Book of Household Management — 014 - Recipes. Chapter 8. Part 1.

CHAPTER VIII. FISH.

[_Nothing is more difficult than to give the average prices of Fish, inasmuch as a few hours of bad weather at sea will, in the space of one day, cause such a difference in its supply, that the same fish--a turbot for instance--which may be bought to-day for six or seven shillings, will, to-morrow, be, in the London markets, worth, perhaps, almost as many pounds.

The average costs, therefore, which will be found appended to each recipe, must be understood as about the average price for the different kinds of fish, when the market is supplied upon an average, and when the various sorts are of an average size and quality.

_ GENERAL RULE IN CHOOSING FISH.

--_A proof of freshness and goodness in most fishes, is their being covered with scales; for, if deficient in this respect, it is a sign of their being stale, or having been ill-used.

_] FRIED ANCHOVIES.

226. INGREDIENTS.

--1 tablespoonful of oil, 1/2 a glass of white wine, sufficient flour to thicken; 12 anchovies.

_Mode_.

--Mix the oil and wine together, with sufficient flour to make them into a thickish paste; cleanse the anchovies, wipe them, dip them in the paste, and fry of a nice brown colour.

_Time_.

--1/2 hour.

_Average cost_ for this quantity, 9d.

_Seasonable_ all the year.

_Sufficient_ for 2 persons.

[Illustration: THE ANCHOVY.

] THE ANCHOVY.

--In his book of "British Fishes," Mr. Yarrell states that "the anchovy is a common fish in the Mediterranean, from Greece to Gibraltar, and was well known to the Greeks and Romans, by whom the liquor prepared from it, called _garum_, was in great estimation.

Its extreme range is extended into the Black Sea.

The fishing for them is carried on during the night, and lights are used with the nets.

The anchovy is common on the coasts of Portugal, Spain, and France.

It occurs, I have no doubt, at the Channel Islands, and has been taken on the Hampshire coast, and in the Bristol Channel."

Other fish, of inferior quality, but resembling the real Gorgona anchovy, are frequently sold for it, and passed off as genuine.

ANCHOVY BUTTER OR PASTE.

227. INGREDIENTS.

--2 dozen anchovies, 1/2 lb.

of fresh butter.

_Mode_.

--Wash the anchovies thoroughly; bone and dry them, and pound them in a mortar to a paste.

Mix the butter gradually with them, and rub the whole through a sieve.

Put it by in small pots for use, and carefully exclude the air with a bladder, as it soon changes the colour of anchovies, besides spoiling them.

_Average cost_ for this quantity, 2s.

POTTED ANCHOVIES.

POTTED ANCHOVIES are made in the same way, by adding pounded mace, cayenne, and nutmeg to taste.

ANCHOVY TOAST.

228. INGREDIENTS.

--Toast 2 or 3 slices of bread, or, if wanted very savoury, fry them in clarified butter, and spread on them the paste, No. 227. Made mustard, or a few grains of cayenne, may be added to the paste before laying it on the toast.

ANCHOVY PASTE.

--"When some delicate zest," says a work just issued on the adulterations of trade, "is required to make the plain English breakfast more palatable, many people are in the habit of indulging in what they imagine to be anchovies.

These fish are preserved in a kind of pickling-bottle, carefully corked down, and surrounded by a red-looking liquor, resembling in appearance diluted clay.

The price is moderate, one shilling only being demanded for the luxury.

When these anchovies are what is termed potted, it implies that the fish have been pounded into the consistency of a paste, and then placed in flat pots, somewhat similar in shape to those used for pomatum.

This paste is usually eaten spread upon toast, and is said to form an excellent _bonne bouche_, which enables gentlemen at wine-parties to enjoy their port with redoubled gusto.

Unfortunately, in six cases out of ten, the only portion of these preserved delicacies, that contains anything indicative of anchovies, is the paper label pasted on the bottle or pot, on which the word itself is printed....

All the samples of anchovy paste, analyzed by different medical men, have been found to be highly and vividly coloured with very large quantities of bole Armenian."

The anchovy itself, when imported, is of a dark dead colour, and it is to make it a bright "handsome-looking sauce" that this red earth is used.

