yam or sweet potato. 1 egg. 1 teaspoonful butter, lard or ground nut oil. 1 dessertspoonful of bread crumbs or crushed biscuit. 1 teaspoonful finely chopped onion. 1 pinch salt and pepper. (A teaspoonful chopped parsley or tatassa and a pinch of nutmeg.)