MODERN COOKERY
FOR PRIVATE FAMILIES

BY ELIZA ACTON

NEW EDITION

LONDON

LONGMANS, GREEN, READER, AND DYER

1882.

PREFACE.

It cannot be denied that an improved system of practical domestic cookery, and a better knowledge of its first principles, are still much needed in this country; where, from ignorance, or from mismanagement in their preparation, the daily waste of excellent provisions almost exceeds belief. This waste is in itself a very serious evil where so large a portion of the community often procure—as they do in England—with painful difficulty, and with the heaviest labour, even sufficient bread to sustain existence; but the amount of positive disease which is caused amongst us by improper food, or by food rendered unwholesome by a bad mode of cooking it, seems a greater evil still. The influence of diet upon health is indeed a subject of far deeper importance than it would usually appear to be considered, if we may judge by the profound indifference with which it is commonly treated. It has occupied, it is true, the earnest attention of many eminent men of science, several of whom have recently investigated it with the most patient and laborious research, the results of which they have made known to the world in their writings, accompanied, in some instances, by information of the highest value as to the most profitable and nutritious modes of preparing various kinds of viands. In arranging the present enlarged edition of this volume for publication, I have gladly taken advantage of such of their instructions (those of Baron Liebig especially) as have seemed to me adapted to its character, and likely to increase its real utility. These, I feel assured, if carefully followed out, will much assist our progress in culinary art, and diminish the unnecessary degree of expenditure which has hitherto attended its operations; for it may safely be averred that good cookery is the best and truest economy, turning to full account every wholesome article of food, and converting into palatable meals, what the ignorant either render uneatable, or throw away in disdain. It is a popular error to imagine that what is called good cookery is adapted only to the establishments of the wealthy, and that it is beyond the reach of those who are not affluent. On the contrary, it matters comparatively little whether some few dishes, amidst an abundant variety, be prepared in their perfection or not; but it is of the utmost consequence that the food which is served at the more simply supplied tables of the middle classes should all be well and skilfully prepared, particularly as it is from these classes that the men principally emanate to whose indefatigable industry, high intelligence, and active genius, we are mainly indebted for our advancement in science, in art, in literature, and in general civilisation.

When both the mind and body are exhausted by the toils of the day, heavy or unsuitable food, so far from recruiting their enfeebled powers, prostrates their energies more completely, and acts in every way injuriously upon the system; and it is no exaggeration to add, that many a valuable life has been shortened by disregard of this fact, or by the impossibility of obtaining such diet as nature imperatively required. It may be urged, that I speak of rare and extreme cases; but indeed it is not so; and the impression produced on me by the discomfort and the suffering which have fallen under my own observation, has rendered me extremely anxious to aid in discovering an efficient remedy for them. With this object always in view, I have zealously endeavoured to ascertain, and to place clearly before my readers, the most rational and healthful methods of preparing those simple and essential kinds of nourishment which form the staple of our common daily fare; and have occupied myself but little with the elegant superfluities or luxurious novelties with which I might perhaps more attractively, though not more usefully, have filled my pages. Should some persons feel disappointed at the plan I have pursued, and regret the omissions which they may discover, I would remind them, that the fashionable dishes of the day may at all times be procured from an able confectioner; and that part of the space which I might have allotted to them is, I hope and believe, better occupied by the subjects, homely as they are, to which I have devoted it—that is to say, to ample directions for dressing vegetables, and for making what cannot be purchased in this country—unadulterated bread of the most undeniably wholesome quality; and those refreshing and finely-flavoured varieties of preserved fruit which are so conducive to health when judiciously taken, and for which in illness there is often such a vain and feverish craving when no household stores of them can be commanded.[[1]]

[1]. Many of those made up for sale are absolutely dangerous eating; those which are not adulterated are generally so oversweetened as to be distasteful to invalids.

Merely to please the eye by such fanciful and elaborate decorations as distinguish many modern dinners, or to flatter the palate by the production of new and enticing dainties, ought not to be the principal aim, at least, of any work on cookery. “Eat,—to live” should be the motto, by the spirit of which all writers upon it should be guided. I must here obtrude a few words of personal interest to myself. At the risk of appearing extremely egotistic, I have appended “Author’s Receipt” and “Author’s Original Receipt” to many of the contents of the following pages; but I have done it solely in self-defence, in consequence of the unscrupulous manner in which large portions of my volume have been appropriated by contemporary authors, without the slightest acknowledgment of the source from which they have been derived. I have allowed this unfairness, and much beside, to pass entirely unnoticed until now; but I am suffering at present too severe a penalty for the over-exertion entailed on me by the plan which I adopted for the work, longer to see with perfect composure strangers coolly taking the credit and the profits of my toil. The subjoined passage from the preface of my first edition will explain in what this toil—so completely at variance with all the previous habits of my life, and, therefore, so injurious in its effects—consisted; and prevent the necessity of recapitulating here, in another form, what I have already stated in it. “Amongst the large number of works on cookery which we have carefully perused, we have never yet met with one which appeared to us either quite intended for, or entirely suited to the need of the totally inexperienced! none, in fact, which contained the first rudiments of the art, with directions so practical, clear, and simple, as to be at once understood, and easily followed, by those who had no previous knowledge of the subject. This deficiency, we have endeavoured in the present volume to supply, by such thoroughly explicit and minute instructions as may, we trust, be readily comprehended and carried out by any class of learners; our receipts, moreover, with a few trifling exceptions which are scrupulously specified, are confined to such as may be perfectly depended on, from having been proved beneath our own roof and under our own personal inspection. We have trusted nothing to others; but having desired sincerely to render the work one of general usefulness, we have spared neither cost nor labour to make it so, as the very plan on which it has been written must of itself, we think, evidently prove. It contains some novel features, calculated, we hope, not only to facilitate the labours of the kitchen, but to be of service likewise to those by whom they are directed. The principal of these is the summary appended to the receipts, of the different ingredients which they contain, with the exact proportion of each, and the precise time required to dress the whole. This shows at a glance what articles have to be prepared beforehand, and the hour at which they must be ready; while it affords great facility as well, for an estimate of the expense attending them. The additional space occupied by this closeness of detail has necessarily prevented the admission of so great a variety of receipts as the book might otherwise have comprised; but a limited number, thus completely explained, may perhaps be more acceptable to the reader than a larger mass of materials vaguely given.

“Our directions for boning poultry, game, &c., are also, we venture to say, entirely new, no author that is known to us having hitherto afforded the slightest information on the subject; but while we have done our utmost to simplify and to render intelligible this, and several other processes not generally well understood by ordinary cooks, our first and best attention has been bestowed on those articles of food of which the consumption is the most general, and which are therefore of the greatest consequence; and on what are usually termed plain English dishes. With these we have intermingled many others which we know to be excellent of their kind, and which now so far belong to our national cookery, as to be met with commonly at all refined modern tables.”

Since this extract was written, a rather formidable array of works on the same subject has issued from the press, part of them from the pens of celebrated professional gastronomers; others are constantly appearing; yet we make, nevertheless, but slight perceptible progress in this branch of our domestic economy. Still, in our cottages, as well as in homes of a better order, goes on the “waste” of which I have already spoken. It is not, in fact, cookery-books that we need half so much as cooks really trained to a knowledge of their duties, and suited, by their acquirements, to families of different grades. At present, those who thoroughly understand their business are so few in number, that they can always command wages which place their services beyond the reach of persons of moderate fortune. Why should not all classes participate in the benefit to be derived from nourishment calculated to sustain healthfully the powers of life? And why should the English, as a people, remain more ignorant than their continental neighbours of so simple a matter as that of preparing it for themselves? Without adopting blindly foreign modes in anything merely because they are foreign, surely we should be wise to learn from other nations, who excel us in aught good or useful, all that we can which may tend to remedy our own defects; and the great frugality, combined with almost universal culinary skill, or culinary knowledge, at the least—which prevails amongst many of them—is well worthy of our imitation. Suggestions of this nature are not, however, sufficient for our purpose. Something definite, practical, and easy of application, must open the way to our general improvement. Efforts in the right direction are already being made, I am told, by the establishment of well-conducted schools for the early and efficient training of our female domestic servants. These will materially assist our progress; and if experienced cooks will put aside the jealous spirit of exclusiveness by which they are too often actuated, and will impart freely the knowledge they have acquired, they also may be infinitely helpful to us, and have a claim upon our gratitude which ought to afford them purer satisfaction than the sole possession of any secrets—genuine or imaginary—connected with their craft.

The limits of a slight preface do not permit me to pursue this or any other topic at much length, and I must in consequence leave my deficiencies to be supplied by some of the thoughtful, and, in every way, more competent writers, who, happily for us, abound at the present day; and make here my adieu to the reader.

ELIZA ACTON

London, May, 1855.

VOCABULARY OF TERMS,

PRINCIPALLY FRENCH, USED IN MODERN COOKERY.

Aspic—fine transparent savoury jelly, in which cold game, poultry, fish, &c., are moulded; and which serves also to decorate or garnish them.

Assiette Volante—a dish which is handed round the table without ever being placed upon it. Small fondus in paper cases are often served thus; and various other preparations, which require to be eaten very hot.

Blanquette—a kind of fricassee.

Boudin—a somewhat expensive dish, formed of the French forcemeat called quenelles, composed either of game, poultry, butcher’s meat, or fish, moulded frequently into the form of a rouleau, and gently poached until it is firm; then sometimes broiled or fried, but as frequently served plain.

Bouilli—boiled beef, or other meat, beef being more generally understood by the term.

Bouillie—a sort of hasty pudding.

Bouillon—broth.

Casserole—a stewpan; and the name also given to a rice-crust, when moulded in the form of a pie, then baked and filled with a mince or purée of game, or with a blanquette of white meat.

Court Bouillon—a preparation of vegetables and wine, in which (in expensive cookery) fish is boiled.

Consommé—very strong rich stock or gravy.

Croustade—a case or crust formed of bread, in which minces, purées of game, and other preparations are served.

Crouton—a sippet of bread.

Entrée—a first-course side or corner dish.[[2]]

[2]. Neither the roasts nor the removes come under the denomination of entrées; and the same remark applies equally to the entremets in the second course. Large standing dishes at the sides, such as raised pies, timbales, &c., served usually in grand repasts, are called flanks; but in an ordinary service all the intermediate dishes between the joints and roasts are distinguished by the name of entrées, or entremets.

Entremets—a second-course side or corner dish.

Espagnole, or Spanish sauce—a brown gravy of high savour.

Farce—forcemeat.

Fondu—a cheese soufflé.

Gâteau—a cake, also a pudding, as Gâteau de Riz; sometimes also a kind of tart, as Gâteau de Pithiviers.

Hors d’œuvres—small dishes of anchovies, sardines, and other relishes of the kind, served in the first course.

Macaroncini—a small kind of maccaroni.

Maigre—made without meat.

Matelote—a rich and expensive stew of fish with wine, generally of carp, eels, or trout.

Meringue—a cake, or icing, made of sugar and whites of egg beaten to snow.

Meringué—covered or iced with a meringue-mixture.

Nouilles—a paste made of yolks of egg and flour, then cut small like vermicelli.

Purée—meat, or vegetables, reduced to a smooth pulp, and then mixed with sufficient liquid to form a thick sauce or soup.

Quenelles—French forcemeat, for which see page [163].

Rissoles—small fried pastry, either sweet or savoury.

Sparghetti—Naples vermicelli.

Stock—the unthickened broth or gravy which forms the basis of soups and sauces.

Tammy—a strainer of fine thin woollen canvas.

Timbale—a sort of pie made in a mould.

Tourte—a delicate kind of tart, baked generally in a shallow tin pan, or without any: see page [574].

Vol-au-vent—for this, see page [357].

Zita—Naples maccaroni.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

SOUPS.

CHAPTER II.

FISH.

CHAPTER III.

DISHES OF SHELL-FISH.

CHAPTER IV.

GRAVIES.

CHAPTER V.

SAUCES.

CHAPTER VI.

COLD SAUCES, SALADS, ETC.

CHAPTER VII.

STORE SAUCES.

CHAPTER VIII.

FORCEMEATS.

CHAPTER IX.

BOILING, ROASTING, ETC.

CHAPTER X.

BEEF.

CHAPTER XI.

VEAL.

CHAPTER XII.

MUTTON AND LAMB.

CHAPTER XIII.

PORK.

CHAPTER XIV.

POULTRY.

CHAPTER XV.

GAME.

CHAPTER XVI.

CURRIES, POTTED MEATS, ETC.

CHAPTER XVII.

VEGETABLES.

CHAPTER XVIII.

PASTRY.

CHAPTER XIX.

SOUFFLÉS, OMLETS, ETC.

CHAPTER XX.

BOILED PUDDINGS.

CHAPTER XXI.

BAKED PUDDINGS.

CHAPTER XXII.

EGGS AND MILK.

CHAPTER XXIII.

SWEET DISHES, OR ENTREMETS.

CHAPTER XXIV.

PRESERVES.

CHAPTER XXV.

PICKLES.

CHAPTER XXVI.

CAKES.

CHAPTER XXVII.

CONFECTIONARY.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

DESSERT DISHES.

CHAPTER XXIX.

SYRUPS, LIQUEURS, ETC.

CHAPTER XXX.

COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, ETC.

CHAPTER XXXI.

BREAD.

CHAPTER XXXII.

FOREIGN AND JEWISH COOKERY.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

TRUSSING.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

CARVING.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS.

TRUSSING.

Trussing Needles.

Common and untrained cooks are often deplorably ignorant of this branch of their business, a knowledge of which is, nevertheless, quite as essential to them as is that of boiling or roasting; for without it they cannot, by any possibility, serve up dinners of decently creditable appearance. We give such brief general directions for it as our space will permit, and as our own observations enable us to supply; but it has been truly said, by a great authority in these matters, that trussing cannot be “taught by words;” we would, therefore, recommend, that instead of relying on any written instructions, persons who really desire thoroughly to understand the subject, and to make themselves acquainted with the mode of entirely preparing all varieties of game and poultry more especially for table, in the very best manner, should apply for some practical lessons to a first-rate poulterer; or, if this cannot be done, that they should endeavour to obtain from some well experienced and skilful cook the instruction which they need.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR TRUSSING.

Before a bird is trussed, the skin must be entirely freed from any down which may be on it, and from all the stubble-ends of the feathers;[[3]] the hair also must be singed from it with lighted writing paper, care being taken not to smoke nor blacken it in the operation. Directions for cleansing the insides of birds after they are drawn, are given in the receipts for dressing them, Chapters XIV. and XV. Turkeys, geese, ducks, wild or tame, fowls, and pigeons, should all have the necks taken off close to the bodies, but not the skin of the necks, which should be left sufficiently long to turn down upon the backs for a couple of inches or more, where it must be secured, either with a needle and coarse soft cotton, or by the pinions of the birds when trussed.

[3]. This should be particularly attended to.

For boiling, all poultry or other birds must have the feet drawn off at the first joint of the leg, or as shown in the engraving. (In the latter case, the sinews of the joint must be slightly cut, when the bone may be easily turned back as here.) The skin must then be loosened with the finger entirely from the legs, which must be pushed back into the body, and the small ends tucked quite under the apron, so as to be entirely out of sight.

The wings of chickens, fowls, turkeys, and pigeons, are left on entire, whether for roasting or boiling. From geese, ducks, pheasants, partridges, black game, moor-fowl, woodcocks, snipes, wild-fowl of all kinds, and all small birds, the first two joints are taken off, leaving but one joint on, thus:—

The feet are left on ducks, and those of tame ones are trussed as will be seen at page [278], and upon roast fowls, pheasants, black and moor-game, pigeons, woodcocks, and snipes. The thick coarse skin of the legs of these must be stripped, or rubbed off with a hard cloth after they have been held in boiling water, or over a clear fire for a few minutes. The sharp talons must be pulled out, and the nails clipped. The toes of the pigeons for roasting should be cut off.

Geese, sucking-pigs, hares, and rabbits have the feet taken off at the first joint.

The livers and gizzards are served in the wings of roast turkeys and fowls only.

The heads are still commonly left on pheasants, partridges, and black game and moor-game; but the fashion is declining. Of this we shall speak more particularly in the ensuing chapter.

Poultry and birds in general, except perhaps quite the larger kinds, are more easily trussed into plump handsome form with twine and needles proper to the purpose (for which see page [1]), than with skewers. The manner in which the legs and wings are confined is much the same for all; the principal difference being in the arrangement of the former for boiling, which has already been explained.

There is a present mode of trussing very large fowls for boiling or stewing which to our taste is more novel than attractive. The feet are left on, and after the skin has been loosened from them in every part, the legs are thrust entirely into the body by means of a slight incision made in the skin just above the first joint on the underside, the feet then appear almost as if growing out of the sides of the breast: the effect of this is not pleasing.

TO TRUSS A TURKEY, FOWL, PHEASANT OR PARTRIDGE, FOR ROASTING.

First draw the skin of the neck down over the back, and secure it from slipping up; then thread a trussing needle of convenient size,[[4]] for the occasion, with packthread or small twine (the former, from being the most flexible, is best); pass it through the pinion of the bird, then through the thick part of the thigh, which must be brought up close under the wing, and in a straight line quite through the body, and through the leg and pinion on the other side; draw them close, and bring the needle back, passing it through the thick part of the leg, and through the second joint of the pinion, should it be left on the bird; tie it quite tight; and then to secure the legs, pierce the sidebone and carry the twine over the legs, then pass the needle through the other sidebone, and tie them close down. If skewers be used they should be driven through the pinions and the legs, and a twine passed across the back of the bird, and caught over the points of it, and then tied in the centre of the back: this is only needful when the trussing is not firm.

[4]. These may be had, of various sizes, at any good ironmongers.

When the head is left on a bird, it may still be trussed in the same way, and the head brought round, as shown here, and kept in place by a skewer passed through it, and run through the body. When the bird is trussed entirely with skewers, the point of one is brought from the other side, through the pinions and the thighs, and the head is fixed upon it. The legs are then pressed as much as possible under the breast, between it and the side-bones, where they are lettered a b. The partridge in the engraving is shown with the skewers just withdrawn after being roasted.

Hares, after being filled with forcemeat, and sewn or securely fastened up with skewers, are brought into proper roasting form by having the head fixed between the shoulders, and either fastened to the back by means of a long skewer, run through the head quite into it, or by passing one through the upper part of the shoulders and the neck together, which will keep it equally well in place, though less thrown back. The fore-legs are then laid straight along the sides of the hare, and a skewer is thrust through them both and the body at the same time; the sinews are just cut through under the hind-legs, and they are brought forward as much as possible, and skewered in the same manner as the others. A string is then thrown across, under the hare and over the points of both skewers, being crossed before it is passed over the second, and then tied above the back. The ears of a hare are left on; those of a rabbit, which is trussed in the same way, are taken off.

Paste Brush.

Joints of meat require but little arrangement, either for the spit or for boiling. A fillet of veal must have the flap, or part to which the fat adheres, drawn closely round the outside, and be skewered or bound firmly into good shape: this will apply equally to a round of beef. The skin or flank of loins of meat must be wrapped over the ends of the bones, and skewered on the underside. The cook should be particularly careful to separate the joints when it has not been done by the butcher, and necks of veal or mutton also, or much trouble will often arise to the carver.

Cutlet Bat.

To flatten and bring cutlets into uniform shape, a bat of this form is used: and to egg or to cover them with clarified butter when they are to be crumbed, a paste-brush should be at hand. Indeed, these and many other small means and appliances, ought to be provided for every cook who is expected to perform her duty in a regular and proper manner, for they save much time and trouble, and their first expense is very slight; yet many kitchens are almost entirely without them.

TO TRUSS FISH.

Salmon, salmon-peel, pike, and some few other large fish, are occasionally trussed in the form of an S by passing a string through the head, and tying it securely, then through the centre of the body, and next round the tail, which should be turned the reverse way of the head, and the whole should then be drawn closely together and well fastened. Whitings and other fish of small size are trussed with the tails merely skewered into their mouths. Obs.—It is indispensable for cooks to know how to carve neatly for pies, puddings, fricassees, and curries, at the least, hares, rabbits, fowls, and other birds. For those who are quite without experience in this branch of their business, the directions and the illustrations in the next chapter for carving a fowl into joints, will be found useful; and probably many of the other instructions also.

CARVING.

Fish Carvers.

Whether the passing fashion of the day exact it of her or not, a gentlewoman should always, for her own sake, be able to carve well and easily, the dishes which are placed before her, that she may be competent to do the honours of a table at any time with propriety and self-possession.[[5]] To gentlemen, and especially to those who mix much in society, some knowledge of this art, and a certain degree of skill in the exercise of it, are indispensable, if they would avoid the chance of appearing often to great disadvantage themselves, and of causing dissatisfaction and annoyance to others; for the uncouth operations of bad carvers occasion almost as much discomfort to those who witness, as they do generally of awkwardness and embarrassment to those who exhibit them.

[5]. As this can only be accomplished by practice, young persons should be early accustomed to carve at home, where the failure of their first attempts will cause them much less embarrassment than they would in another sphere, and at a later period of life.