BARBEL.

229. INGREDIENTS.

--1/2 pint of port wine, a saltspoonful of salt, 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 2 sliced onions, a faggot of sweet herbs, nutmeg and mace to taste, the juice of a lemon, 2 anchovies; 1 or 2 barbels, according to size.

_Mode_--Boil the barbels in salt and water till done; pour off some of the water, and, to the remainder, put the ingredients mentioned above.

Simmer gently for 1/2 hour, or rather more, and strain.

Put in the fish;

heat it gradually; but do not let it boil, or it will be broken.

_Time_.

--Altogether 1 hour.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

_Seasonable_ from September to November.

[Illustration: THE BARBEL.

] THE BARBEL,--This fish takes its name from the barbs or wattels at its mouth; and, in England, is esteemed as one of the worst of the fresh-water fish.

It was, however, formerly, if not now, a favourite with the Jews, excellent cookers of fish.

Others would boil with it a piece of bacon, that it might have a relish.

It is to be met with from two to three or four feet long, and is said to live to a great age.

From Putney upwards, in the Thames, some are found of large size; but they are valued only as affording sport to the brethren of the angle.

BRILL.

230. INGREDIENTS.

--1/4 lb.

of salt to each gallon of water; a little vinegar.

_Mode_.

--Clean the brill, cut off the fins, and rub it over with a little lemon-juice, to preserve its whiteness.

Set the fish in sufficient cold water to cover it; throw in salt, in the above proportions, and a little vinegar, and bring it gradually to boil;

simmer very gently till the fish is done, which will be in about 10 minutes; but the time for boiling, of course, depends entirely on the size of the fish.

Serve it on a hot napkin, and garnish with cut lemon, parsley, horseradish, and a little lobster coral sprinkled over the fish.

Send lobster or shrimp sauce and plain melted butter to table with it.

_Time_.

--After the water boils, a small brill, 10 minutes; a large brill, 15 to 20 minutes.

_Average cost_, from 4s.

to 8s.

_Seasonable_ from August to April.

[Illustration: THE BRILL.

] THE BRILL.

--This fish resembles the sole, but is broader, and when large, is esteemed by many in a scarcely less degree than the turbot, whilst it is much cheaper.

It is a fine fish, and is abundant in the London market.

TO CHOOSE BRILL.

--The flesh of this fish, like that of turbot, should be of a yellowish tint, and should be chosen on account of its thickness.

If the flesh has a bluish tint, it is not good.

CODFISH.

231. Cod may be boiled whole; but a large head and shoulders are quite sufficient for a dish, and contain all that is usually helped, because, when the thick part is done, the tail is insipid and overdone.

The latter, cut in slices, makes a very good dish for frying; or it may be salted down and served with egg sauce and parsnips.

Cod, when boiled quite fresh, is watery; salting a little, renders it firmer.

[Illustration: THE COD.

] THE COD TRIBE.

--The Jugular, characterized by bony gills, and ventral fins before the pectoral ones, commences the second of the Linnaean orders of fishes, and is a numerous tribe, inhabiting only the depths of the ocean, and seldom visiting the fresh waters.

They have a smooth head, and the gill membrane has seven rays.

The body is oblong, and covered with deciduous scales.

The fins are all inclosed in skin, whilst their rays are unarmed.

The ventral fins are slender, and terminate in a point.

Their habits are gregarious, and they feed on smaller fish and other marine animals.

COD'S HEAD AND SHOULDERS.

232. INGREDIENTS.

--Sufficient water to cover the fish; 5 oz.

of salt to each gallon of water.

_Mode_.

--Cleanse the fish thoroughly, and rub a little salt over the thick part and inside of the fish, 1 or 2 hours before dressing it, as this very much improves the flavour.

Lay it in the fish-kettle, with sufficient cold water to cover it.

Be very particular not to pour the water on the fish, as it is liable to break it, and only keep it just simmering.

If the water should boil away, add a little by pouring it in at the side of the kettle, and not on the fish.

Add salt in the above proportion, and bring it gradually to a boil.

Skim very carefully, draw it to the side of the fire, and let it gently simmer till done.

