Cassell's dictionary of cookery

of salt, a tea-spoonful of white pepper, and a pinch of grated nutmeg. Put an ounce of butter in little pieces here and there upon them, j and place the dish in a moderate oven till the I butter is melted. Let the shrimps get cold. Press them into jars, and pour upon them butter which has been melted, and is just beginning to set. Keep the jars in a cool place till wanted. Time to bake the shrimps, ten minutes. Shrimps, Stewed.— Shell as many freshly boiled shrimps as will measure a pint when ■ shelled. Bruise the heads and shells, and boil I them gently in a quarter of a pint of light wine, a quarter of a pint of water, and a tea-spoonful 1 of vinegar, with a seasoning of salt, cayenne, SHR (871 ) SIB and mace. Strain the liquor, and let it stand a few minutes. Then pour it oft", freed from sediment, put it back into the saucepan, and thicken it with flour and butter. Put in the fish, and simmer them till they are thoroughly heated. They must not boil, or they will be hard. Toast a slice of bread, cut it into small squares, lay it on a dish, and pour upon it the fish and sauce. Serve hot. Time to boil the shells, twenty minutes. Shrimps, To Shell.— It may seem trifling, to those who know how to do it, to say anj^thing about shelling shrimps ; but when there is a right way and a wrong way, it is surely worth while to practise the former. When shrimps are boiled alive, the muscle contracts, and folds the tail beneath the body ; when the tail remains extended after boiling, it is because the shrimp was dead, and it will be found soft and worthless. There is a difference in the shape of the different species of shrimps. The tail of the brown shrimp is quite rounded at the bend, like that of the lobster, whereas the tail of the red shrimp | and the prawn presents a sort of knee or angle. | To shell a brown shrimp, take the head between I the right finger and thumb, witk the left finger | and thumb-nail raise on each side the shell of 1 the tail nearest the head; pinch the tail, and the shell will come away entire. At Honfleui-, and other parts of the Norman coast, the finest brown shrimps are picked out to be sent to table as plates of hors d'wuvres, while the small ones are shelled, to make patties and vol-au-vents, by women who perform their task with incredible rapidity. Comfortably seated on a low, rushbottomed chair, with their feet kept warm in a small tub or keeler, the shelled shrimps fly from their fingers to the basin which receives them almost as if they were discharged in a stream by machinery. To peel red shrimps and prawns, take the head between the thumb and second finger of the right hand ; take the tij) of the tail between the left finger and thumb ; with the nail of the right forefinger raise the section of the shell which fonns the knee or bend ; pinch the tail, and the naked flesh will be left attached to the head. Shrimps will not shell easily if they are at all stale.