Canoe and Camp Cookery: A Practical Cook Book for Canoeists, Corinthian ...

''PHE subject of fish cookery belongs more to the 1 canoeist than to the general camper, for the reason that the former is so constantly among them in their fluid home that he can readily catch a mess, and easily cook them with his small means after he has caught them. That is why nearly all the practical methods of cooking fish are given in Chapter III. of Part I. of this book. There are, however, some ways of preparing fish in camp that the canoeist will hardly attempt, for lack of time or utensils, and these methods will be given here. Plain Baked Fish. Dig a hole in the ground eighteen inches deep and large enough to contain the fish ; build a fire in it and let it burn to coals. Remove the coals, leaving the hot ashes in the bottom, on which place a thick layer of green grass. Put the fish on the grass, cover with another layer of grass ; then rake back the coals and loose earth and build a small fire on top. In an hour the baking will be complete, the skin will peel off and 56 Canoe and Camp Cookery, leave the flesh clean. A fish prepared this way need not be scaled, but only disembowelled, as the scales will come off with the skin after it is cooked. Stiifibd Baked Fish. Only a large fish should be cooked in this manner, as it is hardly worth the trouble to stuff a small fish. Prepare a stuffing of bread or cracker crumbs, with enough butter or lard to make the mixture moist. Season with pepper and salt, and chop up with it one onion, and a little summer savory or sage, if desired. Clean and wipe the fish dry, put in the stuffing lightly and then sew up the opening. Lay the fish in the bake-kettle or Dutch oven, rub it all over with butter or lard and dredge it with flour, meal or some of the dry crumbs left over from the stuffing. Or, lay thin strips of fat salt pork or bacon on the top. Pour a little boiling water into the bottom to prevent the fish adhering, close the bake-kettle and put it into the fire among the hottest coals. In a very hot oven it should be done in forty minutes. Remove the bake-kettle several times before it is done to baste it. When cooked, serve with the following Fish Gravy. Put the bake-kettle back on the fire after the fish is removed ; stir into the gravy left, gradually, two tablespoonfuls of flour. Let it boil up once, season with pepper and salt, and pour over the fish. If there are squeamish people in camp remove the " black specks " from this gravy with a spoon. Fish. $7 Fish Chowder.' Clean the fish and cut up all except the heads and tails into small pieces, leaving out as many bones as possible. Cover the bottom of the pot with slices of fat salt pork ; over that a layer of sliced raw potatoes ; then a layer of chopped onions ; then a layer of fish ; on the fish a layer of crackers, first made tender by soaking in water or milk. Repeat the layers, except pork, till the pot is nearly full. Every layer must be seasoned with pepper and salt. Put in enough cold water to moisten the whole mass well, cover the pot closely, set over a gentle fire, and let it simmer an hour or so. Cook it till it is rather thick, then stir it gently, and it is ready to serve. Tomatoes may be added as a layer after the onions. Clam Chowder Can be made the same as Fish Chowder, using clams instead of fish, but a large party of sea-beach picnickers will probably prefer the regular Orthodox Clam Chowder. The first thing necessary is an out-door oven made with flat stones. Start a rousing fire in this and let it burn until every stone is hot all the way through. Then rake out the coals beneath, even to the faintest cinder, so that there will be no smoky taste to the chowder. Then put a couple of stout boughs across 58 Canoe and Camp Cookery.