The Art of Living in Australia Part 33

SALT FISH

To cook salt fish it should be soaked in cold water for twelve hours, then well washed in fresh water, sc.r.a.ped and cleaned. Lay it in a fish-kettle, cover with cold water, then simmer very gently indeed for one hour and a half, according to the thickness of the fish. It should be dished on a serviette, and garnished with sprigs of parsley and slices of lemon. Send it to table with boiled parsnips and egg sauce.

DEVILLED SARDINES

* 1 tin Sardines--6d.

* 1/2 oz. Mustard--1/2d.

* b.u.t.tered Toast *

* Cayenne--1d.

* Total Cost--71/2 d.

* Time--5 Minutes *

Make the mustard with vinegar instead of water, and stir into it some cayenne and salt. Rub the sardines over with this, and either fry them in a little dripping or grill them. Cut the toast into fingers, lay a sardine on each piece, and serve hot. Sardines are also very good dipped in French batter and fried and served with fried parsley.

FISH A L'AURORE

* 1 Jew-fish--9d.

* 1/2 Small Onion *

* 1/2 teaspoonful Parsley *

* 1 Egg *

* 1/2 pint White Sauce *

* Pepper and Salt--3d.

* Total Cost--1s.

* Time--30 Minutes.

Put some dripping on a tin dish, lay the fish in it, and cover with a b.u.t.tered paper and bake in the oven for twenty minutes. Take it out, split open and take out the centre bone; sprinkle the inside of the fish with finely chopped onion and parsley, pepper, and salt. Put back the upper fillet, trim away some of the bones, pour over the melted b.u.t.ter or white sauce, and put back into the oven for ten minutes. Boil the egg hard, remove the sh.e.l.l, take out the yolk and either chop it or rub it through a sieve, cut the white into shapes.

Take the fish from the oven and decorate the top with the yolk and white of egg; serve hot.

FILLETS A LA ORLY

* 2 Bream--8d.

* Lemon Juice *

* Parsley *

* Half an Onion *

* 1/2 pint Tomato Sauce *

* Pepper and Salt--3d.

* Total Cost--11d.

* Time--5 Minutes *

Fillet the fish and lay them in a dish; sprinkle them well with lemon juice, pepper, salt and parsley. Lay over them some slices of onion and leave them for an hour, then fry them either in batter or flour. Drain them for a few moments on kitchen paper, and serve on a dish very hot with some good thick tomato sauce in a sauce-boat.

SCANDINAVIAN PUDDING

* 2 Bream--8d.

* 2 Eggs--2d.

* 1/2 pint Milk--1d.

* 1/2 lb. Flour *

* Pepper and Salt *

* 1/2 pint Fish Sauce--2d.

* Total Cost--1s. 1d.

* Time--One Hour.

Fillet the fish, skin and chop very find; sift the flour into a basin, drop in the eggs, and make into a batter with the milk. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the chopped fish. b.u.t.ter a basin, pour in the mixture and boil for one hour; turn out of the basin and serve with melted b.u.t.ter sauce, flavoured with anchovy, or with any other fish-sauce that may be preferred.

OYSTERS AND POTATOES

* 1 bottle Oysters--1s.

* 4 Cold Potatoes--1d.

* 1 Egg--1d.

* 2 oz. Flour *

* Pepper and Salt--1/2d.

* Total Cost--1s. 21/2 d.

* Time--20 Minutes.

Mash the potatoes and make them into a paste with the flour and egg, roll out and cut into small pieces. Season the oysters with lemon juice, pepper, and salt; put three of four into each piece of potato crust. Roll it up, brush over with milk, and bake for twenty minutes.

Pile high on a dish, and serve hot.