Take it out and drain it; serve on a hot napkin, and garnish with cut lemon, horseradish, the roe and liver.

(_See_ Coloured Plate C. ) _Time_.

--According to size, 1/2 an hour, more or less.

_Average cost_, from 3s.

to 6s.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 8 persons.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Note_.

--Oyster sauce and plain melted butter should be served with this.

TO CHOOSE COD.

--The cod should be chosen for the table when it is plump and round near the tail, when the hollow behind the head is deep, and when the sides are undulated as if they were ribbed.

The glutinous parts about the head lose their delicate flavour, after the fish has been twenty-four hours out of the water.

The great point by which the cod should be judged is the firmness of its flesh; and, although the cod is not firm when it is alive, its quality may be arrived at by pressing the finger into the flesh.

If this rises immediately, the fish is good; if not, it is stale.

Another sign of its goodness is, if the fish, when it is cut, exhibits a bronze appearance, like the silver side of a round of beef.

When this is the case, the flesh will be firm when cooked.

Stiffness in a cod, or in any other fish, is a sure sign of freshness, though not always of quality.

Sometimes, codfish, though exhibiting signs of rough usage, will eat much better than those with red gills, so strongly recommended by many cookery-books.

This appearance is generally caused by the fish having been knocked about at sea, in the well-boats, in which they are conveyed from the fishing-grounds to market.

SALT COD, COMMONLY CALLED "SALT-FISH."

233. INGREDIENTS.

--Sufficient water to cover the fish.

_Mode_.

--Wash the fish, and lay it all night in water, with a 1/4 pint of vinegar.

When thoroughly soaked, take it out, see that it is perfectly clean, and put it in the fish-kettle with sufficient cold water to cover it.

Heat it gradually, but do not let it boil much, or the fish will be hard.

Skim well, and when done, drain the fish and put it on a napkin garnished with hard-boiled eggs cut in rings.

_Time_.

--About 1 hour.

_Average cost_, 6d.

per lb.

_Seasonable_ in the spring.

_Sufficient_ for each person, 1/4 lb.

_Note_.

--Serve with egg sauce and parsnips.

This is an especial dish on Ash Wednesday.

PRESERVING COD.

--Immediately as the cod are caught, their heads are cut off.

They are then opened, cleaned, and salted, when they are stowed away in the hold of the vessel, in beds of five or six yards square, head to tail, with a layer of salt to each layer of fish.

When they have lain in this state three or four days, in order that the water may drain from them, they are shifted into a different part of the vessel, and again salted.

Here they remain till the vessel is loaded, when they are sometimes cut into thick pieces and packed in barrels for the greater convenience of carriage.

COD SOUNDS.

Should be well soaked in salt and water, and thoroughly washed before dressing them.

They are considered a great delicacy, and may either be broiled, fried, or boiled: if they are boiled, mix a little milk with the water.

COD SOUNDS, EN POULE.

234. INGREDIENTS.

--For forcemeat, 12 chopped oysters, 3 chopped anchovies, 1/4 lb.

of bread crumbs, 1 oz.

of butter, 2 eggs; seasoning of salt, pepper, nutmeg, and mace to taste; 4 cod sounds.

_Mode_.

--Make the forcemeat by mixing the ingredients well together.

Wash the sounds, and boil them in milk and water for 1/2 an hour; take them out and let them cool.

Cover each with a layer of forcemeat, roll them up in a nice form, and skewer them.

Rub over with lard, dredge with flour, and cook them gently before the fire in a Dutch oven.

_Time_.

--1 hour.

_Average cost_, 6d.

per lb.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

THE SOUNDS IN CODFISH.

--These are the air or swimming bladders, by means of which the fishes are enabled to ascend or descend in the water.

In the Newfoundland fishery they are taken out previous to incipient putrefaction, washed from their slime and salted for exportation.

The tongues are also cured and packed up in barrels; whilst, from the livers, considerable quantities of oil are extracted, this oil having been found possessed of the most nourishing properties, and particularly beneficial in cases of pulmonary affections.

COD PIE.

(_Economical_.

) I.

235. INGREDIENTS.

--Any remains of cold cod, 12 oysters, sufficient melted butter to moisten it; mashed potatoes enough to fill up the dish.