The precise mode of carving various dishes must of course depend on many contingencies. For a plain family-dinner, or where strict economy is an imperative consideration, it must sometimes, of necessity, differ from that which is laid down here. We have confined our instructions to the fashion usually adopted in the world.

Carving knives and forks are to be had of many forms and sizes, and adapted to different purposes: the former should always have a very keen edge, and the latter two prongs only.

No. 1. COD’S HEAD AND SHOULDERS (AND COD FISH GENERALLY.)

The thick part of the back of this, as of all large fish—salmon excepted—is the firmest and finest eating. It should be carved across, rather thick, and, as much as possible, in unbroken slices, from a to b. The sound, which is considered a delicacy, lies underneath, and lines the back-bone: it must be reached with a spoon in the direction c. The middle of the fish, when served to a family party, may be carved in the same manner, or in any other which convenience and economy may dictate.

No. 2. A TURBOT.

In carving this most excellent fish, the rich gelatinous skin attached to it, and a portion of the thick part of the fins, should be served with every slice. If the point of the fish-knife be drawn down the centre of the back through to the bone, in the lines a b c, and from thence to d d d, the flesh may easily be raised upon the blade in handsome portions,. The thickest parts of all flat fish are the best. A brill and a John Dory are served exactly like a turbot.

SOLES.

The more elegant mode of serving these, and the usual one at good tables, is to raise the flesh from the bones as from a turbot, which is easily done when the fish are large; but when they are too small well to admit of it, they must be divided across quite through the bone: the shoulders, and thick part of the body, are the superior portions.

No. 3. SALMON.

It is customary to serve a slice of the thick part of the back of this fish, which is marked from a to b, with one of the thinner and richer portions of it, shown by the line from c to d. It should be carved quite straight across, and the fine flakes of the flesh should be preserved as entire as possible. Salmon-peel, pike, haddocks, large whitings, and all fish which are served curled round, and with the backs uppermost, are carved in the same manner; the flesh is separated from the bone in the centre of the back, and taken off, on the outer side first, in convenient portions for serving. The flesh of mackerel is best raised from the bones by passing the fish-slice from the tail to the head: it may then be divided in two.

No. 4. SADDLE OF MUTTON.

The manner of trussing this joint varies almost from season to season, the mode which is considered in good taste one year being obsolete the next, in families where passing fashions are closely observed. It seems really immaterial whether it be served as shown in the engraving; or whether two or three joints of the tail be left on and surrounded with a paper frill. This joint is now trussed for roasting in the manner shown in the engraving; and when it is dished a silver skewer replaces the one marked e. It is likewise often still served in good families with only two or three joints of the tail left on. The most usual mode of carving it is in thin slices cut quite along the bone, on either side, in the line a to b; but it is sometimes sliced obliquely from c to d: this last fashion is rather gaining ground. The thick end of the joint must then, of course, be to the left of the carver. A saddle of pork or of lamb is carved exactly in the same manner.

No. 5. A HAUNCH OF VENISON (OR MUTTON.)

An incision must first be made entirely across the knuckle end of this joint, quite down to the bone, in the line a b, to let the gravy escape; it must then be carved in thin slices taken as deep as they can be, the whole length of the haunch, from c to d. A portion of the fat should invariably be served with the venison.

No. 6. SIRLOIN OR RUMP OF BEEF.

As the very tender part of this favourite joint, which lies under the bone, and is called the fillet, is preferred by many eaters, the beef should be raised, and some slices be taken from it in the direction a b, before the carver proceeds further. The slices should be cut quite across the joint, from side to side, as indicated by the line from c to d, in which direction the whole of the meat is occasionally carved, though it is much more usual to slice the upper part from e to f. When the brown outside has been taken off this, it should be evenly carved in thin slices, and served with some of the gravy in the dish, and accompanied with horseradish very lightly and finely scraped, with tufts of which the beef is commonly garnished.

RIBS OF BEEF.

Are carved in the same manner as the sirloin; but there is no fillet attached to them.

A ROUND OF BEEF.

To carve this well, a very sharp-edged and thin-bladed knife is requisite. A thick slice should first be taken entirely off the top of the joint, leaving it very smooth; it should then be cut as thin and as evenly as possible, and delicate slices of the fat or udder should be served with the lean.

A BRISKET OF BEEF

Is carved in slices quite across the bones.

No. 7. LEG OF MUTTON.

This, whether roast or boiled, is dished as it lies in the engraving, unless when fanciful eaters prefer the underside of the joint laid uppermost, and carved quite across the middle, for the sake of the finely grained meat which lies beneath the part commonly called the Pope’s eye. In a general way, the mutton should be sliced, rather thick than thin as directed by the line between a b; the fat will be found in the direction c d.

No. 8. QUARTER OF LAMB.

The shoulder must be divided, and raised entirely from the breast in the direction of the letters a b c d. A slice of butter sprinkled with cayenne and salt is then usually laid between them, and a little lemon-juice is added, or a cold Mâitre d’Hôtel sauce is substituted for these. The shoulder may then be removed into another dish or not, as is most convenient. The brisket is next separated from the long bones in the line e f, and carved in the direction g h; the rib-bones are divided from i i to j j. The choice of the different parts is offered in serving them.

No. 9. SHOULDER OF MUTTON OR LAMB.

Commence by cutting from the outer edge direct to the bone of the shoulder in the line a b, and carve as many slices from that part of the joint as it will afford: then, if more be required, draw the knife on either side of the ridge of the blade-bone in the direction c c d d. The fat must be carved in the line e f. Some eaters have a preference for the juicy, but not very finely-grained flesh on the underside of the shoulder, which must be turned, for it to be carved. For the mode of boning a shoulder of mutton or veal, and giving it a more agreeable appearance, see [219].

No. 10. A SUCKING PIG.

Every part of a sucking pig is good, but some persons consider the flesh of the neck which lies between the shoulders, and the ribs as the most delicate portion of it. The shoulders themselves are preferred by others. They should be taken off, and the legs also, by passing the knife under them at the letters a b c. The ribs may then be easily divided from e to d. The flesh only of the larger joints should be served to ladies; but gentlemen often prefer it sent to them on the bones.

A FILLET OF VEAL.

There is no difference between the mode of carving this and a round of beef; but the brown outside slice of the veal is much liked by many eaters, and a portion of it should be served to them when it is known to be so. The forcemeat must be reached by cutting deeply into the flap, and a slice of it served always with the veal.

A LOIN OF VEAL.

This may be carved at choice quite across through the thick part of the flesh, or in slices taken in the direction of the bones. A slice of the kidney, and of the fat which surrounds it, should accompany the veal.

No. 11. A BREAST OF VEAL.

The brisket or gristles[[6]] of this joint must first be entirely separated from the rib-bones by pressing the knife quite through it in the line between a and b; this part may then be divided as shown by the letters c c c d d d, and the long bones or ribs may easily be separated in the direction e f. The taste of those who are served should be consulted as to the part of the joint which is preferred. The sweetbread is commonly sent to table with a roast breast of veal, and laid upon it: a portion of it should be served with every plate of the breast.

[6]. The tendons are literally the small white gristles themselves, which are found under the flesh in this part of the joint. When freed from the bone attached to them, they may be dressed in a variety of ways, and are extremely good: but they require from four to six hours’ stewing to render them perfectly tender, even when each tendon is divided into three or four slices. The upper flesh must be laid back from the tendons before they are taken from the breast, not left adhering to them. They are very good simply stewed in white gravy, and served with green peas, à la Française, in the centre. The breast entirely boned, forced, and rolled, makes a handsome dish, either roasted or stewed.

No. 12. A TONGUE.

This is sliced, not very thin, through the thickest and best part, shown by the letters a b. The fat of the root, when it is liked, must be carved by turning the tongue, and cutting in the direction c d.

No. 13. A CALF’S HEAD.

An entire calf’s head, served in its natural form, recalls too forcibly the appearance of the living animal to which it has belonged not to be very uninviting. Even when the half of one only is sent to table, something of the same aspect remains, and as it is in every way improved, and rendered most easy to carve when boned[[7]] and rolled, we would recommend its being so prepared whenever it can be done without difficulty. Our engraving does not give a very flattering representation of it in that form, but having been dressed with the skin on, it was not quite so easily brought into handsome shape as if it had been freed from it; yet we would nevertheless advise its being generally retained. When the head is served without being boned, it is carved across the cheek, in the line from a to b; the part which in flavour and appearance resembles a sweetbread, and which is regarded as a delicacy, lies in the direction indicated by the letters c d. The flesh of the eye is another favourite morsel, which must be detached from the head by passing the point of the carving knife deeply round the eye-hole, in the circle marked e e.

[7]. This will be more easily accomplished by an experienced cook after the head has been boiled for half an hour and then allowed to cool; but it should not be left until cold before it is altogether prepared for dressing. After the bones are removed, it should be laid on a clean cloth, and the inside sprinkled over or rubbed with a little salt, mace, and cayenne, well mixed together; the tongue may be laid upon, and rolled up in it. It must be secured, first with a skewer, and then bound tightly round with tape. It should be boiled or stewed extremely tender; and is excellent when just covered with good stock, and simmered for two hours, or when strong broth is substituted for this, and the bones are added to it. The head may be glazed, and served with rich brown gravy, or with the ordinary sauces if preferred; and it may be eaten cold, with Oxford brawn sauce, which is compounded of brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, and salt, mixed to the taste, with the addition of oil when it is liked.

No. 14. A HAM.

Strict economists sometimes commence the carving of a ham at the knuckle, and so gradually reach the choicer portion of it; but this method is not at all to be recommended. It should be cut at once through the thick part of the flesh, quite down to the bone, in the line a b, and sliced very thin and evenly, without separating the fat from the lean. The decoration of the ham No. 14, is formed by leaving on it a portion of the rind at the knuckle in a semi-circle, and then trimming it into scollops or points at pleasure; and the ornamental part of the top is formed from the fat which is pared away from the thick end and the edges. A paper ruffle, as will be seen, is wrapped round the bone of the knuckle.

No. 15. A PHEASANT.

This bird was formerly always sent to table with the head on, but it was a barbarous custom, which has been partially abandoned of late in the best houses, and which it is hoped may soon be altogether superseded by one of better taste. The breast is by far the finest part of a pheasant, and it is carved in slices from pinion to pinion, in the lines a a b b; the legs may then be taken off, in the direction c d. The bird, when it is preferred so, may be entirely dismembered by the directions for a fowl, No. 16. Black and moor-game are trussed and served like pheasants. The breasts of both are very fine eating, and the thigh of the black-cock is highly esteemed.

No. 16. A BOILED FOWL.

The boiled fowl of plate 6 is represented as garnished with branches of parsley, which is an error, as they would be appropriate to it only if it were cold, and it is seldom served so, being considered insipid. Small tufts of cauliflower would have been in better keeping with it, as the bird is supposed to be dished for the dinner-table. Unless it be for large family parties, fowls are seldom carved there entirely into joints; but when it is wished to divide them so, the fork should be fixed firmly in the centre of the breast, and the leg, being first disengaged from the skin, may be taken off with the wing in the line a b; or, the wing being previously removed, by carving it down the line to b, and there separating it from the neck-bone, the leg may be released from the skin, and easily taken off, by cutting round it from a to c, and then turning it with the fork, back from the body, when the joint will readily be perceived.

After the leg and wing on the other side have been taken off in the same manner, the merrythought must follow. To remove this, the knife must be drawn through the flesh in the line d e, and then turned towards the neck quite under the merrythought, which it will so lift from the breast, in this form:—The neck-bones—which lie close under the upper part of the wings, and are shaped thus—must next be disengaged from the fowl, by putting the knife in at the top of the joint, dividing the long part of the bone from the flesh, and breaking the short one off by raising it up, and turning it from the body; the breast, which is shown here, may then be divided from it by merely cutting through the tender ribs on either side.

It is seldom that further disjointing than this is required at table; but when it is necessary to cut up the entire fowl, the remainder of it must be laid with the back uppermost, and to take off the side-bones, which are of this shape—the point of the knife must be pressed through the back-bone, near the top, about half an inch from the centre, and brought down towards the end of the back, quite through the bone, then turned in the opposite direction, when the joints will separate without difficulty. All which then remains to be done is, to lay the edge of the knife across the middle of the only two undivided bones, and then with the fork to raise the small end of the fowl, which will part them immediately: to carve a boiled fowl or chicken in a more modern manner, see the directions which follow. The breast, wings, and merrythought, are the most delicate parts of a fowl. On the upper part of the sidebone is the small round portion of flesh called the oyster, by many persons considered as a great delicacy.

No. 17. A ROAST FOWL.

It is not usual to carve fowls entirely at table in the manner described above. The wings, and any other joints are taken off only as they are required. The breast of a very large fowl may be carved in slices like that of a turkey; or the whole of that of a small one may be taken off with the wings, as shown by the line a b. As the liver is a delicacy, the handsomer mode of serving these last is to remove the gizzard, which is seldom eaten, then to divide the liver, and to send an equal portion of it with each wing. The whole of a roast fowl may be carved by the directions we have already given for No. 16.

No. 18. A PARTRIDGE.

When partridges are served to ladies only, or in parties where they are present, it is now customary to take off the heads, to truss the legs short, and to make them appear (in poulterer’s phrase) all breast. For gentlemen’s dinners, the heads may be left on or not at choice. The most ready mode of carving a partridge is to press back the legs, then to fix the fork firmly in the inside of the back, and by passing the blade of the knife flat under the lower part of the breast, to raise it, with the wings, entire from the body, from which it easily separates. The breast may then be divided in the middle, as shown by the line from a to b in the engraving here. This is by far the best and handsomest manner of carving a partridge, but when the supply of game at table is small, and it is necessary to serve three persons from the choicer parts of one bird, a not very large wing should be taken off with the leg on either side, in the line from a to b in No. 13, and sufficient of the breast will still remain to send to a third eater. The high game-flavour of the back of a partridge, as well as that of various other birds,[[8]] is greatly relished by many persons.

[8]. A great man o the north eloquently describes that of a grouse as “the most pungent, palate-piercing, wild bitter-sweet.”

No. 19. A WOODCOCK.

The thigh and back are the most esteemed parts of a woodcock which, being a small bird, may be carved entirely through the centre of the breast and back, or distributed in the same manner as the partridge for three, which we have described; or even carved down like a fowl, if needful. In whatever way it is divided, however, a portion of the toast which has received the trail, and on which it should always be sent to table, must invariably be served to all who partake of it. The very old fashion of trussing the bird with its own bill, by running it through the thighs and body, is again adopted by very good cooks of the present day; but the common method of preparing either woodcocks or snipes for table is this: the trussing of the legs is, however, better shown at Nos. 19 and 21 of Plate 6.

No. 20. A PIGEON.

The breast and wings of a pigeon may be raised in the same way as those of a partridge (see No. [18]); or the bird may be carved entirely through in the line a b. For the second course, pigeons should be dished upon young delicate water-cresses.

No. 21. A SNIPE.

This bird is trussed, roasted, and served exactly like a woodcock. It is not of a size to require any carving, beyond dividing in two, if at all.

No. 22. A GOOSE.

The skin below the breast, called the apron, must first be cut off in a circular direction as indicated by the letters a a a, when a glass of port-wine or of claret, ready mixed with a teaspoonful of mustard, may be poured into the body or not, at choice. Some of the stuffing should then be drawn out with a spoon, and the neck of the goose, which ought to be to the right and not to the left hand, as here, being turned a little towards the carver, the flesh of the breast should be sliced in the lines from b b b to c c c, on either side of the bone. The wings may then be taken off like those of any other bird, and then the legs, which, in the engraving No. 22, are trussed so completely under the apron as to render their outline scarcely distinguishable. Graceful and well-skilled carvers never turn birds on their sides to remove any of the joints, but those of a goose, unless it be very young, are sometimes severed from it with difficulty; and the common directions for assisting the process in that case are, to turn it on its side, and with the fork to press down the small end of the leg; then to pass the knife quite under it from the top down to the joint, when the leg should be turned back from the bird with the fork, while the thigh-bone is loosened from its socket with the knife. The end of the pinion marked d is then held down in the same manner, to facilitate the separation of the bones at e, from which point the knife is drawn under the wing, which it takes off. The merrythought of a goose is small, and, to remove it the knife must first be turned a little from the neck, after the flesh has been cut through, and then passed under it, back towards the neck. For the remainder of the carving, the directions for that of a fowl will suffice.

DUCKS.

Tame ducks are served with the feet (which are liked by many people) left upon them and trussed up over the backs. If large they may be carved like a goose, but when very young may be disjointed like chickens; the only material difference between them being the position of the thigh-joints, which lie much further towards the back-bone than those of a fowl.

No. 23. A WILD DUCK.

The breasts of wild-fowl are the only parts of them held in much estimation, and these are carved in slices from the legs to the neck The legs and pinions may, if required, be taken off exactly like those of a pheasant.

No. 24. A TURKEY.

The carving of a turkey commences by taking slices off the breast, from the letters b b quite through the forcemeat, which lies under the letter a, to c c: the greater part of the flesh of the wings is thus taken off likewise. When the bird is boned and filled with sausage or other forcemeat, the breast is carved entirely across in the direction d e, nearly, or quite down to the back, which it is better not altogether to divide at first, as the appearance of the turkey is not then so good. When it has been prepared in the ordinary manner, after the breast has been disposed of, the pinions and the legs may be taken off, the first in the line from f to g, and the latter by passing the knife under it at h, and bringing it down to the joint at i j, where it must be taken off in the line shown. The whole of the joints being in form exactly like those of a fowl, may be separated in the same manner. The gizzard is more commonly eaten broiled after having been scored, and very highly seasoned with cayenne and with a sufficiency of salt, than in any other way. A slice or portion of the liver should be served with the white flesh of the turkey as far as possible.

No. 25. A HARE.

A hare should be placed with its head to the left of the carver, therefore the engraving No. 25 shows it turned in the wrong direction. It is so very great an improvement to take out the back-bone before a hare is roasted, that we would recommend it to be done wherever it can be so without difficulty: it may then be carved in the line a b quite through, or only partially so at choice. When the bone remains in, slices may be taken down the whole length of the back from c c to d d; the legs, which, next to the back, are considered the best eating, may then be taken off in the direction e f and the flesh divided from or served upon them, after the small bones have been parted from the thighs. The shoulders, which are not generally much esteemed, though sometimes liked by sportsmen, may next be taken off by passing the knife at the letters g h between the joint and the body. When a hare is young, the back is sometimes divided at the joints into three or four parts, after being freed from the ribs and under-skin.

No. 26. A FRICANDEAU OF VEAL.

This is usually stewed, or rather braised sufficiently tender to be divided with a spoon, and requires no carving; but the fat (or underpart of the fillet) attached to it, marked a a a, which is sometimes, but not invariably served with it now, may be carved in even slices. The larding differs somewhat from that which we have described, but the mode shown here allows the fricandeau to be glazed with more facility.

The engraving of the entrée No. 26 is intended merely to show the manner of dishing the cutlets. They may be of mutton, lamb, veal, or pork; and the centre may be filled with the sauce or stewed, vegetable appropriate to either; as soubise, purée of asparagus, of mushrooms, or of tomatas; or green peas à la Française, stewed cucumbers, or aught else that is suited to the kind of meat which is served.

Plate 1.

1
COD’S HEAD.

2
TURBOT.

3
MIDDLE OF SALMON.

H. Adlard, sc.

Plate 2.

4
SADDLE OF MUTTON.

5
HAUNCH OF VENISON.

6
SIRLOIN OF BEEF.

H. Adlard, sc.

Plate 3.

7
LEG OF MUTTON.

8
QUARTER OF LAMB.

9
SHOULDER OF MUTTON.

H. Adlard sc.

Plate 4.

10
SUCKING PIG.

11
BREAST OF VEAL.

H. Adlard, sc.

Plate 5.

12
OX-TONGUE.

13
CALF’S HEAD.

14
HAM.

H. Adlard, sc.

Plate 6.

15
PHEASANT.

18
PARTRIDGE.

19
WOODCOCK.

16
BOILED FOWL.

20
PIGEON.

21
SNIPE.

17
ROAST FOWL.

H. Adlard, sc.

Plate 7.

22
GOOSE.

23
WILD DUCK.

24
TURKEY.

H. Adlard, sc.

Plate 8.

26
ENTRÉE OF CUTLETS.

25
HARE.

27
FRICANDEAU OF VEAL.

H. Adlard, sc.

MODERN COOKERY.

CHAPTER I.

Soups.

Ingredients which may all be used for making Soup of various kinds:—Beef—Mutton—Veal—Hams—Salted Pork—Fat Bacon—Pigs’ Ears and Feet—Venison—Black and Moor Game—Partridges—Pheasants—Wild Pigeons—Hares—Rabbits—Turkeys—Fowls—Tame Pigeons—Sturgeon—Conger Eel, with all sorts of Fish usually eaten—All Shell-Fish—Every kind of Vegetable and Herb fit for food—Butter—Milk—Eggs—Rice—Sago—Arrow-Root—Indian Corn—Hominy—Soujee—Tapioca—Pearl Barley—Oatmeal—Polenta[[9]]—Macaroni—Vermicelli—Semoulina, and other Italian Pastes.

