The European cookbook for American homes (from Italy, Spain, Portugal and France)

and saffron. Pour in enough boiling water to cover and simmer 15 minutes. In another pan melt remaining tablespoon butter. Add flour and brown. Pour in 1 cup broth from the cooking vegetables, stir until well blended. Pour into a fireproof dish, add vegetables; lay the tunny on top, and keep hot in oven or over steam for 10 minutes, so the flavors will penetrate the fish. The tunny is a glorified giant mackerel, growing to ten feet in length. Before cooking, its meat is blood red. It is preserved in large tins, imported by Italian grocers, who sell the fish in bulk by the pound at a cheaper price than the small individual tins used for hors d'oeuvres. SALMON PANCAKE (Tortilla de Salmon) 2 eggs Yi teaspoon salt 1 cup canned salmon 1 teaspoon minced parsley 1 tablespoon butter, melted Beat the eggs and shred the salmon. Mix lightly and add the salt and parsley. Form in the shape of a thick pancake and fry in the butter. EEL WHITEBAIT (Angulas Frit a) Angulas are little, almost transparent, newly spawned eels, about 2 inches long, although the term includes the whitebait of other finny species. They are netted before dawn and never kept over 24 hours. Fried in deep olive oil so crisp that they roll off the fork, and brought to the table with the oil still popping, they are delicious. SQUID A LA CATALANA (Calamares con Guisantes Cataland) 6 medium-sized squid l/z teaspoon saffron 2 onions, sliced l/i teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons olive oil i bay leaf, minced i garlic clove, minced i cup claret i teaspoon minced parsley i cup boiling water i large tomato, chopped Salt 4 peppercorns, ground 2 cups young peas, cooked 2 tablespoons butter Wash, clean and pound the flesh of the squid, then cut into pieces. Slowly fry the onions in olive oil; add the garlic and parsley and fry until golden. Add the tomato, and when bubbling put in the squid and mix well. Add pepper, saffron, cinnamon and bay leaf and cook 5 minutes. Add wine and water, cover close and simmer 2 hours. When tender add salt. Drain peas, add butter, mix with the squid and serve very hot. Squid is plentiful along the Mediterranean coast and the Catalans make succulent dishes of it, the most notable being calamares en su tinta, squid in its own ink. Another, just as strange to the foreign palate, is squid cooked with chocolate. SPANISH SQUID (Calamares Espanol) 6 medium-sized squid Cayenne % cup olive oil Yz cup orange flower water 1 garlic clove, minced 2 tablespoons vinegar Salt Wash the squid well and cut into pieces. Heat the oil in a sauce pan and brown the garlic and squid, turning them constantly. Cool slightly, add cayenne, orange flower water and vinegar; simmer until tender, keeping closely covered to retain flavor. Add salt only after the squid is done. If desired, a little boiling water may be added and the sauce thickened with flour. The orange flower water is a Moorish touch, borrowed from the Arabs of North Africa, who substituted it for the rose water so prominent in the cooking of Asia Minor. PAINTING THE EEL RED (Pintarrajas a Anquilas) 1 (3-pound) eel 1 cup roasted almonds 3 tablespoons vinegar Juice l/2 lemon 2 garlic cloves, minced Salt 1 tablespoon minced parsley 1 egg yolk, beaten 2 tablespoons olive oil