_Mode_.

--Flake the fish from the bone, and carefully take away all the skin.

Lay it in a pie-dish, pour over the melted butter and oysters (or oyster sauce, if there is any left), and cover with mashed potatoes.

Bake for 1/2 an hour, and send to table of a nice brown colour.

_Time_.

--1/2 hour.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

II.

236. INGREDIENTS.

--2 slices of cod; pepper and salt to taste; 1/2 a teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 1 large blade of pounded mace, 2 oz.

of butter, 1/2 pint of stock No. 107, a paste crust (_see_ Pastry).

For sauce, 1 tablespoonful of stock, 1/4 pint of cream or milk, thickening of flour or butter; lemon-peel chopped very fine to taste; 12 oysters.

_Mode_.

--Lay the cod in salt for 4 hours, then wash it and place it in a dish; season, and add the butter and stock; cover with the crust, and bake for 1 hour, or rather more.

Now make the sauce, by mixing the ingredients named above; give it one boil, and pour it into the pie by a hole made at the top of the crust, which can easily be covered by a small piece of pastry cut and baked in any fanciful shape--such as a leaf, or otherwise.

_Time_.

--1-1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, with fresh fish, 2s.

6d.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 6 persons.

_Note_.

--The remains of cold fish may be used for this pie.

CURRIED COD.

237. INGREDIENTS.

--2 slices of large cod, or the remains of any cold fish; 3 oz.

of butter, 1 onion sliced, a teacupful of white stock, thickening of butter and flour, 1 small teaspoonful of curry-powder, 1/4 pint of cream, salt and cayenne to taste.

_Mode_.

--Flake the fish, and fry it of a nice brown colour with the butter and onions; put this in a stewpan, add the stock and thickening, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir the curry-powder into the cream; put it, with the seasoning, to the other ingredients; give one boil, and serve.

_Time_.

--3/4 hour.

_Average cost_, with fresh fish, 3s.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

THE FOOD OF THE COD.

--This chiefly consists of the smaller species of the scaly tribes, shell-fish, crabs, and worms.

Their voracity is very great, and they will bite at any small body they see moved by the water, even stones and pebbles, which are frequently found in their stomachs.

They sometimes attain a great size, but their usual weight is from 14 to 40 lbs.

COD A LA CREME.

238. INGREDIENTS.

--1 large slice of cod, 1 oz.

of butter, 1 chopped shalot, a little minced parsley, 1/4 teacupful of white stock, 1/4 pint of milk or cream, flour to thicken, cayenne and lemon-juice to taste, 1/4 teaspoonful of powdered sugar.

_Mode_.

--Boil the cod, and while hot, break it into flakes; put the butter, shalot, parsley, and stock into a stewpan, and let them boil for 5 minutes.

Stir in sufficient flour to thicken, and pour to it the milk or cream.

Simmer for 10 minutes, add the cayenne and sugar, and, when liked, a little lemon-juice.

Put the fish in the sauce to warm gradually, but do not let it boil.

Serve in a dish garnished with croûtons.

_Time_.

--Rather more than 1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, with cream, 2s.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 3 persons.

_Note_.

--The remains of fish from the preceding day answer very well for this dish.

COD A LA BECHAMEL.

239. INGREDIENTS.

--Any remains of cold cod, 4 tablespoonfuls of béchamel (_see_ Sauces), 2 oz.

butter; seasoning to taste of pepper and salt;

fried bread, a few bread crumbs.

_Mode_.

--Flake the cod carefully, leaving out all skin and bone; put the béchamel in a stewpan with the butter, and stir it over the fire till the latter is melted; add seasoning, put in the fish, and mix it well with the sauce.

Make a border of fried bread round the dish, lay in the fish, sprinkle over with bread crumbs, and baste with butter.

Brown either before the fire or with a salamander, and garnish with toasted bread cut in fanciful shapes.

_Time_.

--1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the fish, 6d.

THE HABITAT OF THE COD.

--This fish is found only in the seas of the northern parts of the world, between the latitudes of 45° and 66°.

Its great rendezvous are the sandbanks of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and New England.