[9]. The name given in English commerce to the maize flour or meal of Italy.

The art of preparing good, wholesome, palatable soups, without great expense, which is so well understood in France, and in other countries where they form part of the daily food of all classes of the people, has hitherto been very much neglected in England;[[10]] yet it really presents no difficulties which a little practice, and the most common degree of care, will not readily overcome; and we strongly recommend increased attention to it, not only on account of the loss and inconvenience which ignorance of it occasions in many households, but because a better knowledge of it will lead naturally to improvement in other branches of cookery connected with it in which our want of skill is now equally apparent.

[10]. The inability of servants to prepare delicately and well even a little broth suited to an invalid, is often painfully evident in cases of illness, not only in common English life, but where the cookery is supposed to be of a superior order.

We have endeavoured to show by the list at the beginning of this chapter the immense number of different articles of which soup may be in turn compounded. It is almost superfluous to add, that it may be rendered at pleasure exceedingly rich, or simple in the extreme; composed, in fact, of all that is most choice in diet, or of little beyond herbs and vegetables. From the varied produce of a well-stored kitchen garden, it may be made excellent at a very trifling cost; and where fish is fresh and abundant it may be cheaply supplied nearly equal in quality to that for which a full proportion of meat is commonly used. It is best suited to the colder seasons of the year when thickened well with rice, semoulina, pearl barley, or other ingredients of the same nature; and adapted to the summer months when lighter and more refreshing. Families who have resided much abroad, and those accustomed to continental modes of service, prefer it usually in any form to the more solid and heavy dishes which still often supersede it altogether at our tables[[11]] (except at those of the more affluent classes of society, where it appears, as a matter of course, in the daily bills of fare), and which are so oppressive, not only to foreigners, but to all persons generally to whom circumstances have rendered them unaccustomed diet; and many a housekeeper who is compelled by a narrow income to adopt a system of rigid domestic economy, would find it assist greatly in furnishing comfortable meals in a very frugal manner, if the proper modes of making it were fully comprehended as they ought to be.[[12]]

[11]. The popular taste in England, even at the present day, is far more in favour of what is termed “substantial” food, than of any kind of pottage.

[12]. We are unable to give further space to this subject here, but may probably resume it at another part of the book, if practical.

The reader who desires to understand the principles of soup-making is advised to study with attention the directions for “Baron Liebeg’s Extract of Beef,” in the present chapter, and the receipt for bouillon which follows it.

A FEW DIRECTIONS TO THE COOK.

In whatever vessel soup is boiled, see that it be perfectly clean, and let the inside of the cover and the rim be equally so. Wash the meat, and prepare the vegetables with great nicety before they are laid into it; and be careful to keep it always closely shut when it is on the fire. Never, on any account, set the soup by in it, but strain it off at once into a clean pan, and fill the stock-pot immediately with water; pursue the same plan with all stewpans and saucepans directly they are emptied.

Skim the soup thoroughly when it first begins to boil, or it will not be easy afterwards to render it clear; throw in some salt, which will assist to bring the scum to the surface, and when it has all been taken off, add the herbs and vegetables; for if not long stewed in the soup, their flavour will prevail too strongly. Remember that the trimmings, and the bones of fresh meat, the necks of poultry, the liquor in which a joint has been boiled, and the shank-bones of mutton, are all excellent additions to the stock-pot, and should be carefully reserved for it. The remains of roast poultry and game also will improve both the colour and the flavour of broth or soup.

Let the soup be very slowly heated, and after it has been well skimmed, and has boiled for a few minutes, draw it to the side of the stove and keep it simmering softly, but without ceasing, until it is done; for on this, as will hereafter be shown, its excellence principally depends. Every good cook understands perfectly the difference produced by the fast boiling, or the gentle stewing, of soups and gravies, and will adhere strictly to the latter method.[[13]]

[13]. It is most difficult to render rapidly-boiled soup or gravy clear for table; but that which is only simmered will clarify itself if allowed to remain undisturbed for some little time (half an hour or so) after it is withdrawn from the fire; it should then be poured very gently from the sediment. Calf’s feet stock likewise may be converted into transparent jelly with far greater facility when it has not been thickened by too quick boiling, by which so many preparations in our English kitchens are injured.

Pour boiling water, in small quantities at first, to the meat and vegetables of which the soup is to be made when they have been fried or browned; but otherwise, always add cold water to the meat. Unless precise orders to the contrary have been given, onions, eschalots, and garlic, should be used for seasoning with great moderation; for not only are they very offensive to many eaters, but to persons of delicate habit their effects are sometimes extremely prejudicial; and it is only in coarse cookery that their flavour is allowed ever strongly to prevail.

A small proportion of sugar, about an ounce to the gallon, will very much improve the flavour of gravy-stock, and of all rich brown soups; it may be added also to some others with advantage; and for this, directions will be given in the proper places.

Two ounces of salt may be allowed for each gallon of soup or broth, in which large quantities of vegetables are stewed; but an ounce and a half will be sufficient for such as contain few or none; it is always easy to add more if needful, but oversalting in the first instance is a fault for which there is no remedy but that of increasing the proportions of all the other ingredients, and stewing the whole afresh, which occasions needless trouble and expense, even when time will admit of its being done.

As no particle of fat should be seen floating on soup when sent to table, it is desirable that the stock should be made the day before it is wanted, that it may become quite cold; when the fat may be entirely cleared off without difficulty.

When cayenne pepper is not mixed with rice-flour, or with any other thickening, grind it down with the back of a spoon, and stir a little liquid to it before it is thrown into the stewpan, as it is apt to remain in lumps, and to occasion great irritation of the throat when swallowed so.

Serve, not only soups and sauces, but all other dishes, as hot as possible.

THE TIME REQUIRED FOR BOILING DOWN SOUP OR STOCK.

This must be regulated by several considerations; for though the mere juices of meat require but little boiling after they have been fully extracted by the slow heating recommended by Baron Liebeg, soup to which many vegetables are added (winter vegetables especially) requires long stewing to soften and to blend properly the flavour of all the ingredients which it contains, as that of no one in particular ought to be allowed to predominate over the rest. We have in consequence retained the old directions as to time, in many of the following receipts; but an intelligent cook will soon ascertain from practice and observation how and when to vary it with advantage. Over-boiling renders all preparations insipid, and causes undue reduction of them likewise: it is a fault, therefore, which should be carefully avoided.

TO THICKEN SOUPS.

Except for white soups, to which arrow-root is, we think, more appropriate, we prefer, to all other ingredients generally used for this purpose, the finest and freshest rice-flour, which, after being passed through a lawn sieve, should be thoroughly blended with the salt, pounded spices, catsup, or wine, required to finish the flavouring of the soup. Sufficient liquid should be added to it very gradually to render it of the consistence of batter, and it should also be perfectly smooth; to keep it so, it should be moistened sparingly at first, and beaten with the back of a spoon until every lump has disappeared. The soup should boil quickly when the thickening is stirred into it, and be simmered for ten minutes afterwards. From an ounce and a half to two ounces of rice-flour will thicken sufficiently a quart of soup.

Instead of this, arrow-root or the condiment known by the name of tous les mois, which greatly resembles it, or potato flour, or the French thickening called roux (see Chapter [V].), may be used in the following proportions:—Two and a half ounces of either of the first three, to four pints and a half of soup; to be mixed gradually with a little cold stock or water, stirred into the boiling soup, and simmered for a minute.

Six ounces of flour with seven of butter, made into a roux, or merely mixed together with a large knife, will be required to thicken a tureen of soup; as much as half a pound is sometimes used; these must be added by degrees, and carefully stirred round in the soup until smoothly blended with it, or they will remain in lumps. We would, however, recommend any other thickening rather than this unwholesome mixture.

All the ingredients used for soups should be fresh, and of good quality, particularly Italian pastes of every kind (macaroni, vermicelli, &c.), as they contract, by long keeping, a peculiarly unpleasant, musty flavour.

Onions, freed from the outer skin, dried gradually to a deep brown, in a slow oven, and flattened like Norfolk biffins, will keep for almost any length of time, and are extremely useful for heightening the colour and flavour of broths and gravies.[[14]]

[14]. The fourth part of one these dried onions (des ognons brûlés), of moderate size, is sufficient for a tureen of soup. They are sold very commonly in France, and may be procured in London at many good foreign warehouses.

TO FRY BREAD TO SERVE WITH SOUP.

Cut some slices a quarter of an inch thick from a stale loaf; pare off the crust and divide the bread into dice, or cut it with a small paste-cutter into any other form. For half a pound of bread put two ounces of the best butter into a frying-pan, and when it is quite melted, add the bread; keep it turned over a gentle fire until it is equally coloured to a very pale brown, then drain it from the butter, and dry it on a soft cloth, or on a sheet of paper placed before a clear fire upon a dish, or upon a sieve reversed.

SIPPETS À LA REINE.

Having cut the bread as for common sippets, spread it on a dish, and pour over it a few spoonsful of thin cream, or of good milk: let it soak for an hour, then fry it in fresh butter of a delicate brown, drain and serve the sippets very hot.

TO MAKE NOUILLES.

(An elegant substitute for Vermicelli.)

Wet with the yolks of four eggs, as much fine dry sifted flour as will make them into a firm but very smooth paste. Roll it out as thin as possible, and cut it into bands of about an inch and a quarter in width. Dust them lightly with flour, and place four of them one upon the other. Cut them obliquely into the finest possible strips; separate them with the point of a knife, and spread them upon writing paper, so that they may dry a little before they are used. Drop them gradually into the boiling soup, and in ten minutes they will be done.

Various other forms may be given to this paste at will. It may be divided into a sort of ribbon macaroni; or stamped with small confectionary cutters into different shapes. It is much used in the more delicate departments of cookery, and when cut as for soup, and prepared as for the Genoises à la Reine of Chapter [XVIII]. makes very superior puddings, pastry, fritters, and other sweet dishes.

VEGETABLE VERMICELLI.

(Vegetables cut very fine for soups.)

Cut the carrots into inch lengths, then pare them round and round in ribands of equal thickness, till the inside is reached; next cut these ribands into straws, or very small strips; celery is prepared in the same way, and turnips also are first pared into ribands, then sliced into strips; these last require less boiling than the carrots, and attention must be paid to this, for if broken, the whole would have a bad appearance in soup. The safer plan is to boil each vegetable separately, till tolerably tender, in a little pale broth (in water if this be not at hand), to drain them well, and put them into the soup, which should be clear, only a few minutes before it is dished. For cutting them small, in other forms, the proper instruments will be found at the ironmonger’s.

EXTRACT OF BEEF; OR, VERY STRONG PLAIN BEEF GRAVY SOUP.

(Baron Liebeg’s Receipt.)

Observation.—This admirable preparation is not only most valuable as a restorative of the best kind for invalids who require light but highly nutritious diet, it is also of the utmost utility for the general purposes of the kitchen, and will enable a cook who can take skilful advantage of it, to convert the cold meat which often abounds so inconveniently in an English larder, from our habit of having joints of large size so much served, into good nourishing dishes, which the hashes and minces of our common cookery are not, though they may answer well enough as mere varieties of diet. We shall indicate in the proper chapters the many other uses to which this beef juice—for such indeed it is—will be found eminently adapted. Of its value in illness it is impossible to speak too highly; and in every family, therefore, the exact mode of making it ought to be thoroughly understood. The economist who may consider it expensive, must remember that drugs and medical advice are usually far more so; and in cases of extreme debility the benefit derived from it, when it is well prepared and judiciously administered, is often remarkable. It should be given in small quantities at first, and in its pure state. It may afterwards be varied by the addition of vermicelli, semoulina, or other preparations of the kind; and also by using for it a portion of mutton, calf’s head, poultry, or game, when these suit a patient as well as the beef.

Receipt.—Take a pound of good, juicy beef (rump-steak is best for the purpose), from which all the skin and fat that can possibly be separated from it, has been cut away. Chop it up small like sausage-meat; then mix it thoroughly with an exact pint of cold water, and place it on the side of the stove to heat very slowly indeed; and give it an occasional stir. It may stand two or three hours before it is allowed to simmer, and will then require at the utmost but fifteen minutes of gentle boiling. Professor Liebeg directs even less time than this, but the soup then occasionally retains a raw flavour which is distasteful. Salt should be added when the boiling first commences, and for invalids, this, in general, is the only seasoning required. When the extract is thus far prepared, it may be poured from the meat into a basin, and allowed to stand until any particles of fat it may exhibit on the surface can be skimmed off entirely, and the sediment has subsided and left the soup quite clear (which it speedily becomes), when it may be poured gently off, heated in a clean saucepan, and served at once. It will contain all the nutriment which the meat will yield. The scum should always be well cleared from the surface of the soup as it accumulates.

To make light beef tea or broth, merely increase the proportion of water to a pint and a half or a quart; but in all else proceed as above.

Meat (without fat or skin), 1 lb.; cold water, exact pint: heating 2 hours or more; to boil 15 minutes at the utmost. Beef tea or broth.—Beef, 1 lb.; water, 1-1/2 pint or 1 quart.

Obs.—To mingle vegetable diet in its best form with this extract, it will be sufficient, as we have explained in “Cookery for Invalids,” to boil down the kind of vegetable desired, sliced or cut up small, in a very moderate quantity of water, until its juices are well drawn out; then to strain off the liquid from it with slight pressure, and, when it has become cold, to pour it to the chopped meat instead of water. Several different sorts can be mixed together, and cooked in this way: the water must boil before they are added to it.

They should be much more tender than when merely boiled for table, but not reduced to pulp. The juice should remain clear; no salt should be added; and it should be quite cold before it is stirred to the meat.

When the extract is wanted for gravy, a small portion of onion, and of herbs, carrots, celery, and the other usual vegetables, may be stewed together, to give it the requisite flavour.

About an inch square of the Jewish beef (see Chapter of [Foreign Cookery]), whether cooked or uncooked, will impart a fine savour to it; the smoked surface of this should be pared off before it is used, and it may be added in thin slices.

BOUILLON.

(The Common Soup or Beef-Broth of France; cheap, and very wholesome.)

This soup, or broth as we should perhaps designate it in England, is made once or twice in the week, in every family of respectability in France; and by the poorer classes as often as their means will enable them to substitute it for the vegetable or maigre soups, on which they are more commonly obliged to subsist. It is served usually on the first day with slices of untoasted bread soaked in it; on the second, it is generally varied with vermicelli, rice, or semoulina. The ingredients are, of course, often otherwise proportioned than as we have given them, and more or less meat is allowed according to the taste or circumstances of the persons for whom the bouillon is prepared; but the process of making it is always the same, and is thus described (rather learnedly) by one of the most skilful cooks in Europe: “The stock-pot of the French artisan,” says Monsieur Carême, “supplies his principal nourishment; and it is thus managed by his wife, who, without the slightest knowledge of chemistry, conducts the process in a truly scientific manner. She first lays the meat into an earthen stock-pot, and pours cold water to it in the proportion of about two quarts to three pounds of the beef;[[15]] she then places it by the side of the fire, where it slowly becomes hot; and as it does so, the heat enlarges the fibre of the meat, dissolves the gelatinous substances which it contains, allows the albumen (or the muscular part which produces the scum) to disengage itself, and rise to the surface, and the OZMAZOME (which is the most savoury part of the meat) to be diffused through the broth. Thus, from the simple circumstance of boiling it in the gentlest manner, a relishing and nutritious soup will be obtained, and a dish of tender and palatable meat; but if the pot be placed and kept over a quick fire, the albumen will coagulate, harden the meat, prevent the water from penetrating it, and the ozmazome from disengaging itself; the result will be a broth without flavour or goodness, and a tough, dry bit of meat.”

[15]. This is a large proportion of meat for the family of a French artisan, a pound to the quart would be nearer the reality; but it is not the refuse-meat which would be purchased by persons of the same rank in England for making broth.

It must be observed in addition, that as the meat of which the bouillon is made, is almost invariably sent to table, a part of the rump, the mouse-buttock, or the leg-of-mutton piece of beef, should be selected for it; and the simmering should be continued only until this is perfectly tender. When the object is simply to make good, pure-flavoured, beef broth, part of the shin or leg, with a pound or two of the neck, will best answer the purpose. When the bouilli (that is to say, the beef which is boiled in the soup), is to be served, bind it into a good shape, add to it a calf’s foot if easily procurable, as this much improves the quality of the bouillon; pour cold water to it in the proportion mentioned above, and proceed, as Monsieur Carême directs, to heat the soup slowly by the side of the fire; remove carefully the head of scum which will gather on the surface before the boiling commences, and continue the skimming at intervals for about twenty minutes longer, pouring in once or twice a little cold water. Next, add salt in the proportion of two ounces to the gallon; this will cause a little more scum to rise; clear it quite off and throw in three or four turnips, as many carrots, half ahead of celery, four or five young leeks, an onion stuck with six or eight cloves, a large half teaspoonful of peppercorns, and a bunch of savoury herbs. Let the whole stew VERY softly without ceasing, from four hours and a half to six hours, according to the quantity: the beef in that time will be extremely tender but not overdone. It will be excellent eating if properly managed, and might often, we think, be substituted with great advantage for the hard, half-boiled, salted beef so often seen at an English table. It should be served with a couple of cabbages, which have been first boiled in the usual way, then pressed very dry, and stewed for ten minutes in a little of the broth, and seasoned with pepper and salt. The other vegetables from the bouillon may be laid round it or not at choice. The soup if served on the same day must be strained, well cleared from fat, and sent to table with fried or toasted bread, unless the continental mode of putting slices or crusts of untoasted bread into the tureen, and soaking them for ten minutes in a ladleful or two of the bouillon, be, from custom, preferred.

Beef, 8 to 9 lbs.; water, 6 quarts; salt, 3 oz. (more, if needed); carrots, 4 to 6; turnips, 4 or 5; celery, one small head; leeks, 4 to 6; one onion, stuck with 6 cloves; peppercorns, one small teaspoonful; large bunch of savoury herbs (calf’s foot if convenient); to simmer 5 to 6 hours.

Obs. 1.—This broth forms in France the foundation of all richer soups and gravies. Poured on fresh meat (a portion of which should be veal) instead of water, it makes at once an excellent consommé or strong jellied stock. If properly managed, it is very clear and pale; and with an additional weight of beef and some spoonsful of glaze, may easily be converted into an amber-coloured gravy-soup, suited to modern taste.

Obs. 2.—It is a common practice abroad to boil poultry, pigeons, and even game, in the pot-au-feu or soup-pot.[[16]] They should be properly trussed, stewed in the broth just long enough to render them tender, and served, when ready, with a good sauce. A small ham, if well soaked, washed exceedingly clean, and freed entirely from any rusty or blackened parts, laid with the beef when the water is first added to it, and boiled from three hours and a half to four hours in the bouillon, is very superior in flavour to those cooked in water only, and infinitely improves the soup, which cannot however so well be eaten until the following day, when all the fat can easily be taken from it: it would, of course, require no salt.

[16]. In wealthy families the soup is boiled in a metal soup-pot, called a marmite.

CLEAR, PALE GRAVY SOUP OR CONSOMMÉ.

Rub a deep stewpan or soup-pot with butter, and lay into it three quarters of a pound of ham freed entirely from fat, skin, and rust, four pounds of leg or neck of veal, and the same weight of lean beef, all cut into thick slices; set it over a clear and rather brisk fire, until the meat is of a fine amber-colour; it must be often moved, and closely watched, that it may not stick to the pan, nor burn. When it is equally browned, lay the bones upon it, and pour in gradually four quarts of boiling water. Take off the scum carefully as it rises, and throw in a pint of cold water at intervals to bring it quickly to the surface. When no more appears, add two ounces of salt, two onions, two large carrots, two turnips, one head of celery, a faggot of savoury herbs, a dozen cloves, half a teaspoonful of whole white pepper, and two large blades of mace. Let the soup boil gently from five hours and a half to six hours and a half; then strain it through a very clean fine cloth, laid in a hair sieve. When it is perfectly cold, remove every particle of fat from the top; and, in taking out the soup, leave the sediment untouched; heat in a clean pan the quantity required for table, add salt to it if needed, and a few drops of chili or of cayenne vinegar. Harvey’s sauce, or very fine mushroom catsup, may be substituted for these. When thus prepared the soup is ready to serve: it should be accompanied by pale sippets of fried bread, or sippets à la reine. (At tables where English modes of service entirely prevailed, clear gravy-soup, until very recently, was always accompanied by dice, or sippets as they are called, of delicately toasted bread. These are now seldom seen, but some Italian paste, or nicely prepared vegetable, is served in the soup instead). Rice, macaroni in lengths or in rings, vermicelli, or nouilles, may in turn be used to vary it; but they must always be boiled apart, till tender, in broth or water, and well drained before they are slipped into it. The addition of young vegetables, too, and especially of asparagus, will convert it into superior spring-soup; but they, likewise, must be separately cooked.

ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR GRAVY SOUP.

