The Book of Household Management Part 43

just before the close of the session. It is invariably the precursor of the prorogation of Parliament, and the repast is provided by the proprietor of the "Trafalgar," Greenwich.

FISH PIE, WITH TENCH AND EELS.

349. INGREDIENTS.--2 tench, 2 eels, 2 onions, a f.a.ggot of herbs, 4 blades of mace, 3 anchovies, 1 pint of water, pepper and salt to taste, 1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley, the yolks of 6 hard-boiled eggs, puff paste.

_Mode_.--Clean and bone the tench, skin and bone the eels, and cut them into pieces 2 inches long, and leave the sides of the tench whole. Put the bones into a stewpan with the onions, herbs, mace, anchovies, water, and seasoning, and let them simmer gently for 1 hour. Strain it off, put it to cool, and skim off all the fat. Lay the tench and eels in a pie-dish, and between each layer put seasoning, chopped parsley, and hard-boiled eggs; pour in part of the strained liquor, cover in with puff paste, and bake for 1/2 hour or rather more. The oven should be rather quick, and when done, heat the remainder of the liquor, which pour into the pie.

_Time_.--1/2 hour to bake, or rather more if the oven is slow.

FISH SCALLOP.

I.

350. INGREDIENTS.--Remains of cold fish of any sort, 1/2 pint of cream, 1/2 tablespoonful of anchovy sauce, 1/2 teaspoonful of made mustard, ditto of walnut ketchup, pepper and salt to taste (the above quant.i.ties are for 1/2 lb. of fish when picked); bread crumbs.

_Mode_.--Put all the ingredients into a stewpan, carefully picking the fish from the bones; set it on the fire, let it remain till nearly hot, occasionally stir the contents, but do not allow it to boil. When done, put the fish into a deep dish or scallop sh.e.l.l, with a good quant.i.ty of bread crumbs; place small pieces of b.u.t.ter on the top, set in a Dutch oven before the fire to brown, or use a salamander.

_Time_.--1/4 hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the cold fish, 10d.

II.

351. INGREDIENTS.--Any cold fish, 1 egg, milk, 1 large blade of pounded mace, 1 tablespoonful of flour, 1 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, pepper and salt to taste, bread crumbs, b.u.t.ter.

_Mode_.--Pick the fish carefully from the bones, and moisten with milk and the egg; add the other ingredients, and place in a deep dish or scallop sh.e.l.ls; cover with bread crumbs, b.u.t.ter the top, and brown before the fire; when quite hot, serve.

_Time_.--20 minutes. _Average cost_, exclusive of the cold fish, 4d.

WATER SOUCHY.

352. Perch, tench, soles, eels, and flounders are considered the best fish for this dish. For the souchy, put some water into a stewpan with a bunch of chopped parsley, some roots, and sufficient salt to make it brackish. Let these simmer for 1 hour, and then stew the fish in this water. When they are done, take them out to drain, have ready some finely-chopped parsley, and a few roots cut into slices of about one inch thick and an inch in length. Put the fish in a tureen or deep dish, strain the liquor over them, and add the minced parsley and roots. Serve with brown bread and b.u.t.ter.

353. SUPPLY OF FISH TO THE LONDON MARKET.--From Mr. Mayhew's work on "London Labour and the London Poor," and other sources, we are enabled to give the following table of the total annual supply of fish to the London market:--

Description of Fish. Number of Weight of Fish Fish in lbs WET FISH.

Salmon and Salmon-Trout(29,000 boxes, 14 fish per box) 406,000 3,480,000 Turbot, from 8 to 16 lbs. 800,000 5,600,000 Live Cod, averaging 10 lbs. each 400,000 4,000,000 Soles, averaging 1/4 lbs. each 97,520,000 26,880,000 Brill and Mullet, averaging 3 lbs. each 1,220,000 3,366,000 Whiting, averaging 6 oz. each 17,920,000 6,720,000 Haddock, averaging 2 lbs. each 2,470,000 4,940,000 Plaice, averaging 1 lb. each 33,600,000 33,600,000 Mackerel, averaging 1 lb ach 23,520,000 23,520,000 Fresh herrings (250,000 barrels, 700 fish per barrel) 175,000,000 42,000,000 Ditto in bulk 1,050,000,000 252,000,000 Sprats -- 4,000,000 Eels (from Holland princ.i.p.ally) England and Ireland 9,797,760 1,632,960 Flounders 259,200 48,200 Dabs 270,000 48,750

DRY FISH.

Barrelled Cod(15,000 barrels, 40 fish per barrel) 750,000 4,200,000 Dried Salt Cod, 5 lbs each 1,600,000 8,000,000 Smoked Haddock(65,000 barrels, 300 fish per barrel) 19,500,000 10,920,000 Bloaters, 265,000 baskets(150 fish per basket) 147,000,000 10,600,000 Red Herrings, 100,000 barrels(500 fish per barrel) 50,000,000 14,000,000 Dried Sprats, 9,600 large bundles (30 fish per bundle) 288,000 9,600

Sh.e.l.l FISH.

