Fish should always be well done ; baked or fried, it is most palatable,
though some prefer it boiled. When one has no fish kettle (made pur-
posely to boil the fish), wrap it in a cloth, lay in a circle on a plate and
set it in the kettle. When done the fish may be lifted entire out of the
kettle without breaking, and can then be removed to the platter. In
boiling fish allow five to ten minutes to the pound, according to thick-
ness, after putting it in the water. To test, pass a knife along a bone,
and if done the flesh will separate easily. The addition of salt and
vinegar to water in which fish is boiled seasons the fish and at the same
time hardens the water, thus much improving the fish. In boiling fish
always plunge it into boiling water and then let it simmer gently until
472 FISH.
done. In case of salmon, put into tepid water instead of hot, to pre-
serve the rich color.
To fry fish, dip it in egg and bread crumbs, and use lard, not butter.
Garnish with parsley, celery tops or lemon. Halibut is best cut in
slices and fried or boiled. Bass are good any way. Salt shad and
mackerel must be soaked over night for broiling. Sturgeons are best
fried. Black and white fish are best broiled or fried. A broiled fish is
done when the eyes turn white.
Cod frizzled, that is, cut in slices and wrapped round with greased
paper, then placed in a covered pan just greased, and either put in the
oven or on top of the stove and frizzled till done, is a very nice dish.
Mackerel merely steamed, with no sauce, eaten with vinegar, or oil
and vinegar, is delicious.
Eels stewed in a plain sauce are nice, if not too fat. Make a sauce
with hot butter, flour and warm water ; add a little vinegar, some pep-
percorns and a clove, also a finely chopped onion. Place the eels, cut
in pieces, in the sauce, cover and let simmer twenty minutes or so.
Cook halibut in white sauce. Make the sauce with hot butter,
flour, warm milk ; flavor with pepper, salt, and a little mace, add half a
handful of chopped parsley, and put the piece of halibut in. Stew for
half an hour and trim with lemon in serving.
Along the Atlantic coast there is a great variety of fish. The blue
fish is excellent, boiled or baked, with a dressing of bread, butter and
onions. Sea bass are boiled with egg sauce and garnished with parsley.
Salmon are baked, boiled and broiled, and smelts are cooked by drop-
ping into boiling fat.
One of the most essential things in serving fish is to have everything
hot and quickly dished, so that all may go to the table at once. Serve
fresh fish with squash and green peas ; salt fish with beets and carrots,
salt pork and potatoes, and parsnips with either.
BROOK TROUT.
Page 397
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Fish should always be well done ; baked or fried, it is most palatable, though some prefer it boiled. When one has no fish kettle (made purposely to boil the fish), wrap it in a cloth, lay in a circle on a plate and set it in the kettle. When done the fish may be lifted entire out of the kettle without breaking, and can then be removed to the platter. In boiling fish allow five to ten minutes to the pound, according to thickness, after putting it in the water. To test, pass a knife along a bone, and if done the flesh will separate easily. The addition of salt and vinegar to water in which fish is boiled seasons the fish and at the same time hardens the water, thus much improving the fish. In boiling fish always plunge it into boiling water and then let it simmer gently until
done. In case of salmon, put into tepid water instead of hot, to preserve the rich color.
To fry fish, dip it in egg and bread crumbs, and use lard, not butter. Garnish with parsley, celery tops or lemon. Halibut is best cut in slices and fried or boiled. Bass are good any way. Salt shad and mackerel must be soaked over night for broiling. Sturgeons are best fried. Black and white fish are best broiled or fried. A broiled fish is done when the eyes turn white.
Cod frizzled, that is, cut in slices and wrapped round with greased paper, then placed in a covered pan just greased, and either put in the oven or on top of the stove and frizzled till done, is a very nice dish.
Mackerel merely steamed, with no sauce, eaten with vinegar, or oil and vinegar, is delicious.
Eels stewed in a plain sauce are nice, if not too fat. Make a sauce with hot butter, flour and warm water ; add a little vinegar, some peppercorns and a clove, also a finely chopped onion. Place the eels, cut in pieces, in the sauce, cover and let simmer twenty minutes or so.
Cook halibut in white sauce. Make the sauce with hot butter, flour, warm milk ; flavor with pepper, salt, and a little mace, add half a handful of chopped parsley, and put the piece of halibut in. Stew for half an hour and trim with lemon in serving.
Along the Atlantic coast there is a great variety of fish. The blue fish is excellent, boiled or baked, with a dressing of bread, butter and onions. Sea bass are boiled with egg sauce and garnished with parsley. Salmon are baked, boiled and broiled, and smelts are cooked by dropping into boiling fat.
One of the most essential things in serving fish is to have everything hot and quickly dished, so that all may go to the table at once. Serve fresh fish with squash and green peas ; salt fish with beets and carrots, salt pork and potatoes, and parsnips with either.
BROOK TROUT.