Instead of browning the meat in its own juices, put it with the onions and carrots, into a deep stewpan, with a quarter of a pint of bouillon, set it over a brisk fire at first, and when the broth is somewhat reduced, let it boil gently until it has taken a fine colour, and forms a glaze (or jelly) at the bottom of the stewpan; then pour to it the proper quantity of water, and finish the soup by the preceding receipt.[[17]]

[17]. The juices of meat, drawn out with a small portion of liquid, as directed here, may easily be reduced to the consistency in which they form what is called glaze; for particulars of this, see Chapter [IV]. The best method, though perhaps not the easiest, of making the clear, amber-coloured stock, is to pour a ladleful or two of pale but strong beef-broth to the veal, and to boil it briskly until well reduced, thrusting a knife when this is done into the meat, to let the juices escape; then to proceed more slowly and cautiously as the liquid approaches the state in which it would burn. It must be allowed to take a dark amber-colour only, and the meat must be turned, and often moved in it. When the desired point is reached, pour in more boiling broth, and let the pan remain off the fire for a few minutes, to detach and melt the glaze; then shake it well round before the boiling is continued. A certain quantity of deeply coloured glaze, made apart, and stirred into strong, clear, pale stock, would produce the desired effect of this, with much less trouble.

Obs.—A rich, old-fashioned English brown gravy-soup may be made with beef only. It should be cut from the bones, dredged with flour, seasoned with pepper and salt, and fried a clear brown; then stewed for six hours, if the quantity be large, with a pint of water to each pound of meat, and vegetables as above, except onions, of which four moderate-sized ones, also fried, are to be added to every three quarts of the soup, which, after it has been strained and cleared from fat, may be thickened with six ounces of fresh butter, worked up very smoothly with five of flour. In twenty minutes afterwards, a tablespoonful of the best soy, half a pint of sherry, and a little cayenne, may be added to the soup, which will then be ready to serve.

CHEAP, CLEAR GRAVY SOUP.

The shin or leg of beef, if not large or coarse, will answer extremely well for this soup, and afford at the same time a highly economical dish of boiled meat, which will be found very tender, and very palatable also, if it be served with a sauce of some piquancy. From about ten pounds of the meat let the butcher cut evenly off five or six from the thick fleshy part, and again divide the knuckle, that the whole may lie compactly in the vessel in which it is to be stewed. Pour in three quarts of cold water, and when it has been brought slowly to boil, and been well skimmed, as directed for bouillon (Page [8]), throw in an ounce and a half of salt, half a large teaspoonful of peppercorns, eight cloves, two blades of mace, a faggot of savoury herbs, a couple of small carrots, and the heart of a root of celery; to these add a mild onion or not, at choice. When the whole has stewed very softly for four hours, probe the larger bit of beef, and if quite tender, lift it out for table; let the soup be simmered from two to three hours longer, and then strain it through a fine sieve, into a clean pan. When it is perfectly cold, clear off every particle of fat; heat a couple of quarts, stir in, when it boils, half an ounce of sugar, a small tablespoonful of good soy, and twice as much of Harvey’s sauce, or instead of this, of clear and fine mushroom catsup. If carefully made, the soup will be perfectly transparent and of good colour and flavour. A thick slice of lean ham will improve it, and a pound or so of the neck of beef with an additional pint of water, will likewise enrich its quality. A small quantity of good broth may be made of the fragments of the whole boiled down with a few fresh vegetables.

Brown caper, or hot horseradish sauce, or sauce Robert, or sauce piquante, made with the liquor in which it is boiled, may be served with the portion of the meat which is sent to table.

VERMICELLI SOUP.

(Potage au Vermicelle.)

Drop very lightly, and by degrees, six ounces of vermicelli, broken rather small, into three quarts of boiling bouillon or clear gravy soup; let it simmer for half an hour[[18]] over a gentle fire, and stir it often. This is the common French mode of making vermicelli soup, and we can recommend it as a particularly good one for family use. In England it is customary to soak, or to blanch the vermicelli, then to drain it well, and to stew it for a shorter time in the soup; the quantity also, must be reduced quite two ounces, to suit modern taste.

[18]. When of very fine quality, the vermicelli will usually require less boiling than this. We have named to the reader, in another part of the volume, Mr. Cobbett, 18, Pall Mall, as supplying all the Italian pastes extremely good. There are, of course, many other houses in London where they may be procured equally so; but in naming Mr. Cobbett, who is personally unknown to us, we merely give the result of our own experience of many years. Some articles of very superior quality purchased for us at his warehouse by a person merely commissioned to procure the best that could be had “from Town,” first directed our attention to his house (a long established one, we believe), which is justly noted, especially amongst affluent country families, for the excellence of the goods which it sends out. We give this explanation, because it seems invidious to select, from the large number of deservedly celebrated establishments of the same class which are to be found here, any one in particular for mention in a work of this nature.

Bouillon, or gravy soup, 3 quarts; vermicelli, 6 oz.; 30 minutes. Or, soup, 3 quarts; vermicelli, 4 oz.; blanched in boiling water 5 minutes; stewed in soup 10 to 15 minutes.

SEMOULINA SOUP.

(Soupe à la Sémoule.)

Semoulina is used in the same way as the vermicelli. It should be dropped very lightly and by degrees into the boiling soup, which should be stirred all the time it is being added, and very frequently afterwards; indeed, it should scarcely be quitted until it is ready for table. Skim it carefully, and let it simmer from twenty to five-and-twenty minutes. This, when the semoulina is good and fresh, is, to our taste, an excellent soup.

Soup, 3 quarts; semoulina, 6 oz.; nearly, or quite 25 minutes.

MACARONI SOUP.

Throw four ounces of fine fresh[[19]] mellow Naples maccaroni into a pan of fast-boiling water, with about an ounce of fresh butter, and a small onion stuck with three or four cloves.[[20]] When it has swelled to its full size, and become tender, drain it well, cut it into half-inch lengths, and slip it into a couple of quarts of clear gravy-soup: let it simmer for a few minutes, when it will be ready for table. Observe, that the macaroni should be boiled quite tender; but it should by no means be allowed to burst, nor to become pulpy. Serve grated Parmesan cheese with it.

[19]. We must here repeat our warning against the use of long-kept macaroni, vermicelli, or semoulina; as when stale they will render any dish into which they are introduced quite unfit for table.

[20]. For white soups omit the onion.

Macaroni, 4 oz.; butter, 1 oz.; 1 small onion; 5 cloves; 3/4 hour, or more. In soup, 5 to 10 minutes.

Obs.—The macaroni for soups should always be either broken into short lengths before it is boiled, or cut as above, or sliced quickly into small rings not more than the sixth of an inch thick after it is boiled, unless the cut or ring macaroni, which may be purchased at the Italian warehouses, be used; this requires but ten minutes’ boiling, and should be dropped into the soup in the same way as vermicelli.[[21]] Four ounces of it will be sufficient for two quarts of stock. It may be added to white soup after having been previously boiled in water or veal-broth, and well drained from it: it has a rather elegant appearance in clear gravy-soup, but should have a boil in water before it is thrown into it.

[21]. For the different varieties of macaroni and vermicelli, and the time required to boil each of them, see Chapter [XXI].

If served in very clear bright stock (consommé), it should be boiled apart until tender in a little good broth, which ought also to be clear and entirely free from fat; then well drained, and put into the soup for a minute, or into the tureen, the instant before the soup is dished.

SOUP OF SOUJEE.

The soujee is of Indian origin, but is now well manufactured in England,[[22]] and is, we think, somewhat more delicate than semoulina in flavour; and being made from wheat of the finest quality, is also quite as nutritious, or more so. For each quart of soup allow two ounces of soujee (the proportions can always be otherwise adapted to the taste after the first trial); drop it gradually into the boiling liquid, and simmer it for ten or twelve minutes. Bullock’s semola is another preparation which may be used in exactly the same manner to thicken soup; but both this and soujee are more expensive at present than semoulina.

[22]. By Messrs. Stephens and Co., 2 White’s Row, Bishopsgate.

POTAGE AUX NOUILLES, OR TAILLERINE SOUP

Make into nouille-paste, with very fine dry flour, the yolks of four fresh eggs, and when ready cut, drop it gradually into five pints of boiling soup; keep this gently stirred for ten minutes, skim it well, and serve it quickly. This is a less common, and a more delicately flavoured soup than the vermicelli, provided always that the nouilles be made with really fresh eggs. The same paste may be cut into very small diamonds, squares, stars, or any other form, then left to dry a little, and boiled in the soup until swollen to its full size, and tender.

Nouille-paste of four eggs; soup, 5 pints: 10 minutes.

SAGO SOUP.

Wash in several waters, and float off the dirt from six ounces of fine pearl sago; put it into three quarts of good cold gravy-stock; let it stew gently from half to three quarters of an hour, and stir it occasionally, that it may not burn nor stick to the stewpan. A quarter of an ounce more of sago to each pint of liquid, will thicken it to the consistence of peas-soup. It may be flavoured with half a wineglassful of Harvey’s sauce, as much cayenne as it may need, the juice of half a lemon, an ounce of sugar, and two glasses of sherry; or these may be omitted, and good beef-broth may be substituted for the gravy-soup, for a simple family dinner, or for an invalid; or, again, it may be converted into inexpensive white soup by the addition of some cream smoothly mixed with a dessertspoonful of arrow-root, or of thick cream and new milk in equal portions. Veal broth would be the most appropriate for this, or it might be made with half veal and half mutton.

Sago, 6 oz.; soup, 3 quarts: 30 to 45 minutes.

TAPIOCA SOUP.

This is made in the same manner, and with the same proportions as the preceding soup, but it must be simmered from fifty to sixty minutes.

RICE SOUP.

In France, this soup is served well thickened with the rice, which is stewed in it for upwards of an hour and a half, and makes thus, even with the common bouillon of the country, an excellent winter potage. Wipe in a dry cloth, eight ounces of the best rice; add it, in small portions, to four quarts of hot soup, of which the boiling should not be checked as it is thrown in. When a clear soup is wanted wash the rice, give it five minutes’ boil in water, drain it well, throw it into as much boiling stock or well-flavoured broth as will keep it covered till done, and simmer it very softly until the grains are tender but still separate; drain it, drop it into the soup, and let it remain in it a few minutes before it is served, but without simmering. When stewed in the stock it may be put at once, after being drained, into the tureen, and the clear consommé may be poured to it.

An easy English mode of making rice-soup is this: put the rice into plenty of cold water; when it boils throw in a small quantity of salt, let it simmer for ten minutes, drain it well, throw it into the boiling soup, and simmer it gently from ten to fifteen minutes longer.[[23]] An extra quantity of stock must be allowed for the reduction of this soup which is always considerable.

[23]. The Patna requires much less boiling than the Carolina.

WHITE RICE SOUP.

Throw four ounces of well-washed rice into boiling water, and in five minutes after pour it into a sieve, drain it well, and put it into a couple of quarts of good white boiling stock; let it stew until tender; season the soup with salt, cayenne, and pounded mace; stir to it three quarters of a pint of very rich cream, give it one boil, and serve it quickly.

Rice, 4 oz.: boiled 5 minutes. Soup, 2 quarts: 3/4 hour or more. Seasoning of salt, mace, and cayenne; cream, 3/4 pint: 1 minute.

RICE-FLOUR SOUP.

Mix to a smooth batter, with a little cold broth, eight ounces of fine rice-flour, and pour it into a couple of quarts of fast-boiling broth or gravy soup. Add to it a seasoning of mace and cayenne, with a little salt if needful. It will require but ten minutes’ boiling. Soup, 2 quarts; rice-flour, 8 oz.: 10 minutes.

Obs.—Two dessertspoonsful of currie-powder, and the strained juice of half a moderate-sized lemon will greatly improve this soup: it may also be converted into a good common white soup (if it be made of veal stock), by the addition of three quarters of a pint of thick cream to the rice.

STOCK FOR WHITE SOUP.

Though a knuckle of veal is usually preferred for this stock, part of the neck will answer for it very well. Whichever joint be chosen, let it be thoroughly washed, once or twice divided, and laid into a delicately clean soup-pot, or well-tinned large stout iron saucepan, upon a pound of lean ham, freed entirely from skin and fat, and cut into thick slices; or, instead of this, one half a pound of the Jewish smoked beef, of which we have already spoken, and from which the smoked surface, and all fat, must be carefully carved away.

Dutch or hung beef also will answer the same purpose, but similar precautions must be observed with regard to the smoked portions of either; as they would impart a very unpleasant flavour to any preparation. Should very rich soup be wished for, pour in a pint only of cold water for each pound of meat, but otherwise a pint and a half may be allowed. When the soup has been thoroughly cleared from scum, which should be carefully taken off from the time of its first beginning to boil, throw in an ounce of salt to the gallon (more can be added afterwards if needed), two mild onions, a moderate-sized head of celery, two carrots, a small teaspoonful of whole white pepper, and two blades of mace; and let the soup stew very softly from five to six hours, if the quantity be large: it should simmer until the meat falls from the bones. The skin of a calf’s head, a calf’s foot, or an old fowl may always be added to this stock with good effect. Strain it into a clean deep pan, and keep it in a cool place till wanted for use.

Lean ham, 1 lb.; veal, 7 lbs; water, 4 to 6 quarts; salt, 1-1/2 oz. (more if needed); onions, 2; celery, 1 head; carrots, 2; peppercorns, 1 teaspoonful; mace, 2 blades: 5 to 6 hours.

MUTTON-STOCK FOR SOUPS.

Equal parts of beef and mutton, with the addition of a small portion of ham, or dried beef, make excellent stock, especially for winter-soups. The necks of fowls, the bones of an undressed calf’s head, or of any uncooked joint, may be added to it with advantage. According to the quality of soup desired, pour from a pint to a pint and a half of cold water to each pound of meat; and after the liquor has been well skimmed, on its beginning to boil, throw in an ounce and a half of salt to the gallon, two small heads of celery, three mild middling-sized onions, three well-flavoured turnips, as many carrots, a faggot of thyme and parsley, half a teaspoonful of white peppercorns, twelve cloves, and a large blade of mace. Draw the soup-pot to the side of the fire, and boil the stock as gently as possible for about six hours; then strain, and set it by for use. Be particularly careful to clear it entirely from fat before it is prepared for table. One third of beef or veal, with two of mutton, will make very good soup; or mutton only will answer the purpose quite well upon occasion.

Beef, 4 lbs.; mutton, 4 lbs. (or, beef or veal from 2 to 3 lbs.; mutton from 5 to 6 lbs.); water, 1 to 1-1/2 gallon; salt, 1-1/2 oz.; mild turnips, 1 lb.; onions, 6 oz.; carrots, 3/4 lb.; celery, 6 to 8 oz.; 1 bunch of herbs; peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoonful; cloves, 12; mace, 1 large blade: 6 hours.

Obs.—Salt should be used sparingly at first for stock in which any portion of ham is boiled; allowance should also be made for its reduction, in case of its being required for gravy.

MADEMOISELLE JENNY LIND’S SOUP.

(Authentic Receipt)

This receipt does not merely bear the name of “Mademoiselle Lind,” but is in reality that of the soup which was constantly served to her, as it was prepared by her own cook. We are indebted for it to the kindness of the very poplar Swedish authoress, Miss Bremer, who received it direct from her accomplished countrywoman.[[24]]

[24]. We were informed by Miss Bremer that Mademoiselle Lind was in the habit of taking this soup before she sang, as she found the sago and eggs soothing to the chest, and beneficial to the voice.

The following proportions are for a tureen of this excellent potage:—

Wash a quarter of a pound of the best pearl sago until the water poured from it is clear; then stew it quite tender and very thick in water or thick broth (it will require nearly or quite a quart of liquid, which should be poured to it cold, and heated slowly): then mix gradually with it a pint of good boiling cream, and the yolks of four fresh eggs, and mingle the whole carefully with two quarts of strong veal or beef stock, which should always be kept ready boiling. Send the soup immediately to table.

THE LORD MAYOR’S SOUP.

Wash thoroughly two sets of moderate sized pigs’ ears and feet from which the hair has been carefully removed; add to them five quarts of cold water, and stew them very gently with a faggot of savoury herbs, and one large onion stuck with a dozen cloves, for nearly four hours, when the ears may be lifted out; stew the feet for another hour, then take them up, strain the soup, and set it in a cool place that it may become cold enough for the fat to be quite cleared from it. Next, bone the ears and feet, cut the flesh down into dice, throw a clean folded cloth over it, and leave it so until the soup requires to be prepared for table; then strew upon it two tablespoonsful of savoury herbs minced small, half a saltspoonful of cayenne, a little white pepper, and some salt. Put into a large saucepan half a pound of good butter, and when it begins to simmer thicken it gradually with as much flour as it will absorb; keep these stirred over a very gentle fire for ten minutes or more, but do not allow them to take the slightest colour; pour the soup to them by degrees, letting it boil up after each portion is added; put in the meat, and half a pint of sherry; simmer the whole from three to five minutes; dish the soup, and slip into it two or three dozens of delicately fried forcemeat-balls. (See Chapter [VIII].)

Pigs’ feet, 8; ears, 4; water, 5 quarts; bunch savoury herbs; 1 large onion; cloves, 12: 3-1/2 to 4 hours, feet, 1 hour more. Butter, 1/2 lb.; flour, 6 oz.[[25]]: 10 to 12 minutes. Minced herbs, 2 tablespoonsful; cayenne and common pepper, each 1/2 saltspoonful; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful or more; sherry, 1/2 pint: 3 to 5 minutes. Forcemeat-balls, 2 to 3 dozens.

[25]. The safer plan for an inexperienced cook is to weigh the flour, and then to sprinkle it from a dredging-box into the butter.

Obs.—We have given this receipt with the slightest possible variation from the original, which we derived from a neighbourhood where the soup made by it was extremely popular. We have better adapted it to our own taste by the following alterations.

THE LORD MAYOR’S SOUP.

(Author’s Receipt.)

We prefer to have this soup made, in part, the evening before it is wanted. Add the same proportion of water to the ears and feet as in the preceding directions; skim it thoroughly when it first boils, and throw in a tablespoonful of salt, two onions of moderate size, a small head of celery, a bunch of herbs, two whole carrots, a small teaspoonful of white peppercorns, and a blade of mace. Stew these softly until the ears and feet are perfectly tender, and, after they are lifted out, let the liquor be kept just simmering only, while they are being boned, that it may not be too much reduced. Put the bones back into it, and stew them as gently as possible for an hour; then strain the soup into a clean pan, and set it by until the morrow in a cool place. The flesh should be cut into dice while it is still warm, and covered with the cloth before it becomes quite cold. To prepare the soup for table clear the stock from fat and sediment, put it into a very clean stewpan, or deep saucepan, and stir to it when it boils, six ounces of the finest rice-flour smoothly mixed with a quarter of a teaspoonful of cayenne, three times as much of mace and salt, the strained juice of a lemon, three tablespoonsful of Harvey’s sauce, and half a pint of good sherry or Madeira. Simmer the whole for six or eight minutes, add more salt if needed, stir the soup often, and skim it thoroughly; put in the meat and herbs, and after they have boiled gently for five minutes, dish the soup, add forcemeat-balls or not, at pleasure, and send it to table quickly.

Moderate-sized pigs’ feet, 8; ears, 4; water, 5 quarts; salt, 1 tablespoonful; onions, 2; celery, 1 head; carrots, 2; bunch of herbs; peppercorns, 1 small teaspoonful; mace, 1 blade: 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours. Stock, 5 pints; rice-flour, 6 oz.; cayenne, 1/4 teaspoonful; mace and salt, each 3/4 of a teaspoonful; juice of 1 lemon; Harvey’s sauce, 3 tablespoonsful; sherry or Madeira, 1/2 pint: 6 to 8 minutes. Savoury herbs, 2 tablespoonsful: 5 minutes.

Obs. 1.—Should the quantity of stock exceed five pints, an additional ounce or more of rice must be used, and the flavouring be altogether increased in proportion. Of the minced herbs, two-thirds should be parsley, and the remainder equal parts of lemon thyme and winter savoury, unless sweet basil should be at hand, when a teaspoonful of it may be substituted for half of the parsley. To some tastes a seasoning of sage would be acceptable; and a slice or two of lean ham will much improve the flavour of the soup.

Obs. 2.—Both this soup, and the preceding one, may be rendered very rich by substituting strong bouillon (see page [8]) or good veal broth for water, in making them.

COCOA-NUT SOUP.

Pare the dark rind from a very fresh cocoa-nut, and grate it down small on an exceedingly clean, bright grater; weigh it, and allow two ounces for each quart of soup. Simmer it gently for one hour in the stock, which should then be strained closely from it, and thickened for table.

Veal stock, gravy-soup, or broth, 5 pints; grated cocoa-nut, 5 oz., 1 hour. Flour of rice, 5 oz.; mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; little cayenne and salt; mixed with 1/4 pint of cream: 10 minutes.

Or: gravy-soup, or good beef broth, 5 pints: 1 hour. Rice flour, 5 oz.; soy and lemon-juice, each 1 tablespoonful; finely pounded sugar, 1 oz.; cayenne, 1/4 teaspoonful; sherry, 2 glassesful.