Oysters 495,896,000 Lobsters, averaging 1 lb each 1,200,000 1,200,000 Crabs, averaging 1 lb each 600,000 600,000 Shrimps, 324 to a pint 498,428,648 Whelks, 227 to a half-bushel 4,943,200 Mussels, 1000 to ditto 50,400,000 c.o.c.kles, 2000 to ditto 67,392,000 Periwinkles, 4000 to ditto 304,000,000

The whole of the above may be, in round numbers, reckoned to amount to the enormous number of 3,000,000,000 fish, with a weight of 300,000 tons.

ADDENDUM AND ANECDOTE.

It will be seen, from the number and variety of the recipes which we have been enabled to give under the head of FISH, that there exists in the salt ocean, and fresh-water rivers, an abundance of aliment, which the present state of gastronomic art enables the cook to introduce to the table in the most agreeable forms, and oftentimes at a very moderate cost.

Less nutritious as a food than the flesh of animals, more succulent than vegetables, fish may be termed a middle dish, suited to all temperaments and const.i.tutions; and one which those who are recovering from illness may partake of with safety and advantage.

As to which is the best fish, there has been much discussion. The old Latin proverb, however, _de gustibus non disputandum_, and the more modern Spanish one, _sobre los gustos no hai disputa_, declare, with equal force, that where _taste_ is concerned, no decision can be arrived at. Each person's palate may be differently affected--pleased or displeased; and there is no standard by which to judge why a red mullet, a sole, or a turbot, should be better or worse than a salmon, trout, pike, or a tiny tench.

Fish, as we have explained, is less nouris.h.i.+ng than meat; for it is lighter in weight, size for size, and contains no ozmazome (_see_ No.

100). Sh.e.l.l-fish, oysters particularly, furnish but little nutriment; and this is the reason why so many of the latter can be eaten without injury to the system.

In Brillat Savarin's [Footnote: Brillat Savarin was a French lawyer and judge of considerable eminence and great talents, and wrote, under the above t.i.tle, a book on gastronomy, full of instructive information, enlivened with a fund of pleasantly-told anecdote.] clever and amusing volume, "The Physiology of Taste," he says, that towards the end of the eighteenth century it was a most common thing for a well-arranged entertainment in Paris to commence with oysters, and that many guests were not contented without swallowing twelve dozen. Being anxious to know the weight of this advanced-guard, he ascertained that a dozen oysters, fluid included, weighed 4 ounces,--thus, the twelve dozen would weigh about 3 lbs.; and there can be no doubt, that the same persons who made no worse a dinner on account of having partaken of the oysters, would have been completely satisfied if they had eaten the same weight of chicken or mutton. An anecdote, perfectly well authenticated, is narrated of a French gentleman (M. Laperte), residing at Versailles, who was extravagantly fond of oysters, declaring he never had enough.

Savarin resolved to procure him the satisfaction, and gave him an invitation to dinner, which was duly accepted. The guest arrived, and his host kept company with him in swallowing the delicious bivalves up to the tenth dozen, when, exhausted, he gave up, and let M. Laperte go on alone. This gentleman managed to eat thirty-two dozen within an hour, and would doubtless have got through more, but the person who opened them is described as not being very skilful. In the interim Savarin was idle, and at length, tired with his painful state of inaction, he said to Laperte, whilst the latter was still in full career, "Mon cher, you will not eat as many oysters to-day as you meant; let us dine." They dined, and the insatiable oyster-eater acted at the repast as if he had fasted for a week.

FISH CARVING.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR CARVING FISH.

In carving fish, care should be taken to help it in perfect flakes, as, if these are broken, the beauty of the fish is lost. The carver should be acquainted, too, with the choicest parts and morsels; and to give each guest an equal share of these _t.i.tbits_ should be his maxim. Steel knives and forks should on no account be used in helping fish, as these are liable to impart to it a very disagreeable flavour. Where silver fish-carvers are considered too dear to be bought, good electro-plated ones answer very well, and are inexpensive. The prices set down for them by Messrs. Slack, of the Strand, are from a guinea upwards.

COD'S HEAD AND SHOULDERS.

(For recipe, see No. 232; and for mode of serving, Coloured Plate C.)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

First run the knife along the centre of the side of the fish, namely, from _d_ to _b_, down to the bone; then carve it in unbroken slices downwards from _d_ to _e_, or upwards from _d_ to _c_, as shown in the engraving. The carver should ask the guests if they would like a portion of the roe and liver.

_Note_.--Of this fish, the parts about the backbone and shoulders are the firmest, and most esteemed by connoisseurs. The sound, which lines the fish beneath the backbone, is considered a delicacy, as are also the gelatinous parts about the head and neck.

SALMON.

(For recipe, see No. 301; and for mode of dressing, Coloured Plate B.)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

First run the knife quite down to the bone, along the side of the fish, from _a_ to _b_, and also from _c_ to _d_. Then help the thick part lengthwise, that is, in the direction of the lines from _a_ to _b_; and the thin part breadthwise, that is, in the direction of the lines from _e_ to _f_, as shown in the engraving. A slice of the thick part should always be accompanied by a smaller piece of the thin from the belly, where lies the fat of the fish.

_Note_.--Many persons, in carving salmon, make the mistake of slicing the thick part of this fish in the opposite direction to that we have stated; and thus, by the breaking of the flakes, the beauty of its appearance is destroyed.

BOILED OR FRIED SOLE.

(For recipes, see Nos. 321 and 327.)