These places are its favourite resorts; for there it is able to obtain great quantities of worms, a food peculiarly grateful to it.

Another cause of its attachment to these places has been said to be on account of the vicinity to the Polar seas, where it returns to spawn.

Few are taken north of Iceland, and the shoals never reach so far south as the Straits of Gibraltar.

Many are taken on the coasts of Norway, in the Baltic, and off the Orkneys, which, prior to the discovery of Newfoundland, formed one of the principal fisheries.

The London market is supplied by those taken between the Dogger Bank, the Well Bank, and Cromer, on the east coast of England.

COD A LA MAITRE D'HOTEL.

240. INGREDIENTS.

--2 slices of cod, 1/4 lb.

of butter, a little chopped shalot and parsley; pepper to taste, 1/4 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, or rather less, when the flavour is not liked; the juice of 1/4 lemon.

_Mode_.

--Boil the cod, and either leave it whole, or, what is still better, flake it from the bone, and take off the skin.

Put it into a stewpan with the butter, parsley, shalot, pepper, and nutmeg.

Melt the butter gradually, and be very careful that it does not become like oil.

When all is well mixed and thoroughly hot, add the lemon-juice, and serve.

_Time_.

--1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, 2s.

6d.

; with remains of cold fish, 5d.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

_Note_.

--Cod that has been left will do for this.

THE SEASON FOR FISHING COD.

--The best season for catching cod is from the beginning of February to the end of April; and although each fisherman engaged in taking them, catches no more than one at a time, an expert hand will sometimes take four hundred in a day.

The employment is excessively fatiguing, from the weight of the fish as well as from the coldness of the climate.

COD A L'ITALIENNE.

241. INGREDIENTS.

--2 slices of crimped cod, 1 shalot, 1 slice of ham minced very fine, 1/2 pint of white stock, No. 107; when liked, 1/2 teacupful of cream; salt to taste; a few drops of garlic vinegar, a little lemon-juice, 1/2 teaspoonful of powdered sugar.

_Mode_.

--Chop the shalots, mince the ham very fine, pour on the stock, and simmer for 15 minutes.

If the colour should not be good, add cream in the above proportion, and strain it through a fine sieve; season it, and put in the vinegar, lemon-juice, and sugar.

Now boil the cod, take out the middle bone, and skin it; put it on the dish without breaking, and pour the sauce over it.

_Time_.

--3/4 hour.

_Average cost_, 3s.

6d.

, with fresh fish.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

THE FECUNDITY OF THE COD.

--In our preceding remarks on the natural history of fishes, we have spoken of the amazing fruitfulness of this fish; but in this we see one more instance of the wise provision which Nature has made for supplying the wants of man.

So extensive has been the consumption of this fish, that it is surprising that it has not long ago become extinct; which would certainly have been the case, had it not been for its wonderful powers of reproduction.

"So early as 1368," says Dr. Cloquet, "the inhabitants of Amsterdam had dispatched fishermen to the coast of Sweden; and in the first quarter of 1792, from the ports of France only, 210 vessels went out to the cod-fisheries.

Every year, however, upwards of 10,000 vessels, of all nations, are employed in this trade, and bring into the commercial world more than 40,000,000 of salted and dried cod.

If we add to this immense number, the havoc made among the legions of cod by the larger scaly tribes of the great deep, and take into account the destruction to which the young are exposed by sea-fowls and other inhabitants of the seas, besides the myriads of their eggs destroyed by accident, it becomes a miracle to find that such mighty multitudes of them are still in existence, and ready to continue the exhaustless supply.

Yet it ceases to excite our wonder when we remember that the female can every year give birth to more than 9,000,000 at a time."

BAKED CARP.

242. INGREDIENTS--1 carp, forcemeat, bread crumbs, 1 oz.

butter, 1/2 pint of stock No. 105, 1/2 pint of port wine, 6 anchovies, 2 onions sliced, 1 bay-leaf, a faggot of sweet herbs, flour to thicken, the juice of 1 lemon; cayenne and salt to taste; 1/2 teaspoonful of powdered sugar.

_Mode_.

--Stuff the carp with a delicate forcemeat, after thoroughly cleansing it, and sew it up to prevent the stuffing from falling out.