Obs.—When either cream or wine is objected to for these soups, a half-pint of the stock should be reserved to mix the thickening with.

CHESTNUT SOUP.

Strip the outer rind from some fine, sound Spanish chestnuts, throw them into a large pan of warm water, and as soon as it becomes too hot for the fingers to remain in it, take it from the fire, lift out the chestnuts, peel them quickly, and throw them into cold water as they are done; wipe, and weigh them; take three quarters of a pound for each quart of soup, cover them with good stock, and stew them gently for upwards of three quarters of an hour, or until they break when touched with a fork; drain, and pound them smoothly, or bruise them to a mash with a strong spoon, and rub them through a fine sieve reversed; mix with them by slow degrees the proper quantity of stock; add sufficient mace, cayenne, and salt to season the soup, and stir it often until it boils. Three quarters of a pint of rich cream, or even less, will greatly improve it. The stock in which the chestnuts are boiled can be used for the soup when its sweetness is not objected to; or it may in part be added to it.

Chestnuts, 1-1/2 lb.: stewed from 2/3 to 1 hour. Soup, 2 quarts; seasoning of salt, mace, and cayenne: 1 to 3 minutes. Cream, 3/4 pint (when used).

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, OR PALESTINE SOUP.

Wash and pare quickly some freshly-dug artichokes, and to preserve their colour, throw them into spring water as they are done, but do not let them remain in it after all are ready. Boil three pounds of them in water for ten minutes; lift them out, and slice them into three pints of boiling stock; when they have stewed gently in this from fifteen to twenty minutes, press them with the soup, through a fine sieve, and put the whole into a clean saucepan with a pint and a half more of stock; add sufficient salt and cayenne to season it, skim it well, and after it has simmered for two or three minutes, stir it to a pint of rich boiling cream. Serve it immediately.

Artichokes, 3 lbs., boiled in water: 10 minutes. Veal stock, 3 pints 15 to 20 minutes. Additional stock, 1-1/2 pint; little cayenne and salt 2 to 3 minutes. Boiling cream, 1 pint.

Obs.—The palest veal stock, as for white soup, should be used for this; but for a family dinner, or where economy is a consideration excellent mutton-broth, made the day before and perfectly cleared from fat, will answer very well as a substitute; milk too may in part take the place of cream when this last is scarce: the proportion of artichokes should then be increased a little.

Vegetable-marrow, when young, makes a superior soup even to this, which is an excellent one. It should be well pared, trimmed, and sliced into a small quantity of boiling veal stock or broth, and when perfectly tender, pressed through a fine sieve, and mixed with more stock and some cream. In France the marrow is stewed, first in butter, with a large mild onion or two also sliced; and afterwards in a quart or more of water, which is poured gradually to it; it is next passed through a tammy,[[26]] seasoned with pepper and salt, and mixed with a pint or two of milk and a little cream.

[26]. Derived from the French tamis, which means a sieve or strainer.

COMMON CARROT SOUP.

The most easy method of making this favourite English soup is to boil some highly coloured carrots quite tender in water slightly salted, then to pound or mash them to a smooth paste, and to mix with them boiling gravy soup or strong beef broth (see Bouillon) in the proportion of two quarts to a pound and a half of the prepared carrots; then to pass the whole through a strainer, to season it with salt and cayenne, to heat it in a clean stewpan, and to serve it immediately. If only the red outsides of the carrots be used, the colour of the soup will be very bright; they should be weighed after they are mashed. Turnip soup may be prepared in the same manner.

Obs.—An experienced and observant cook will know the proportion of vegetables required to thicken this soup appropriately, without having recourse to weights and measures; but the learner had always better proceed by rule.

Soup, 2 quarts; pounded carrot, 1-1/2 lb.; salt, cayenne: 5 minutes.

A FINER CARROT SOUP.

Scrape very clean, and cut away all blemishes from some highly-flavoured red carrots; wash, and wipe them dry, and cut them into quarter-inch slices. Put into a large stewpan three ounces of the best butter, and when it is melted, add two pounds of the sliced carrots, and let them stew gently for an hour without browning; pour to them then four pints and a half of brown gravy soup, and when they have simmered from fifty minutes to an hour, they ought to be sufficiently tender. Press them through a sieve or strainer with the soup; add salt, and cayenne if required; boil the whole gently for five minutes, take off all the scum, and serve the soup as hot as possible.

Butter, 3 oz.; carrots, 2 lbs.: 1 hour. Soup, 4-1/2 pints: 50 to 60 minutes. Salt, cayenne: 5 minutes.

COMMON TURNIP SOUP.

Wash and wipe the turnips, pare and weigh them; allow a pound and a half for every quart of soup. Cut them in slices about a quarter of an inch thick. Melt four ounces of butter in a clean stewpan, and put in the turnips before it begins to boil; stew them gently for three quarters of an hour, taking care that they shall not brown, then have the proper quantity of soup ready boiling, pour it to them, and let them simmer in it for three quarters of an hour. Pulp the whole through a coarse sieve or soup strainer, put it again on the fire, keep it stirred until it has boiled three minutes or four, take off the scum, add salt and pepper if required, and serve it very hot. Turnips, 3 lbs.; butter, 4 oz.: 3/4 hour. Soup, 2 quarts: 3/4 hour. Last time: three minutes.

A QUICKLY MADE TURNIP SOUP.

Pare and slice into three pints of veal or mutton stock or of good broth, three pounds of young mild turnips; stew them gently from twenty-five to thirty minutes, or until they can be reduced quite to pulp; rub the whole through a sieve, and add to it another quart of stock, a seasoning of salt and white pepper, and one lump of sugar: give it two or three minutes’ boil, skim and serve it. A large white onion when the flavour is liked may be sliced and stewed with the turnips. A little cream improves much the colour of this soup.

Turnips, 3 lbs.; soup, 5 pints: 25 to 30 minutes.

POTATO SOUP.

Mash to a smooth paste three pounds of good mealy potatoes, which have been steamed, or boiled very dry; mix with them by degrees, two quarts of boiling broth, pass the soup through a strainer, set it again on the fire, add pepper and salt, and let it boil for five minutes. Take off entirely the black scum that will rise upon it, and serve it very hot with fried or toasted bread. Where the flavour is approved, two ounces of onions minced and fried a light brown, may be added to the soup, and stewed in it for ten minutes before it is sent to table.

Potatoes, 3 lbs.; broth, 2 quarts: 5 minutes. (With onions, 2 oz.) 10 minutes.

APPLE SOUP.

(Soupe à la Bourguignon.)

Clear the fat from five pints of good mutton broth, bouillon, or shin of beef stock, and strain it through a fine sieve; add to it when it boils, a pound and a half of good cooking apples, and stew them down in it very softly to a smooth pulp; press the whole through a strainer, add a small teaspoonful of powdered ginger and plenty of pepper, simmer the soup for a couple of minutes, skim, and serve it very hot, accompanied by a dish of rice, boiled as for curries.

Broth, 5 pints; apples, 1-1/2 lb.: 25 to 40 minutes. Ginger, 1 teaspoonful; pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful: 2 minutes.

PARSNEP SOUP.

Dissolve, over a gentle fire, four ounces of good butter, in a wide stewpan or saucepan, and slice in directly two pounds of sweet tender parsneps; let them stew very gently until all are quite soft, then pour in gradually sufficient veal stock or good broth to cover them, and boil the whole slowly from twenty minutes to half an hour; work it with a wooden spoon through a fine sieve, add as much stock as will make two quarts in all, season the soup with salt and white pepper or cayenne, give it one boil, skim, and serve it very hot. Send pale fried sippets to table with it.

Butter, 4-1/2 oz.; parsneps, 2 lbs.: 3/4 hour, or more. Stock, 1 quart; 20 to 30 minutes; 1 full quart more of stock; pepper, salt: 1 minute.

Obs.—We can particularly recommend this soup to those who like the peculiar flavour of the vegetable.

ANOTHER PARSNEP SOUP.

Slice into five pints of boiling veal stock or strong colourless broth, a couple of pounds of parsneps, and stew them as gently as possible from thirty minutes to an hour; when they are perfectly tender, press them through a sieve, strain the soup to them, season, boil, and serve it very hot. With the addition of cream, parsnep soup made by this receipt resembles in appearance the Palestine soup.

Veal stock or broth, 5 pints; parsneps, 2 lbs.: 30 to 60 minutes. Salt and cayenne: 2 minutes.

WESTERFIELD WHITE SOUP.

Break the bone of a knuckle of veal in one or two places, and put it on to stew, with three quarts of cold water to the five pounds of meat; when it has been quite cleared from scum, add to it an ounce and a half of salt, and one mild onion, twenty corns of white pepper, and two or three blades of mace, with a little cayenne pepper. When the soup is reduced one-third by slow simmering strain it off, and set it by till cold; then free it carefully from the fat and sediment, and heat it again in a very clean stewpan. Mix with it when it boils, a pint of thick cream smoothly blended with an ounce of good arrow-root, two ounces of very fresh vermicelli previously boiled tender in water slightly salted and well drained from it, and an ounce and a half of almonds blanched and cut in strips: give it one minute’s simmer, and serve it immediately, with a French roll in the tureen.

Veal, 5 lbs.; water, 3 quarts; salt, 1-1/2 oz.; 1 mild onion; 20 corns white pepper; 2 large blades of mace: 5 hours or more. Cream, 1 pint; almonds, 1-1/2 oz.; vermicelli, 1 oz.: 1 minute. Little thickening if needed.

Obs.—We have given this receipt without any variation from the original, as the soup made by it—of which we have often partaken—seemed always much approved by the guests of the hospitable country gentleman from whose family it was derived, and at whose well-arranged table it was very commonly served; but we would suggest the suppression of the almond spikes, as they seem unsuited to the preparation, and also to the taste of the present day.

A RICHER WHITE SOUP.

Pound very fine indeed six ounces of sweet almonds, then add to them six ounces of the breasts of roasted chickens or partridges, and three ounces of the whitest bread which has been soaked in a little veal broth, and squeezed very dry in a cloth. Beat these altogether to an extremely smooth paste; then pour to them boiling and by degrees, two quarts of rich veal stock; strain the soup through a fine hair sieve, set it again over the fire, add to it a pint of thick cream, and serve it, as soon as it is at the point of boiling. When cream is very scarce, or not easily to be procured, this soup may be thickened sufficiently without it, by increasing the quantity of almonds to eight or ten ounces, and pouring to them, after they have been reduced to the finest paste, a pint of boiling stock, which must be again wrung from them through a coarse cloth with very strong pressure: the proportion of meat and bread also should then be nearly doubled. The stock should be well seasoned with mace and cayenne before it is added to the other ingredients.

Almonds, 6 oz.; breasts of chickens or partridges, 6 oz.; soaked bread, 3 oz.; veal stock, 2 quarts; cream, 1 pint.

Obs. 1.—Some persons pound the yolks of four or five hard-boiled eggs with the almonds, meat, and bread for this white soup; French cooks beat smoothly with them an ounce or two of whole rice, previously boiled from fifteen to twenty minutes.

Obs. 2.—A good plain white soup maybe made simply by adding to a couple of quarts of pale veal stock or strong well-flavoured veal broth, a thickening of arrow-root, and from half to three quarters of a pint of cream. Four ounces of macaroni boiled tender and well-drained may be dropped into it a minute or two before it is dished, but the thickening may then be diminished a little.

MOCK TURTLE SOUP.

To make a single tureen of this favourite English soup in the most economical manner when there is no stock at hand, stew gently down in a gallon of water four pounds of the fleshy part of the shin of beef, or of the neck, with two or three carrots, one onion, a small head of celery, a bunch of savoury herbs, a blade of mace, a half-teaspoonful of peppercorns, and an ounce of salt. When the meat is quite in fragments, strain off the broth, and pour it when cold upon three pounds of the knuckle or of the neck of veal; simmer this until the flesh has quite fallen from the bones, but be careful to stew it as softly as possible, or the quantity of stock will be so much reduced as to be insufficient for the soup. Next, take the half of a fine calf’s head with the skin on, remove the brains, and then bone it[[27]] entirely, or let the butcher do this, and return the bones with it; these, when there is time, may be stewed with the veal to enrich the stock, or boiled afterwards with the head and tongue. Strain the soup through a hair-sieve into a clean pan, and let it drain closely from the meat. When it is nearly or quite cold, clear off all the fat from it; roll the head lightly round, leaving the tongue inside, or taking it out, as is most convenient, secure it with tape or twine, pour the soup over, and bring it gently to boil upon a moderate fire; keep it well skimmed, and simmer it from an hour to an hour and a quarter; then lift the head into a deep pan or tureen, add the soup to it, and let it remain in until nearly cold, as this will prevent the edges from becoming dark. Cut into quarter-inch slices, and then divide into dice, from six to eight ounces of the lean of an undressed ham, and if possible, one of good flavour; free it perfectly from fat, rind, and the smoked edges; peel and slice four moderate-sized eschalots, or if these should not be at hand, one mild onion in lieu of them. Dissolve in a well-tinned stewpan or thick iron saucepan which holds a gallon or more, four ounces of butter; put in the ham and eschalots, or onion, with half a dozen cloves, two middling-sized blades of mace, a half-teaspoonful of peppercorns, three or four very small sprigs of thyme, three teaspoonsful of minced parsley, one of lemon thyme and winter savoury mixed, and when the flavour is thought appropriate, the very thin rind of half a small fresh lemon. Stew these as softly as possible for nearly or quite an hour, and keep the pan frequently shaken: then put into a dredging box two ounces of fine dry flour, and sprinkle it to them by degrees; mix the whole well together, and after a few minutes more of gentle simmering, add very gradually five full pints of the stock taken free of fat and sediment, and made boiling before it is poured in; shake the pan strongly round as the first portions of it are added, and continue to do so until it contains from two to three pints, when the remainder may be poured in at once, and the pan placed by the side of the fire that it may boil in the gentlest manner for an hour. At the end of that time turn the whole into a hair-sieve placed over a large pan, and if the liquid should not run through freely, knock the sides of the sieve, but do not force it through with a spoon, as that would spoil the appearance of the stock. The head in the meanwhile should have been cut up, ready to add to it. For the finest kind of mock turtle, only the skin, with the fat that adheres to it, should be used; and this, with the tongue, should be cut down into one inch squares, or if preferred into strips of an inch wide. For ordinary occasions, the lean part of the flesh may be added also, but as it is always sooner done than the skin, it is better to add it to the soup a little later. When it is quite ready, put it with the strained stock into a clean pan, and simmer it from three quarters of an hour to a full hour: it should be perfectly tender, without being allowed to break. Cayenne, if needed, should be thrown into the stock before it is strained; salt should be used sparingly, on account of the ham, until the whole of the other ingredients have been mixed together, when a sufficient quantity must be stirred into the soup to season it properly. A couple of glasses of good sherry or Madeira, with a dessertspoonful of strained lemon-juice, are usually added two or three minutes only before the soup is dished, that the spirit and flavour of the wine may not have time to evaporate; but it is sometimes preferred mellowed down by longer boiling. The proportion of lemon-juice may be doubled at will, but much acid is not generally liked. We can assure the reader of the excellence of the soup made by this receipt; it is equally palatable and delicate, and not heavy or cloying to the stomach, like many of the elaborate compositions which bear its name. The fat, through the whole process, should be carefully skimmed off. The ham gives far more savour, when used as we have directed, than when, even in much larger proportion, it is boiled down in the stock. Two dozens of forcemeat-balls, prepared by the receipt No. 11, Chap. VIII., should be dropped into the soup when it is ready for table. It is no longer customary to serve egg-balls in it.

[27]. This is so simple and easy a process, that the cook may readily accomplish it with very little attention. Let her only work the knife close to the bone always, so as to take the flesh clean from it, instead of leaving large fragments on. The jaw-bone may first be removed, and the flesh turned back from the edge of the other.

First broth:—shin, or neck of beef, 4 lbs.; water, 4 quarts; carrots, 2 or 3; large mild onion, 1; celery, small head; bunch savoury herbs; mace, 1 large blade; peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoonful; cloves, 6; salt, 1 oz.: 5 hours or more, very gently. For stock: the broth and 3 lbs. neck or knuckle of veal (bones of head if ready): 4 to 5 hours. Boned half-head with skin on and tongue, 1 to 1-1/4 hour. Lean of undressed ham, 6 to 8 oz. (6 if very salt); shalots, 4, or onion, 1; fresh butter, 4 oz.; cloves, 6; middling-sized blades of mace, 2; peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoonful; small sprigs of thyme, 3 or 4; minced parsley, 3 large teaspoonsful; minced savoury and lemon-thyme mixed, 1 small teaspoonful (thin rind 1/2 small lemon, when liked): 1 hour. Flour, 2 oz.: 5 minutes. Stock, full five pints; flesh of head and tongue, 1-3/4 to 2 lbs.: 3/4 of an hour to 1 hour (salt, if needed, to be added in interim). Good sherry or Madeira, 2 wineglassesful; lemon-juice, 1 to 2 dessertspoonsful; forcemeat-balls, 24.

Obs. 1.—The beef, veal, bones of the head, and vegetables may be stewed down together when more convenient: it is only necessary that a really good, well flavoured, and rather deeply-coloured stock should be prepared. A calf’s foot is always an advantageous addition to it, and the skin of another calf’s head[[28]] a better one still.

[28]. Country butchers, in preparing a calf’s head for sale in the ordinary way, take off the skin (or scalp), considered so essential to the excellence of this soup, and frequently throw it away; it may, therefore, often be procured from them at very slight cost, and is the best possible addition to the mock turtle. It is cleared from the head in detached portions with the hair on, but this may easily be removed after a few minutes’ scalding as from the head itself, or the feet, by the direction given in Chapter of [Sweet Dishes]. In London it is sold entire, and very nicely prepared, and may be served in many forms, besides being added to soup with great advantage.

Obs. 2.—A couple of dozens mushroom-buttons, cleaned with salt and flannel, then wiped very dry, and sliced, and added to the ham and herbs when they have been simmered together about half an hour, will be found an improvement to the soup.

Claret is sometimes added instead of sherry or Madeira, but we do not think it would in general suit English taste so well. From two to three tablespoonsful of Harvey’s sauce can be stirred in with the wine when it is liked, or when the colour requires deepening.

OLD-FASHIONED MOCK TURTLE.

After having taken out the brain and washed and soaked the head well, pour to it nine quarts of cold water, bring it gently to boil, skim it very clean, boil it if large an hour and a half, lift it out, and put into the liquor eight pounds of neck of beef lightly browned in a little fresh butter, with three or four thick slices of lean ham, four large onions sliced, three heads of celery, three large carrots, a large bunch of savoury herbs, the rind of a lemon pared very thin, a dessertspoonful of peppercorns, two ounces of salt, and after the meat has been taken from the head, all the bones and fragments. Stew these gently from six to seven hours, then strain off the stock and set it into a very cool place, that the fat may become firm enough on the top to be cleared off easily. The skin and fat of the head should be taken off together and divided into strips of two or three inches in length, and one in width; the tongue may be carved in the same manner, or into dice. Put the stock, of which there ought to be between four and five quarts, into a large soup or stewpot; thicken it when it boils with four ounces of fresh butter[[29]] mixed with an equal weight of fine dry flour, a half-teaspoonful of pounded mace, and a third as much of cayenne (it is better to use these sparingly at first, and to add more should the soup require it, after it has boiled some little time); pour in half a pint of sherry, stir the whole together until it has simmered for a minute or two, then put in the head, and let it stew gently from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half: stir it often, and clear it perfectly from scum. Put into it just before it is ready for table three dozens of small forcemeat-balls; the brain cut into dice (after having been well soaked, scalded,[[30]] and freed from the film), dipped into beaten yolk of egg, then into the finest crumbs mixed with salt, white pepper, a little grated nutmeg, fine lemon-rind, and chopped parsley fried a fine brown, well drained and dried; and as many egg-balls, the size of a small marble, as the yolks of four eggs will supply. (See Chapter [VIII]). This quantity will be sufficient for two large tureens of soup; when the whole is not wanted for table at the same time, it is better to add wine only to so much as will be required for immediate consumption, or if it cannot conveniently be divided, to heat the wine in a small saucepan with a little of the soup, to turn it into the tureen, and then to mix it with the remainder by stirring the whole gently after the tureen is filled. Some persons simply put in the cold wine just before the soup is dished, but this is not so well.

[29]. When the butter is considered objectionable, the flour, without it, may be mixed to the smoothest batter possible, with a little cold stock or water, and stirred briskly into the boiling soup: the spices should be blended with it.

[30]. The brain should be blanched, that is, thrown into boiling water with a little salt in it, and boiled from five to eight minutes, then lifted out and laid into cold water for a quarter of an hour: it must be wiped very dry before it is fried.

