The Cook Book, by "Oscar" of the Waldorf

Choose perch of a moderate size, fresh from the water ; scale and clean them, and dry them in a napkin. Melt a good quantity of butter with some salt, let it be thick when it has cooled a little ; dip the perch in it, and roll it about till the butter sticks well to every part of it ; then set a gridiron over a very clear fire, but let it stand some distance from the fire, for the perch must be well cooked before it is browned. Serve on a bed of fried parsley, garnish with quarters of lemon. Fried Perch. Scale, clean and wash the perch, dry them thoroughly and flour them. Put some dripping in a fryingpan and when boiling put the fish in, fry till nicely browned on both sides. Place them on a folded napkin or ornamental dish paper on a hot dish, garnish with fried parsley, and serve with a sauceboatful of butter sauce. Perch, German Style. Scale and clean two moderately large perch and put them in a stewpan. Finely mince the red part of two carrots, some roots of parsley and celery, put them in the stewpan with the fish, with a bunch of parsley, one onion and a little salt, cover the perch with white wine and let them boil over a moderate fire for twenty minutes. Take the fish oiit when cooked, drain and place them on a hot dish. Take the bunch of parsley and onions out of the stewpan, then put in with the vegetables some finely minced raw mushrooms, and cook them for five minutes ; then stir in a piece of butter kneaded with flour to thicken it ; take the stewpan off the fire, put in some more butter, cut in small pieces, but not kneaded, add the strained juice of two lemons, pour it over the fish and serve. Perch, Normandy Style. Scale and clean the perch, put some chopped onions at the bottom of a flat stewpan and put in the perch, with a bunch of parsley, some trimmings of fresh mushrooms, a little salt and white wine to cover. When the liquid is boiling move the stewpan to the side of the fire and keep the contents simmering for fifteen minutes. Prepare a garnish with some quenelles, mushrooms, oysters, and mussels, reserving the liquor of the oysters and mushrooms. Drain the liquor off the fish through a fine hair sieve into a sautepan and boil it till reduced to half; then take the pan off the fire, thicken the sauce with kneaded butter, divided into small pieces, stirring all the time, then add a liaison of the yolks of three eggs. Put the perch on a hot dish, pour the sauce over it, put the prepared garnish round, glaze it under a salamander and serve. Perch, Silesian Style. Draw and clean two or three fine perch, but do not scale them. Put some water in a saucepan with a bunch of parsley, a little vinegar and salt and boil it; then plunge the perch into it and boil for twenty minutes. Make the following sauce: Put in a stewpan two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, a few sprigs of parsley, a little tarragon, two chopped shallots, a bay leaf, and four or five peppercorns. Boil the liquid till reduced to half its original quantity. Leave it till cool, then mix with it a teacupful of melted glaze, the beaten yolks of six eggs, four ounces of butter and a little salt, stir the sauce over a very slow fire to thicken without letting it boil. Place the same in a bain-marie and whisk it, adding gradually some small pieces of butter. When frothy put in a teacupful of brown sauce and about two tablespoonfuls of grated horseradish. Remove the perch carefully with a skimmer, scrape the scales off, dip the fish in the cooking liquor, then wipe them in a cloth; put them in a hot dish, pour the prepared sauce over them, first mixing with it a little chopped parsley and a few capers and serve. Care must be taken to remove the scales quite cleanly or they will spoil the dish. Baked Pike.