Whole calf’s head with skin on, boiled 1-1/2 hour. Stock: neck of beef, browned in butter, 8 lbs.; lean of ham, 1/2 to 3/4 lb.; onions, 4; large carrots, 3; heads of celery, 3; large bunch herbs; salt, 2 oz. (as much more to be added when the soup is made as will season it sufficiently); thin rind, 1 lemon; peppercorns, 1 dessertspoonful; bones and trimmings of head: 8 hours. Soup: stock, 4 to 5 quarts; flour and butter for thickening, of each 4 oz.; pounded mace, half-teaspoonful; cayenne, third as much (more of each as needed); sherry, half pint: 2 to 3 minutes. Flesh of head and tongue, nearly or quite 2 lbs.: 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour. Forcemeat-balls, 36; the brain cut and fried; egg-balls, 16 to 24.

Obs.—When the brain is not blanched it must be cut thinner in the form of small cakes, or it will not be done through by the time it has taken enough colour: it may be altogether omitted without much detriment to the soup, and will make an excellent corner dish if gently stewed in white gravy for half an hour, and served with it thickened with cream and arrow-root to the consistency of good white sauce, then rather highly seasoned, and mixed with plenty of minced parsley, and some lemon-juice.

GOOD CALF’S HEAD SOUP.
(Not expensive.)

Stew down from six to seven pounds of the thick part of a shin of beef with a little lean ham, or a slice of hung beef, or of Jewish beef, trimmed free from the smoky edges, in five quarts of water until reduced nearly half, with the addition, when it first begins to boil, of an ounce of salt, a large bunch of savoury herbs, one large onion, a head of celery, three carrots, two or three turnips, two small blades of mace, eight or ten cloves, and a few white or black peppercorns. Let it boil gently that it may not be too much reduced, for six or seven hours, then strain it into a clean pan and set it by for use. Take out the bone from half a calf’s head with the skin on (the butcher will do this if desired), wash, roll, and bind it with a bit of tape or twine, and lay it into a stewpan, with the bones and tongue; cover the whole with the beef stock, and stew it for an hour and a half; then lift it into a deep earthen pan and let it cool in the liquor, as this will prevent the edges from becoming dry or discoloured. Take it out before it is quite cold; strain, and skim all the fat carefully from the stock; and heat five pints in a large clean saucepan, with the head cut into small thick slices or into inch-squares. As quite the whole will not be needed, leave a portion of the fat, but add every morsel of the skin to the soup, and of the tongue also. Should the first of these not be perfectly tender, it must be simmered gently till it is so; then stir into the soup from six to eight ounces of fine rice-flour mixed with a quarter-teaspoonful of cayenne, twice as much freshly pounded mace, half a wineglassful of mushroom catsup,[[31]] and sufficient cold broth or water to render it of the consistence of batter; boil the whole from eight to ten minutes; take off the scum, and throw in two glasses of sherry; dish the soup and put into the tureen some delicately and well fried forcemeat-balls made by the receipt No. 1, 2, or 3, of Chapter [VIII.] A small quantity of lemon-juice or other acid can be added at pleasure. The wine and forcemeat-balls may be omitted, and the other seasonings of the soup a little heightened. As much salt as may be required should be added to the stock when the head first begins to boil in it: the cook must regulate also by the taste the exact proportion of cayenne, mace, and catsup, which will flavour the soup agreeably. The fragments of the head, with the bones and the residue of the beef used for stock, if stewed down together with some water and a few fresh vegetables, will afford some excellent broth, such as would be highly acceptable, especially if well thickened with rice, to many a poor family during the winter months.

[31]. Unless very good and pure in flavour, we cannot recommend the addition of this or of any other catsup to soup or gravy.

Stock: shin of beef, 6 to 7 lbs.; water, 5 quarts: stewed down (with vegetables, &c.) till reduced nearly half. Boned half-head with skin on stewed in stock: 1-1/2 hour. Soup: stock, 5 pints; tongue, skin of head, and part of flesh: 15 to 40 minutes, or more if not quite tender. Rice-flour, 6 to 8 oz.; cayenne, quarter-teaspoonful; mace, twice as much; mushroom catsup, 1/2 wineglassful: 10 minutes. Sherry, 2 wineglassesful, forcemeat-balls, 20 to 30.

SOUP DES GALLES.

Add to the liquor in which a knuckle of veal has been boiled the usual time for table as much water as will make altogether six quarts, and stew in it gently sixpennyworth of beef bones and sixpennyworth of pork-rinds. When the boiling is somewhat advanced, throw in the skin of a calf’s head; and in an hour afterwards, or when it is quite tender, lift it out and set it aside till wanted. Slice and fry four large mild onions, stick into another eight or ten cloves, and put them into the soup after it has stewed from six to seven hours. Continue the boiling for two or three hours longer, then strain off the soup, and let it remain until perfectly cold. When wanted for table, take it quite clear from the fat and sediment, and heat it anew with the skin of the calf’s head cut into dice, three ounces of loaf sugar, four tablespoonsful of strained lemon-juice, two of soy, and three wineglassesful of sherry; give it one boil, skim it well, and serve it as hot as possible. Salt must be added to it sparingly in the first instance on account of the soy: a proper seasoning of cayenne or pepper must not, of course, be omitted.

This receipt was given to the writer, some years since, as a perfectly successful imitation of a soup which was then, and is still, she believes, selling in London at six shillings the quart. Never having tasted the original Soupe des Galles she cannot say how far it is a correct one; but she had it tested with great exactness when she received it first, and found the result a very good soup prepared at an extremely moderate cost. The pork-rinds, when long boiled, afford a strong and flavourless jelly, which might be advantageously used to give consistence to other soups. They may be procured during the winter, usually at the butcher’s, but if not, at the porkshops: they should be carefully washed before they are put into the soup-pot. When a knuckle of veal cannot conveniently be had, a pound or two of the neck and a morsel of scrag of mutton may instead be boiled down with the beef-bones; or two or three pounds of neck or shin of beef: but these will, of course, augment the cost of the soup.

POTAGE À LA REINE.
(A Delicate White Soup.)

Should there be no strong veal broth, nor any white stock in readiness, stew four pounds of the scrag or knuckle of veal, with a thick slice or two of lean ham, a faggot of sweet herbs, two moderate-sized carrots, and the same of onions, a large blade of mace, and a half-teaspoonful of white peppercorns, in four quarts of water until reduced to about five pints; then strain the liquor, and set it by until the fat can be taken entirely from it. Skin and wash thoroughly, a couple of fine fowls, or three young pullets, and take away the dark spongy substance which adheres to the insides; pour the veal broth to them, and boil them gently from three quarters of an hour to an hour; then lift them out, take off all the white flesh, mince it small, pound it to the finest paste, and cover it with a basin until wanted for use. In the mean time let the bodies of the fowls be put again into the stock, and stewed gently for an hour and a half; add as much salt and cayenne, as will season the soup properly, strain it off when sufficiently boiled, and let it cool; skim off every particle of fat; steep, in a small portion of it, which should be boiling, four ounces of the crumb of light stale bread sliced thin, and when it has simmered a few minutes, drain or wring the moisture from it in a clean cloth, add it to the flesh of the chickens, and pound them together until they are perfectly blended; then pour the stock to them in very small quantities at first, and mix them smoothly with it; pass the whole through a sieve or tammy, heat it in a clean stewpan, stir to it from a pint to a pint and a half of boiling cream, and add, should it not be sufficiently thick, an ounce and a half of arrow-root, quite free from lumps, and moistened with a few spoonsful of cold milk or stock.

Remark.—This soup, and the two which immediately follow it, if made with care and great nicety by the exact directions given here for them, will be found very refined and excellent. For stock: veal, 4 lbs.; ham, 6 oz.; water, 4 quarts; bunch of herbs; carrots, 2; onions, 2; mace, large blade; peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoonful; salt: 5 hours. Fowls, 2, or pullets, 3: 3/4 to 1 hour; stewed afterwards 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Crumb of bread, 4 oz.; cream, 1 to 1-1/2 pint; arrow-root (if needed), 1-1/2 oz.

Obs.—Some cooks pound with the bread and chickens the yolks of three or four hard-boiled eggs, but these improve neither the colour nor the flavour of the potage.

WHITE OYSTER SOUP.

(or Oyster Soup à la Reine.)

When the oysters are small, from two to three dozens for each pint of soup should be prepared, but this number can of course be diminished or increased at pleasure. Let the fish (which should be finely conditioned natives) be opened carefully; pour the liquor from them, and strain it; rinse them in it well, and beard them; strain the liquor a second time through a lawn sieve or folded muslin, and pour it again over the oysters. Take a portion from two quarts of the palest veal stock, and simmer the beards in it from twenty to thirty minutes. Heat the soup, flavour it with mace and cayenne, and strain the stock from the oyster-beards into it. Plump the fish in their own liquor, but do not let them boil; pour the liquor to the soup, and add to it a pint of boiling cream; put the oysters into the tureen, dish the soup, and send it to table quickly. Should any thickening be required, stir briskly to the stock an ounce and a half of arrow-root entirely free from lumps, and carefully mixed with a little milk or cream; or, in lieu of this, when a rich soup is liked, thicken it with four ounces of fresh butter well blended with three of flour.

Oysters, 8 to 12 dozens; pale veal stock, 2 quarts; cream, 1 pint; thickening, 1 oz. arrow-root, or butter, 4 oz., flour, 3 oz.

RABBIT SOUP À LA REINE.

Wash and soak thoroughly three young rabbits, put them whole into the soup-pot, and pour on them seven pints of cold water or of clear veal broth; when they have stewed gently about three quarters of an hour lift them out, and take off the flesh of the backs, with a little from the legs should there not be half a pound of the former; strip off the skin, mince the meat very small, and pound it to the smoothest paste; cover it from the air, and set it by. Put back into the soup the bodies of the rabbits, with two mild onions of moderate size, a head of celery, three carrots, a faggot of savoury herbs, two blades of mace, a half-teaspoonful of peppercorns, and an ounce of salt. Stew the whole softly three hours; strain it off, let it stand to settle, pour it gently from the sediment, put from four to five pints into a clean stewpan, and mix it very gradually while hot with the pounded rabbit-flesh; this must be done with care, for if the liquid be not added in very small portions at first, the meat will gather into lumps and will not easily be worked smooth afterwards. Add as much pounded mace and cayenne as will season the soup pleasantly, and pass it through a coarse but very clean sieve; wipe out the stewpan, put back the soup into it, and stir in when it boils, a pint and a quarter of good cream[[32]] mixed with a tablespoonful of the best arrow-root: salt, if needed, should be thrown in previously.

[32]. We give this receipt exactly as we had it first compounded, but less cream and rather more arrow-root might be used for it, and would adapt it better to the economist.

Young rabbits, 3; water, or clear veal broth, 7 pints: 3/4 of an hour. Remains of rabbits; onions, 2; celery, 1 head; carrots, 3; savoury herbs; mace, 2 blades; white peppercorns, a half-teaspoonful; salt, 1 oz.: 3 hours. Soup, 4 to 5 pints; pounded rabbit-flesh, 8 oz.; salt, mace, and cayenne, if needed; cream, 1-1/4 pint; arrow-root, 1 tablespoonful (or 1-1/2 ounce).

BROWN RABBIT SOUP.

Cut down into joints, flour, and fry lightly, two full grown, or three young rabbits; add to them three onions of moderate size, also fried to a clear brown; on these pour gradually seven pints of boiling water, throw in a large teaspoonful of salt, clear off all the scum with care as it rises, and then put to the soup a faggot of parsley, four not very large carrots, and a small teaspoonful of peppercorns; boil the whole very softly from five hours to five and a half; add more salt if needed, strain off the soup, let it cool sufficiently for the fat to be skimmed clean from it, heat it afresh, and send it to table with sippets of fried bread. Spice, with a thickening of rice-flour, or of wheaten flour browned in the oven, and mixed with a spoonful or two of very good mushroom catsup, or of Harvey’s sauce, can be added at pleasure to the above, with a few drops of eschalot-wine, or vinegar; but the simple receipt will be found extremely good without them.

Rabbits, 2 full grown, or 3 small; onions fried, 3 middling-sized; water, 7 pints; salt, 1 large teaspoonful or more; carrots, 4, a faggot of parsley; peppercorns, 1 small teaspoonful: 5 to 5-1/2 hours.

SUPERLATIVE HARE SOUP.

Cut down a hare into joints, and put into a soup-pot, or large stewpan, with about a pound of lean ham, in thick slices, three moderate-sized mild onions, three blades of mace, a faggot of thyme, sweet marjoram, and parsley, and about three quarts of good beef stock. Let it stew very gently for full two hours from the time of its first beginning to boil, and more, if the hare be old. Strain the soup and pound together very fine the slices of ham and all the flesh of the back, legs, and shoulders of the hare, and put this meat into a stewpan with the liquor in which it was boiled, the crumb of two French rolls, and half a pint of port wine. Set it on the stove to simmer twenty minutes; then rub it through a sieve, place it again on the stove till very hot, but do not let it boil: season it with salt and cayenne, and send it to table directly.

Hare, 1; ham, 12 to 16 oz.; onions, 3 to 6; mace, 3 blades; faggot of savoury herbs; beef stock, 3 quarts: 2 hours. Crumb of 2 rolls; port wine, 1/2 pint; little salt and cayenne: 20 minutes.

A LESS EXPENSIVE HARE SOUP.[[33]]

[33]. The remains of a roasted hare, with the forcemeat and gravy, are admirably calculated for making this soup.

Pour on two pounds of neck or shin of beef and a hare well washed and carved into joints, one gallon of cold water, and when it boils and has been thoroughly skimmed, add an ounce and a half of salt, two onions, one large head of celery, three moderate-sized carrots, a teaspoonful of black peppercorns, and six cloves.

Let these stew very gently for three hours, or longer, should the hare not be perfectly tender. Then take up the principal joints, cut the meat from them, mince, and pound it to a fine paste, with the crumb of two penny rolls (or two ounces of the crumb of household bread) which has been soaked in a little of the boiling soup, and then pressed very dry in a cloth; strain, and mix smoothly with it the stock from the remainder of the hare; pass the soup through a strainer, season it with cayenne, and serve it when at the point of boiling; if not sufficiently thick, add to it a tablespoonful of arrow-root moistened with a little cold broth, and let the soup simmer for an instant afterwards. Two or three glasses of port wine, and two dozens of small forcemeat-balls, may be added to this soup with good effect.

Beef, 2 lbs.; hare, 1; water, 1 gallon; salt, 1-1/2 oz.; onions, 2; celery, 1 head; carrots, 3; bunch of savoury herbs; peppercorns, 1 teaspoonful; cloves, 6: 3 hours, or more. Bread, 2 oz.; cayenne, arrow-root (if needed), 1 tablespoonful.

ECONOMICAL TURKEY SOUP.

The remains of a roast turkey, even after they have supplied the usual mince and broil, will furnish a tureen of cheap and excellent soup with the addition of a little fresh meat. Cut up rather small two pounds of the neck or other lean joint of beef, and pour to it five pints of cold water. Heat these very slowly; skim the liquor when it begins to boil, and add to it an ounce of salt, a small, mild onion (the proportion of all the vegetables may be much increased when they are liked), a little celery, and the flesh and bones of the turkey, with any gravy or forcemeat that may have been left with them. Let these boil gently for about three hours; then strain off the soup through a coarse sieve or cullender, and let it remain until the fat can be entirely removed from it. It may then be served merely well thickened with rice[[34]] which has previously been boiled very dry as for currie, and stewed in it for about ten minutes; and seasoned with one large heaped tablespoonful or more of minced parsley, and as much salt and pepper or cayenne as it may require. This, as the reader will perceive, is a somewhat frugal preparation, by which the residue of a roast turkey may be turned to economical account; but it is a favourite soup at some good English tables, where its very simplicity is a recommendation. It can always be rendered more expensive, and of richer quality, by the addition of lean ham or smoked beef,[[35]] a larger weight of fresh meat, and catsup or other store-sauces.

[34]. It will be desirable to prepare six ounces of rice, and to use as much of it as may be required, the reduction of the stock not being always equal, and the same weight of rice therefore not being in all cases sufficient. Rice-flour can be substituted for the whole grain and used as directed for Rice Flour Soup, page [15].

[35]. As we have stated in our chapter of [Foreign Cookery], the Jewish smoked beef, of which we have given particulars there, imparts a superior flavour to soups and gravies; and it is an economical addition to them, as a small portion of it will much heighten their savour.

Turkey soup à la reine is made precisely like the Potage à la Reine of fowls or pullets, of which the receipt will be found in another part of this chapter.

PHEASANT SOUP.

Half roast a brace of well-kept pheasants, and flour them rather thickly when they are first laid to the fire. As soon as they are nearly cold take all the flesh from the breasts, put it aside, and keep it covered from the air; carve down the remainder of the birds into joints, bruise the bodies thoroughly, and stew the whole gently from two to three hours in five pints of strong beef broth; then strain off the soup, and press as much of it as possible from the pheasants. Let it cool; and in the mean time strip the skins from the breasts, mince them small, and pound them to the finest paste, with half as much fresh butter, and half of dry crumbs of bread; season these well with cayenne, sufficiently with salt, and moderately with pounded mace and grated nutmeg, and add, when their flavour is liked, three or four eschalots previously boiled tender in a little of the soup, left till cold, and minced before they are put into the mortar. Moisten the mixture with the yolks of two or three eggs, roll it into small balls of equal size, dust a little flour upon them, skim all the fat from the soup, heat it in a clean stewpan, and when it boils throw them in and poach them from ten to twelve minutes, but first ascertain that the soup is properly seasoned with salt and cayenne. We have recommended that the birds should be partially roasted before they are put into the soup-pot, because their flavour is much finer when this is done than when they are simply stewed; they should be placed rather near to a brisk fire that they may be quickly browned on the surface without losing any of their juices, and the basting should be constant. A slight thickening of rice-flour and arrow-root can be added to the soup at pleasure, and the forcemeat-balls may be fried and dropped into the tureen when they are preferred so. Half a dozen eschalots lightly browned in butter, and a small head of celery, may also be thrown in after the birds begin to stew, but nothing should be allowed to prevail ever the natural flavour of the game itself; and this should be observed equally with other kinds, as partridges, grouse, and venison.

Pheasants, 2. roasted 20 to 25 minutes. Strong beef broth, or stock, 5 pints: 2 to 3 hours. Forcemeat-balls: breasts of pheasants, half as much dry bread-crumbs and of butter, salt, mace, cayenne; yolks of 2 or 3 eggs (and at choice 3 or 4 boiled eschalots).

Obs.—The stock may be made of six pounds of shin of beef, and four quarts of water reduced to within a pint of half. An onion, a large carrot, a bunch of savoury herbs, and some salt and spice should be added to it: one pound of neck of veal or of beef will improve it.

ANOTHER PHEASANT SOUP.

Boil down the half-roasted birds as directed in the foregoing receipt, and add to the soup, after it is strained and re-heated, the breasts pounded to the finest paste with nearly as much bread soaked in a little of the stock and pressed very dry; for the proper manner of mixing them, see Potage à la Reine, page [29]. Half a pint of small mushrooms cleaned as for pickling, then sliced rather thickly, and stewed from ten to fifteen minutes without browning, in an ounce or two of fresh butter, with a slight seasoning of mace, cayenne, and salt, then turned into the mortar and pounded with the other ingredients, will be found an excellent addition to the soup, which must be passed through a strainer after the breasts are added to it, brought to the point of boiling, and served with sippets à la Reine, or with others simply fried of a delicate brown and well dried. We have occasionally had a small quantity of delicious soup made with the remains of birds which have been served at table; and where game is frequently dressed, the cook, by reserving all the fragments for the purpose, and combining different kinds, may often send up a good tureen of such, made at a very slight cost.

Pheasants, 2; stock, 5 pints; bread soaked in gravy (see Panada, Chapter [VIII]), nearly as much in bulk as the flesh of the breasts of the birds; mushrooms, 1/2 pint, stewed in one or two oz. of butter 10 to 15 minutes, then pounded with flesh of pheasants. Salt, cayenne and mace, to season properly.

PARTRIDGE SOUP.

This is, we think, superior in flavour to the pheasant soup. It should be made in precisely the same manner, but three birds allowed for it instead of two. Grouse and partridges together will make a still finer one; the remains of roast grouse even, added to a brace of partridges, will produce a very good effect.

MULLAGATAWNY SOUP.

Slice, and fry gently in some good butter three or four large onions, and when they are of a fine equal amber-colour lift them out with a slice and put them into a deep stewpot, or large thick saucepan; throw a little more butter into the pan, and then brown lightly in it a young rabbit, or the prime joints of two, or a fowl cut down small, and floured. When the meat is sufficiently browned, lay it upon the onions, pour gradually to them a quart of good boiling stock, and stew it gently from three quarters of an hour to an hour; then take it out, and pass the stock and onions through a fine sieve or strainer. Add to them two pints and a half more of stock, pour the whole into a clean pan, and when it boils stir to it two tablespoonsful of currie-powder mixed with nearly as much of browned flour, and a little cold water or broth, put in the meat, and simmer it for twenty minutes or longer should it not be perfectly tender, add the juice of a small lemon just before it is dished, serve it very hot, and send boiled rice to table with it. Part of a pickled mango cut into strips about the size of large straws, is sometimes served in this soup, after being stewed in it for a few minutes; a little of the pickle itself should be added with it. We have given here the sort of receipt commonly used in England for mullagatawny, but a much finer soup may be made by departing from it in some respects. The onions, of which the proportion may be increased or diminished to the taste, after being fried slowly and with care, that no part should be overdone, may be stewed for an hour in the first quart of stock with three or four ounces of grated cocoa-nut,[[36]] which will impart a rich mellow flavour to the whole. After all of this that can be rubbed through the sieve has been added to as much more stock as will be required for the soup, and the currie-powder and thickening have been boiled in it for twenty minutes, the flesh of part of a calf’s head,[[37]] previously stewed almost tender, and cut as for mock turtle, with a sweetbread also parboiled or stewed in broth, and divided into inch-squares, will make an admirable mullagatawny, if simmered in the stock until they have taken the flavour of the currie-seasoning. The flesh of a couple of calves’ feet, with a sweetbread or two, may, when more convenient, be substituted for the head. A large cupful of thick cream, first mixed and boiled with a teaspoonful of flour or arrow-root to prevent its curdling, and stirred into the soup before the lemon-juice, will enrich and improve it much.

[36]. That our readers to whom this ingredient in soups is new, may not be misled, we must repeat here, that although the cocoa-nut when it is young and fresh imparts a peculiarly rich flavour to any preparation, it is not liked by all eaters, and is better omitted when the taste of a party is not known, and only one soup is served.

[37]. The scalp or skin only of a calf’s head will make excellent mullagatawny, with good broth for stock; and many kinds of shell-fish also.

Rabbit, 1, or the best joints of, 2, or fowl, 1; large onions, 4 to 6; stock, 1 quart: 3/4 to 1 hour. 2-1/2 pints more of stock; currie-powder, 2 heaped tablespoonsful, with 2 of browned flour; meat and all simmered together 20 minutes or more; juice of lemon, 1 small; or part of pickled mango stewed in the soup 3 to 4 minutes.

Or,—onions, 3 to 6; cocoa-nut, 3 to 4 oz.; stock, 1 quart; stewed 1 hour. Stock, 3 pints (in addition to the first quart); currie-powder and thickening each, 2 large tablespoonsful: 20 minutes. Flesh of part of calf s head and sweetbread, 15 minutes or more. Thick cream, 1 cupful; flour or arrow-root, 1 teaspoonful; boiled 2 minutes, and stirred to the soup. Chili vinegar, 1 tablespoonful, or lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonsful.

Obs. 1.—The brain of the calf’s head stewed for twenty minutes in a little of the stock, then rubbed through a sieve, diluted gradually with more of the stock, and added as thickening to the soup, will be found an admirable substitute for part of the flour.

Obs. 2.—Three or four pounds of a breast of veal, or an equal weight of mutton, free from bone and fat, may take the place of rabbits or fowls in this soup, for a plain dinner. The veal should be cut into squares of an inch and a half, or into strips of an inch in width, and two in length; and the mutton should be trimmed down in the same way, or into very small cutlets.

Obs. 3.—For an elegant table, the joints of rabbit or of fowl should always be boned before they are added to the soup, for which, in this case, a couple of each will be needed for a single tureen, as all the inferior joints must be rejected.

TO BOIL RICE FOR MULLAGATAWNY SOUPS, OR FOR CURRIES.

The Patna, or small-grained rice, which is not so good as the Carolina, for the general purposes of cookery, ought to be served with currie. First take out the unhusked grains, then wash the rice in several waters, and put it into a large quantity of cold water; bring it gently to boil, keeping it uncovered, and boil it softly for fifteen minutes, when it will be perfectly tender, and every grain will remain distinct. Throw it into a large cullender, and let it drain for ten minutes near the fire; should it not then appear quite dry, turn it into a dish, and set it for a short time into a gentle oven, or let it steam in a clean saucepan near the fire. It should neither be stirred, except just at first, to prevent its lumping while it is still quite hard, nor touched with either fork or spoon; the stewpan may be shaken occasionally, should the rice seem to require it, and it should be thrown lightly from the cullender upon the dish. A couple of minutes before it is done, throw in some salt, and from the time of its beginning to boil remove the scum as it rises.

Patna rice, 1/2 lb.; cold water, 2 quarts: boiled slowly, 15 minutes. Salt, 1 large teaspoonful.

Obs.—This, of all the modes of boiling rice which we have tried, and they have been very numerous, is indisputably the best. The Carolina rice answers well dressed in the same manner, but requires four or five minutes longer boiling: it should never be served until it is quite tender. One or two minutes, more or less, will sometimes, from the varying quality of the grain, be requisite to render it tender.

GOOD VEGETABLE MULLAGATAWNY.

Dissolve in a large stewpan or thick iron saucepan, four ounces of butter, and when it is on the point of browning, throw in four large mild onions sliced, three pounds weight of young vegetable marrow cut in large dice and cleared from the skin and seeds, four large or six moderate-sized cucumbers, pared, split, and emptied likewise of their seeds, and from three to six large acid apples, according to the taste; shake the pan often, and stew these over a gentle fire until they are tolerably tender; then strew lightly over and mix well amongst them, three heaped tablespoonsful of mild currie powder, with nearly a third as much of salt, and let the vegetables stew from twenty to thirty minutes longer; then pour to them gradually sufficient boiling water (broth or stock if preferred) to just cover them, and when they are reduced almost to a pulp press the whole through a hair-sieve with a wooden spoon, and heat it in a clean stewpan, with as much additional liquid as will make two quarts with that which was first added. Give any flavouring that may be needed, whether of salt, cayenne, or acid, and serve the soup extremely hot. Should any butter appear on the surface, let it be carefully skimmed off, or stir in a small dessertspoonful of arrow-root (smoothly mixed with a little cold broth or water) to absorb it. Rice may be served with this soup at pleasure, but as it is of the consistence of winter peas soup, it scarcely requires any addition. The currie powder may be altogether omitted for variety, and the whole converted into a plain vegetable potage; or it may be rendered one of high savour, by browning all the vegetables lightly, and adding to them rich brown stock. Tomatas, when in season, may be substituted for the apples, after being divided, and freed from their seeds.

Butter, 4 oz.; vegetable marrow, pared and scooped, 3 lbs.; large mild onions, 4; large cucumbers, 4; or middling-sized, 6; apples, or large tomatas, 3 to 6; 30 to 40 minutes. Mild currie-powder, 3 heaped tablespoonsful; salt, one small tablespoonful 20 to 32 minutes. Water, broth, or good stock, 2 quarts.

CUCUMBER SOUP.

Pare, split, and empty from eight to twenty[[38]] fine, well grown, but not old cucumbers,—those which have the fewest seeds are best for the purpose; throw a little salt over them, and leave them for an hour to drain, then put them with the white part only of a couple of mild onions into a deep stewpan or delicately clean saucepan, cover them nearly half an inch with pale but good veal stock, and stew them gently until they are perfectly tender, which will be in from three quarters of an hour to an hour and a quarter; work the whole through a hair-sieve, and add to it as much more stock as may be needed to make the quantity of soup required for table; and as the cucumbers, from their watery nature, will thicken it but little, stir to it when it boils, as much arrow-root, rice-flour, or tous les mois (see page [1]), as will bring it to a good consistence; add from half to a whole pint of boiling cream, and serve the soup immediately. Salt and cayenne sufficient to season it, should be thrown over the cucumbers while they are stewing. The yolks of six or eight eggs, mixed with a dessertspoonful of chili vinegar, may be used for this soup instead of cream; three dessertspoonsful of minced parsley may then be strewed into it a couple of minutes before they are added: it must not, of course, be allowed to boil after they are stirred in.

[38]. This is a great disparity of numbers; but some regard must be had to expense, where the vegetable cannot be obtained with facility.

SPRING SOUP AND SOUP À LA JULIENNE.

Throw into three quarts of strong clear broth, or shin of beef stock, or of consommé, half a pint each of turnips and carrots prepared by the directions of page [20], or turned into any other shape that may be preferred, with rather less of the solid part of some white celery stems, and of leeks or of very mild onions[[39]] mixed. The latter must, if used, be sliced, drawn into rings, and divided into slight shreds. When these have simmered from twenty to thirty minutes, add the leaves of one or two lettuces and a few of sorrel, trimmed or torn, about the size of half-a-crown. Continue the gentle boiling until these are tender, and add at the moment of serving half a pint of asparagus-points boiled very green, and as many French beans cut into small lozenges, and also boiled apart; or substitute green peas for these last.

[39]. Only a very subdued flavour of these is, we think, admissible for a delicate vegetable soup of any kind.

For the Julienne soup, first stew the carrots, &c. tolerably tender in a couple of ounces of butter; pour the stock boiling to them; skim off all the fat from the surface, and finish as above. Sprigs of chervil, spinach (boiled apart, and sparingly added), green onions, very small tufts of brocoli or cauliflower, may all be used in these soups at choice. Both the kind and the proportion of the vegetables can be regulated entirely by the taste. Bread stamped out with a very small round cutter, and dried a pale brown in the oven, is added sometimes to this spring soup, but is, we should say, no improvement. Winter vegetables should have three or four minutes’ previous boiling (or blanching) before they are put into the soup.

AN EXCELLENT GREEN PEAS SOUP.

Take at their fullest size, but before they are of bad colour or worm-eaten, three pints of fine large peas, and boil them as for table (see Chapter [XVII].) with half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda in the water, that they may be very green. When they are quite tender, drain them well, and put them into a couple of quarts of boiling, pale, but good beef or veal stock, and stew them in it gently for half an hour; then work the whole through a fine hair-sieve, put it into a clean pan and bring it to the point of boiling; add salt, should it be needed, and a small teaspoonful of pounded sugar; clear off the scum entirely, and serve the soup as hot as possible. An elegant variety of it is made by adding a half pint more of stock to the peas, and about three quarters of a pint of asparagus points, boiled apart, and well drained before they are thrown into it, which should be done only the instant before it is sent to table.

Green peas, 3 pints: boiled 25 to 30 minutes, or more. Veal or beef stock, 2 quarts (with peas): 1/2 an hour. Sugar, one small teaspoonful; salt, if needed.

Obs.—When there is no stock at hand, four or five pounds of shin of beef boiled slowly down with three quarts of water to two, and well seasoned with savoury herbs, young carrots, and onions, will serve instead quite well. A thick slice of lean, undressed ham, or of Jewish beef, would improve it.

Should a common English peas soup be wished for, make it somewhat thinner than the one above, and add to it, just before it is dished, from half to three quarters of a pint of young peas boiled tender and well drained.

GREEN PEAS SOUP, WITHOUT MEAT.

Boil tender in three quarts of water, with the proportions of salt and soda directed for them in Chapter [XVII.], one quart of large, full grown peas; drain and pound them in a mortar, mix with them gradually five pints of the liquor in which they were cooked, put the whole again over the fire, and stew it gently for a quarter of an hour; then press it through a hair-sieve. In the mean time, simmer in from three to four ounces of butter,[[40]] three large, or four small cucumbers pared and sliced, the hearts of three or four lettuces shred small, from one to four onions, according to the taste, cut thin, a few small sprigs of parsley, and, when the flavour is liked, a dozen leaves or more of mint roughly chopped: keep these stirred over a gentle fire for nearly or quite an hour, and strew over them a half-teaspoonful of salt, and a good seasoning of white pepper or cayenne. When they are partially done drain them from the butter, put them into the strained stock, and let the whole boil gently until all the butter has been thrown to the surface, and been entirely cleared from it; then throw in from half to three quarters of a pint of young peas boiled as for eating, and serve the soup immediately.

[40]. Some persons prefer the vegetables slowly fried to a fine brown, then drained on a sieve, and well dried before the fire; but though more savoury so, they do not improve the colour of the soup.

When more convenient, the peas, with a portion of the liquor, may be rubbed through a sieve, instead of being crushed in a mortar; and when the colour of the soup is not so much a consideration as the flavour, they may be slowly stewed until perfectly tender in four ounces of good butter, instead of being boiled: a few green onions, and some branches of parsley may then be added to them.

Green peas, 1 quart; water, 5 pints: cucumbers, 3 to 6; lettuces, 3 or 4; onions, 1 to 4; little parsley; mint (if liked), 12 to 20 leaves; butter, 3 to 4 oz.; salt, half-teaspoonful; seasoning of white pepper or cayenne: 50 to 60 minutes. Young peas, 1/2 to 3/4 of a pint.

Obs.—We must repeat that the peas for these soups must not be old, as when they are so, their fine sweet flavour is entirely lost, and the dried ones would have almost as good an effect; nor should they be of inferior kinds. Freshly gathered marrowfats, taken at nearly or quite their full growth, will give the best quality of soup. We are credibly informed, but cannot assert it on our own authority, that it is often made for expensive tables in early spring, with the young tender plants or halms of the peas, when they are about a foot in height. They are cut off close to the ground, like small salad, we are told, then boiled and pressed through a strainer, and mixed with the stock. The flavour is affirmed to be excellent.

A CHEAP GREEN PEAS SOUP.

Wash very clean and throw into an equal quantity of boiling water salted as for peas, three quarts of the shells, and in from twenty to thirty minutes, when they will be quite tender, turn the whole into a large strainer, and press the pods strongly with a wooden spoon. Measure the liquor, put two quarts of it into a clean deep saucepan, and when it boils add to it a quart of full grown peas, two or even three large cucumbers, as many moderate-sized lettuces freed from the coarser leaves and cut small, one large onion (or more if liked) sliced extremely thin and stewed for half an hour in a morsel of butter before it is added to the soup, or gently fried without being allowed to brown; a branch or two of parsley, and, when the flavour is liked, a dozen leaves of mint. Stew these softly for an hour, with the addition of a small teaspoonful, or a larger quantity if required of salt, and a good seasoning of fine white pepper or of cayenne; then work the whole of the vegetables with the soup through a hair-sieve, heat it afresh, and send it to table with a dish of small fried sippets. The colour will not be so bright as that of the more expensive soups which precede it, but it will be excellent in flavour.

Pea-shells, 3 quarts; water, 3 quarts: 20 to 30 minutes. Liquor from these, 2 quarts; full-sized green peas, 1 quart; large cucumbers, 2 or 3; lettuces, 3; onion, 1 (or more); little parsley; mint, 12 leaves; seasoning of salt and pepper or cayenne: stewed 1 hour.

Obs.—The cucumbers should be pared, quartered, and freed from the seeds before they are added to the soup. The peas, as we have said already more than once, should not be old, but taken at their full growth, before they lose their colour: the youngest of the shells ought to be selected for the liquor.

RICH PEAS SOUP.

Soak a quart of fine yellow split peas for a night, drain them well, and put them into a large soup-pot with five quarts of good brown gravy stock; and when they have boiled gently for half an hour, add to the soup three onions, as many carrots, and a turnip or two, all sliced and fried carefully in butter; stew the whole softly until the peas are reduced to pulp, then add as much salt and cayenne as may be needed to season it well, give it two or three minutes’ boil, and pass it through a sieve, pressing the vegetables with it. Put into a clean saucepan as much as may be required for table, add a little fresh stock to it should it be too thick, and reduce it by quick boiling if too thin; throw in the white part of some fresh celery sliced a quarter of an inch thick, and when this is tender send the soup quickly to table with a dish of small fried or toasted sippets. A dessertspoonful or more of currie-powder greatly improves peas soup: it should be smoothly mixed with a few spoonsful of it, and poured to the remainder when this first begins to boil after having been strained.

Split peas, 1 quart: soaked one night. Good brown gravy soup, 5 quarts: 30 minutes. Onions and carrots browned in butter, 3 of each; turnips, 2: 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 hours. Cayenne and salt as needed. Soup, 5 pints; celery, sliced, 1 large or 2 small heads: 20 minutes.

Obs.—When more convenient, six pounds of neck of beef well scored and equally and carefully browned, may be boiled gently with the peas and fried vegetables in a gallon of water (which should be poured to them boiling) for four or five hours.

COMMON PEAS SOUP.

Wash well a quart of good split peas, and float off such as remain on the surface of the water; soak them for one night, and boil them with a bit of soda the size of a filbert in just sufficient water to allow them to break to a mash. Put them into from three to four quarts of good beef broth, and stew them in it gently for an hour; then work the whole through a sieve, heat afresh as much as may be required for table, season it with salt and cayenne or common pepper, clear it perfectly from scum, and send it to table with fried or toasted bread. Celery sliced and stewed in it as directed for the rich peas soup, will be found a great improvement to this.

Peas, 1 quart: soaked 1 night; boiled in 2 quarts or rather more of water, 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Beef broth, 3 to 4 quarts: 1 hour. Salt and cayenne or pepper as needed: 3 minutes.

PEAS SOUP WITHOUT MEAT.

To a pint of peas, freed from all that are worm-eaten, and well washed, put five pints of cold water, and boil them tolerably tender; then add a couple of onions (more or less according to the taste), a couple of fine carrots grated, one large or two moderate-sized turnips sliced, all gently fried brown in butter; half a teaspoonful of black pepper, and three times as much of salt. Stew these softly, keeping them often stirred, until the vegetables are sufficiently tender to pass through a sieve; then rub the whole through one, put it into a clean pan, and when it boils throw in a sliced head of celery, heighten the seasoning if needful, and in twenty minutes serve the soup as hot as possible, with a dish of fried or toasted bread cut into dice. A little chili vinegar can be added when liked: a larger proportion of vegetables also may be boiled down with the peas at pleasure. Weak broth, or the liquor in which a joint has been boiled, can be substituted for the water; but the soup is very palatable as we have given the receipt for it. Some persons like it flavoured with a little mushroom catsup. All peas soup is rendered more wholesome by the addition of a small quantity of currie-paste or powder.

Split peas, 1 pint; water, 5 pints: 2 hours or more. Onions, 2; carrots, 2; large turnip, 1; pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful; salt, 1-1/2 teaspoonful: 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Celery, 1 head: 20 minutes.

OX-TAIL SOUP.

An inexpensive and very nutritious soup may be made of ox-tails, but it will be insipid in flavour without the addition of a little ham, knuckle of bacon, or a pound or two of other meat. Wash and soak three tails, pour on them a gallon of cold water, let them be brought gradually to boil, throw in an ounce and a half of salt, and clear off the scum carefully as soon as it forms upon the surface; when it ceases to rise, add four moderate-sized carrots, from two to four onions, according to the taste, a large faggot of savoury herbs, a head of celery, a couple of turnips, six or eight cloves, and a half-teaspoonful of peppercorns. Stew these gently from three hours to three and a half, if the tails be very large; lift them out, strain the liquor, and skim off all the fat; divide the tails into joints, and put them into a couple of quarts or rather more of the stock; stir in, when these begin to boil, a thickening of arrow-root or of rice flour (see page [4]), mixed with as much cayenne and salt as may be required to flavour the soup well, and serve it very hot. If stewed down until the flesh falls away from the bones, the ox-tails will make stock which will be quite a firm jelly when cold; and this, strained, thickened, and well flavoured with spices, catsup, or a little wine, would, to many tastes, be a superior soup to the above. A richer one still may be made by pouring good beef broth instead of water to the meat in the first instance.

Ox-tails, 3; water, 1 gallon; salt, 1-1/2 oz.; carrots, 4; onions, 2 to 4; turnips, 2; celery, 1 head; cloves, 8; peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoonful; faggot of savoury herbs: 3 hours to 3-1/2. For a richer soup, 5 to 6 hours. (Ham or gammon of bacon at pleasure, with other flavourings.)

Obs.—To increase the savour of this soup when the meat is not served in it, the onions, turnips, and carrots may be gently fried until of a fine light brown, before they are added to it.

A CHEAP AND GOOD STEW SOUP.

Put from four to five pounds of the gristly part of the shin of beef into three quarts of cold water, and stew it very softly indeed, with the addition of the salt and vegetables directed for bouillon (see page [7]), until the whole is very tender; lift out the meat, strain the liquor, and put it into a large clean saucepan, add a thickening of rice-flour or arrow-root, pepper and salt if needed, and a tablespoonful of mushroom catsup. In the mean time, cut all the meat into small, thick slices, add it to the soup, and serve it as soon as it is very hot. The thickening and catsup may be omitted, and all the vegetables, pressed through a strainer, may be stirred into the soup instead, before the meat is put back into it.

SOUP IN HASTE.

Chop tolerably fine a pound of lean beef, mutton, or veal, and when it is partly done, add to it a small carrot and one small turnip cut in slices, half an ounce of celery, the white part of a moderate-sized leek, or a quarter of an ounce of onion. Mince all these together, and put the whole into a deep saucepan with three pints of cold water. When the soup boils take off the scum, and add a little salt and pepper. In half an hour it will be ready to serve with or without straining: it may be flavoured at will, with cayenne, catsup, or aught else that is preferred, or it may be converted into French spring broth, by passing it through a sieve, and boiling it again for five or six minutes, with a handful of young and well washed sorrel. Meat, 1 lb.; carrot, 2 oz.; turnip, 1-1/2 oz.; celery, 1/2 oz.; onion, 1/4 oz. water, 3 pints: half an hour. Little pepper and salt.

Obs.—Three pounds of beef or mutton, with two or three slices of ham, and vegetables in proportion to the above receipt, all chopped fine, and boiled in three quarts of water for an hour and a half, will make an excellent family soup on an emergency: additional boiling will of course improve it, and a little spice should be added after it has been skimmed and salted. It may easily be converted into carrot, turnip, or ground-rice soup after it is strained.

VEAL OR MUTTON BROTH.

To each pound of meat add a quart of cold water, bring it gently to boil, skim it very clean, add salt in the same proportion as for bouillon (see page [7]), with spices and vegetables also, unless unflavoured broth be required, when a few peppercorns, a blade or two of mace, and a bunch of savoury herbs, will be sufficient; though for some purposes even these, with the exception of the salt, are better omitted. Simmer the broth for about four hours, unless the quantity be very small, when from two and a half to three, will be sufficient. A little rice boiled down with the meat will both thicken the broth, and render it more nutritious. Strain it off when done, and let it stand till quite cold that the fat may be entirely cleared from it: this is especially needful when it is to be served to an invalid.

Veal or mutton, 4 lbs.; water, 4 quarts; salt. (For vegetables, &c., see page [7];) rice (if used), 4 oz.: 4 hours or more.

MILK SOUP WITH VERMICELLI.

Throw into five pints of boiling milk a small quantity of salt, and then drop lightly into it five ounces of good fresh vermicelli; keep the milk stirred as this is added, to prevent its gathering into lumps, and continue to stir it very frequently from fifteen to twenty minutes, or until it is perfectly tender. The addition of a little pounded sugar and powdered cinnamon renders this a very agreeable dish. In Catholic countries, milk soups of various kinds constantly supply the place of those made with meat, on maigre days; and with us they are sometimes very acceptable, as giving a change of diet for the nursery or sick room. Rice, semoulina, sago, cocoa-nut, and maccaroni may all in turn be used for them as directed for other soups in this chapter, but they will be required in rather smaller proportions with the milk.

Milk, 5 pints; vermicelli, 5 oz.: 15 to 20 minutes.

CHEAP RICE SOUP.

Place a gallon of water on the fire (more or less according to the quantity of soup required), and when it boils, throw in a moderate-sized tablespoonful of salt, and two or three onions, thickly sliced, a faggot of sweet herbs, a root of celery, and three or four large carrots split down into many divisions, and cut into short lengths. Boil these gently for an hour and a half, or two hours, and then strain the liquor from them. When time will permit, let it become cold; then for each quart, take from three to four ounces of well washed rice, pour the soup on it, heat it very slowly, giving it an occasional stir, and stew it gently until it is perfectly tender, and the potage quite thick. A moderate seasoning of pepper, and an ounce or two of fresh butter well blended with a teaspoonful of flour, may be thoroughly stirred up with the soup before it is served; or, in lieu of the butter, the yolks of two or three new-laid eggs, mixed with a little milk, may be carefully added to it.

It may be more quickly prepared by substituting vermicelli, semoulina, or soujee for the rice, as this last will require three quarters of an hour or more of stewing after it begins to boil, and the three other ingredients—either of which must be dropped gradually into the soup when it is in full ebullition—will be done in from twenty to thirty minutes; and two ounces will thicken sufficiently a quart of broth.

A large tablespoonful of Captain White’s currie-paste, and a small one of flour, diluted with a spoonful or twos of the broth, or with a little milk or cream, if perfectly mixed with the rice and stewed with it for fifteen or twenty minutes before it is dished, render it excellent: few eaters would discover that it was made without meat.

Good beef or mutton broth can be used instead of water for the above soup, and in that case the vegetables sliced small, or rubbed through a strainer, may be added to it before it is served.

CARROT SOUP MAIGRE.

Throw two ounces of salt into a gallon of boiling water, then add three or four carrots quartered or thickly sliced, one onion or more according to the taste, and a faggot of parsley, or some parsley roots. When these have boiled gently for upwards of an hour, strain off the liquor and put it back into the saucepan. Have ready more carrots, nicely scraped and washed; split them down into strips about the size of large macaroni and cut them into half finger lengths. Two quarts of these will not be too much for persons who like the soup well filled with the vegetable; boil them perfectly tender, and turn them with their liquor into the tureen, first adding pepper sufficient to season it properly, and more salt if needed. The proportion of carrots may be diminished, and a quart or more of Brussels sprouts, boiled and drained, may be substituted for part of them. Some persons have these soups thickened, or enriched as they think, with flour and butter; but the latter ingredient should at least be sparingly used; and any other kind of thickening is more wholesome. A few ounces of vermicelli stewed in them for twenty minutes or rather longer, will be found a very good one. Celery, leeks, and turnips may be boiled down in the carrot-stock, or added when the fresh vegetables have been stewed in it for about ten minutes.

CHEAP FISH SOUPS.

An infinite variety of excellent soups may be made of fish, which may be stewed down for them in precisely the same manner as meat, and with the same addition of vegetables and herbs. When the skin is coarse or rank it should be carefully stripped off before the fish is used; and any oily particles which may float on the surface should be entirely removed from it.

In France, Jersey, Cornwall, and many other localities, the conger eel, divested of its skin, is sliced up into thick cutlets and made into soup, which we are assured by English families who have it often served at their tables, is extremely good. A half-grown fish is best for the purpose. After the soup has been strained and allowed to settle, it must be heated afresh, and rice and minced parsley may be added to it as for the turkey soup of page [32]; or it may be thickened with rice-flour only, or served clear. Curried fish-soups, too, are much to be recommended.

When broth or stock has been made as above with conger eel, common eels, whitings, haddocks, codlings, fresh water fish, or any common kind, which may be at hand, flakes of cold salmon, cod fish, John Dories, or scallops of cold soles, plaice,[[41]] &c., may be heated and served in it; and the remains of crabs or lobsters mingled with them. The large oysters sold at so cheap a rate upon the coast, and which are not much esteemed for eating raw, serve admirably for imparting flavour to soup, and the softer portions of them may be served in it after a few minutes of gentle simmering. Anchovy or any other store fish-sauce may be added with good effect to many of these pottages if used with moderation. Prawns and shrimps likewise would generally be considered an improvement to them.

[41]. Some persons prefer the vegetables slowly fried to a fine brown, then drained on a sieve, and well dried before the fire; but though more savoury so, they do not improve the colour of the soup.

For more savoury preparations, fry the fish and vegetables, lay them into the soup-pot, and add boiling, instead of cold water to them.

BUCHANAN CARROT SOUP.

(Excellent.)

Make two quarts of soup by either of the foregoing receipts, using for it good brown stock (for a common family dinner strong beef broth will do). Mix smoothly with a little liquid, a tablespoonful of fine currie-powder, and boil it in the soup for ten minutes; or instead of this, season it rather highly with cayenne pepper, and then stir into it from six ounces to half a pound of Patna rice boiled dry and tender as for a currie. The whole may then remain by the side of the fire without even simmering for ten minutes longer, and then be served immediately. As a winter potage this is generally much liked. A spoonful of Captain White’s currie-paste will flavour it very agreeably if smoothly diluted, and simmered in it for two or three minutes: we prefer it always to the powder. Three or four ounces of pearl-barley well washed, soaked for some hours, and boiled extremely tender in broth or water, may on occasion be substituted for the rice.

Obs.—This receipt was, from inadvertence, omitted at its proper place, page [20], where it ought to have been inserted after the carrot soups which will be found there, and to which the reader is referred for the method of preparing the present one in part.

OBSERVATION.

The present chapter already so far exceeds the limits within which it ought to have been confined, that we are obliged to reserve several additions which we were desirous of making to it, for the chance of being able to insert them in an appendix.

CHAPTER II.

Fish.

TO CHOOSE FISH.

Copper Fish or Ham Kettle.

The cook should be well acquainted with the signs of freshness and good condition in fish, as they are most unwholesome articles of food when stale, and many of them are also dangerous eating when they are out of season. The eyes should always be bright, the gills of a fine clear red, the body stiff, the flesh firm, yet elastic to the touch, and the smell not disagreeable.

When all these marks are reversed, and the eyes are sunken, the gills very dark in hue, the fish itself flabby and of offensive odour, it is bad, and should be avoided. The chloride of soda, will, it is true, restore it to a tolerably eatable state,[[42]] if it be not very much over-kept, but it will never resemble in quality and wholesomeness fish which is fresh from the water.

[42]. We have known this applied very successfully to salmon which from some hours’ keeping in sultry weather had acquired a slight degree of taint, of which no trace remained after it was dressed; as a general rule, however, fish which is not wholesomely fresh should be rejected for the table.

Mackerel Kettle.

A good turbot is thick, and full fleshed, and the under side is of a pale cream colour or yellowish white; when this is of a bluish tint, and the fish is thin and soft, it should be rejected. The same observations apply equally to soles.

The best salmon and cod fish are known by a small head, very thick shoulders, and a small tail; the scales of the former should be bright, and its flesh of a fine red colour; to be eaten in perfection it should be dressed as soon as it is caught, before the curd (or white substance which lies between the flakes of flesh) has melted and rendered the fish oily. In that state it is really crimp, but continues so only for a very few hours; and it bears therefore a much higher price in the London market then, than when mellowed by having been kept a day or two.

The flesh of cod fish should be white and clear before it is boiled, whiter still after it is boiled, and firm though tender, sweet and mild in flavour, and separated easily into large flakes. Many persons consider it rather improved than otherwise by having a little salt rubbed along the inside of the back-bone and letting it lie from twenty-four to forty-eight hours before it is dressed,. It is sometimes served crimp like salmon, and must then be sliced as soon as it is dead, or within the shortest possible time afterwards.

Herrings, mackerel, and whitings, unless newly caught, are quite uneatable. When they are in good condition their natural colours will be very distinct and their whole appearance glossy and fresh. The herring when first taken from the water is of a silvery brightness; the back of the mackerel is of a bright green marked with dark stripes; but this becomes of a coppery colour as the fish grows stale. The whiting is of a pale brown or fawn colour with a pinkish tint; but appears dim and leaden-hued when no longer fresh.

Eels should be alive and brisk in movement when they are purchased, but the “horrid barbarity,” as it is truly designated, of skinning and dividing them while they are so, is without excuse, as they are easily destroyed “by piercing the spinal marrow close to the back part of the skull with a sharp pointed knife or skewer. If this be done in the right place all motion will instantly cease.” We quote Dr. Kitchener’s assertion on this subject; but we know that the mode of destruction which he recommends is commonly practised by the London fishmongers. Boiling water also will immediately cause vitality to cease, and is perhaps the most humane and ready method of destroying the fish.

Lobsters, prawns, and shrimps, are very stiff when freshly boiled, and the tails turn strongly inwards; when these relax, and the fish are soft and watery, they are stale; and the smell will detect their being so, instantly, even if no other symptoms of it be remarked. If bought alive, lobsters should be chosen by their weight and “liveliness.” The hen lobster is preferred for sauce and soups, on account of the coral; but the flesh of the male is generally considered of finer flavour for eating. The vivacity of their leaps will show when prawns and shrimps are fresh from the sea.

Oysters should close forcibly on the knife when they are opened: if the shells are apart ever so little they are losing their condition, and when they remain far open the fish are dead, and fit only to be thrown away. Small plump natives are very preferable to the larger and coarser kinds.

TO CLEAN FISH.

Let this be always done with the most scrupulous nicety, for nothing can more effectually destroy the appetite, or disgrace the cook, than fish sent to table imperfectly cleaned. Handle it lightly, and never throw it roughly about, so as to bruise it; wash it well, but do not leave it longer in the water than is necessary; for fish, like meat, loses its flavour from being soaked. When the scales are to be removed, lay the fish flat upon its side and hold it firmly with the left hand, while they are scraped off with the right; turn it, and when both sides are done, pour or pump sufficient water to float off all the loose scales; then proceed to empty it; and do this without opening it more than is absolutely necessary for the purposes of cleanliness. Be sure that not the slightest particle of offensive matter be left in the inside; wash out the blood entirely, and scrape or brush it away if needful from the back-bone. This may easily be accomplished without opening the fish so much as to render it unsightly when it is sent to table. When the scales are left on, the outside of the fish should be well washed and wiped with a coarse cloth, drawn gently from the head to the tail. Eels to be wholesome should be skinned, but they are sometimes dressed without; boiling water should then be poured upon them, and they should be left in it from five to ten minutes before they are cut up. The dark skin of the sole must be stripped off when it is fried, but it should be left on it like that of a turbot when the fish is boiled, and it should be dished with the white side upwards. Whitings are skinned before they are egged and crumbed for frying, but for boiling or broiling, the skin is left on them. The gills of all fish (the red mullet sometimes excepted), must be taken out. The fins of a turbot, which are considered a great delicacy, should be left untouched; but those of most other fish must be cut off.

TO KEEP FISH.

We find that all the smaller kinds of fish keep best if emptied and cleaned as soon as they are brought in, then wiped gently as dry as they can be, and hung separately by the head on the hooks in the ceiling of a cool larder, or in the open air when the weather will allow. When there is danger of their being attacked by flies, a wire safe, placed in a strong draught of air, is better adapted to the purpose. Soles in winter will remain good for two days when thus prepared; and even whitings and mackerel may be kept so without losing any of their excellence. Salt may be rubbed slightly over cod fish, and well along the back-bone; but it injures the flavour of salmon, the inside of which may be rubbed with vinegar and peppered instead. When excessive sultriness renders all of these modes unavailing, the fish must at once be partially cooked to preserve it, but this should be avoided if possible, as it is very rarely so good when this method is resorted to.

TO SWEETEN TAINTED FISH.

The application of strong vinegar, or of acetic acid (which may be purchased at the chemists’), will effect this when the taint is but slight. The vinegar should be used pure; and one wineglassful of the acid should be mixed with two of water. Pour either of these over the fish, and rub it on the parts which require it; then leave it untouched for a few minutes, and wash it afterwards well, changing the water two or three times. When the fish is in a worse state the chloride of soda, from its powerful anti-putrescent properties, will have more effect: it may be diluted, and applied in the same manner as the acid.

Obs.—We have retained here the substance of the directions which we had given in former editions of this book for rendering eatable fish (and meat) tainted by being closely packed or overkept; and it is true that they may be deprived of their offensive flavour and odour by the application of strong acids and other disinfecting agents,—Beaufoy’s chloride of soda more especially—but we are very doubtful whether they can by any process be converted into unquestionably wholesome food, unless from some accidental circumstance the mere surface should be affected, or some small portion of them, which could be entirely cut away. We cannot, therefore, conscientiously recommend the false economy of endangering health in preference to rejecting them for the table altogether.

THE MODE OF COOKING BEST ADAPTED TO DIFFERENT KINDS OF FISH.

It is not possible, the reader will easily believe, to insert in a work of the size of the present volume, all the modes of dressing the many varieties of fish which are suited to our tables; we give, therefore, only the more essential receipts in detail, and add to them such general information as may, we trust, enable even a moderately intelligent cook to serve all that may usually be required, without difficulty.

There is no better way of dressing a good turbot, brill, John Dory, or cod’s head and shoulders, than plain but careful boiling. Salmon is excellent in almost every mode in which it can be cooked or used. Boiled entire or in crimped slices; roasted in a cradle-spit or Dutch oven; baked; fried in small collops; collared; potted; dried and smoked; pickled or soused (this is the coarsest and least to be recommended process for it, of any); made into a raised or common pie, or a potato-pasty; served cold in or with savoury jelly, or with a Mayonnaise sauce; or laid on potatoes and baked, as in Ireland, it will be found Good.

Soles may be either boiled, or baked, or fried entire, or in fillets; curried; stewed in cream; or prepared by any of the directions given for them in the body of this chapter.

Plaice, unless when in full season and very fresh, is apt to be watery and insipid; but taken in its perfection and carefully cooked, it is very sweet and delicate in flavour. If large, it may be boiled with advantage either whole or in fillets; but to many tastes it is very superior when filleted, dipped into egg and bread-crumbs, and fried. The flesh may also be curried; or the plaice may be converted into water-souchy, or soupe-maigre: when small it is often fried whole.

Red mullet should always be baked, broiled, or roasted: it should on no occasion be boiled.

Mackerel, for which many receipts will be found in this chapter, when broiled quite whole, as we have directed, or freed from the bones, divided, egged, crumbed, and fried, is infinitely superior to the same fish cooked in the ordinary manner.

The whiting, when very fresh and in season, is always delicate and good; and of all fish is considered the best suited to invalids. Perhaps quite the most wholesome mode of preparing it for them, is to open it as little as possible when it is cleansed, to leave the skin on, to dry the fish well, and to broil it gently. It should be sent very hot to table, and will require no sauce: twenty minutes will usually be required to cook it, if of moderate size.

The haddock is sometimes very large. We have had it occasionally from our southern coast between two and three feet in length, and it was then remarkably good when simply boiled, even the day after it was caught, the white curd between the flakes of flesh being like that of extremely fresh salmon. As it is in full season in mid-winter, it can be sent to a distance without injury. It is a very firm fish when large and in season; but, as purchased commonly at inland markets, is often neither fine in size nor quality. One of the best modes of cooking it is, to take the flesh entire from the bones, to divide it, dip it into egg and bread-crumbs, mixed with savoury herbs finely minced, and a seasoning of salt and spice, and to fry it like soles. Other receipts for it will be found in the body of this chapter.

The flesh of the gurnard is exceedingly dry, and somewhat over firm, but when filled with well-made forcemeat and gently baked, it is much liked by many persons. At good tables, it is often served in fillets fried or baked, and richly sauced: in common cookery it is sometimes boiled.

Portions only of the skate, which is frequently of enormous size, are used as food: these are in general cut out by the fisherman or by the salesman, and are called the wings. The flesh is commonly served here divided into long narrow fillets, called crimped skate, which are rolled up and fastened, to preserve them in that form, while they are cooked. In France, it is sent to table raised from the bones in large portions, sauced with beurre-noir (burned or browned butter), and strewed with well-crisped parsley.

Trout, which is a delicious fish when stewed in gravy, either quite simply, or with the addition of wine and various condiments, and which when of small size is very sweet and pleasant, eating nicely fried, is poor and insipid when plainly boiled.[[43]]

[43]. We have been informed by Mr. Howitt, the well-known author of several highly interesting works on Germany, that this fish, when boiled the instant it was caught—as he had eaten it often on the banks of some celebrated German trout-streams—was most excellent, especially when it was of large size; but, as a general rule, almost any other mode of cooking is to be recommended for it in preference.

Pike, of which the flesh is extremely dry, is we think better baked than dressed in any other way; but it is often boiled.

Carp should either be stewed whole in the same manner as trout, or served cut in slices, in a rich sauce called a matelote.

Smelts, sand-eels, and white-bait, are always fried; the last two sometimes after being dipped into batter.

THE BEST MODE OF BOILING FISH.

We have left unaltered in the following receipts the greater number of our original directions for boiling fish, which were found when carefully followed, to produce a good result; but Baron Liebeg and other scientific writers explain clearly the principles on which the nutriment contained in fish or flesh is best retained by bringing the surface of either when it is cooked, into immediate contact with boiling water; and then (after a few minutes of ebullition) lowering the temperature by the addition of cold water, and keeping it somewhat below the boiling point for the remainder of the process. This method is at least worthy of a trial, even if it be attended with a slight degree more of trouble than those in general use; but when fish is served with a variety of other dishes, the escape of some portion of its nutritious juices is of less importance than when it forms the principal food of any part of the community: in that case, the preservation of all the nourishment which can be derived from it, is of real consequence.

Directions.—Throw into as much water as will cover the fish entirely, a portion of the salt which is to be added in cooking it, and when it boils quickly take off the scum, lay in the fish, and let it boil moderately fast from three to ten minutes, according to its weight and thickness; then pour in as much cold water as there is of the boiling, take out a part, leaving sufficient only to keep the fish well covered until it is ready to serve; add the remainder of the salt, draw the fish-kettle to the side of the fire, and keep the water just simmering, and no more, until the fish is done.

The cook will understand that if a gallon of water be required to cover the fish while it is cooking, that quantity must be made to boil; and that a gallon of cold must be added to it after the fish has been laid in, and kept boiling for a very few minutes. For example:—A large turbot or cod’s head for ten minutes; a moderate-sized plaice or John Dory, about five; and whitings, codlings, and other small fish, from three to four minutes. That one gallon must then be taken out of the kettle, which should immediately be drawn from the fire, and placed at the side of the stove, that the fish may be gradually heated through as the water is brought slowly to the point of simmering.

The whole of the salt may be added after a portion of the water is withdrawn, when the cook cannot entirely depend on her own judgment for the precise quantity required.

Obs.—This is the best practical application that we can give of Baron Liebeg’s instructions.

BRINE FOR BOILING FISH.

Fish is exceedingly insipid if sufficient salt be not mixed with the water in which it is boiled, but the precise quantity required for it will depend, in some measure, upon the kind of salt which is used. Fine common salt is that for which our directions are given; but when the Maldon salt, which is very superior in strength, as well as in other qualities, is substituted for it, a smaller quantity must be allowed. About four ounces to the gallon of water will be sufficient for small fish in general; an additional ounce, or rather more, will not be too much for cod fish, lobsters, crabs, prawns, and shrimps; and salmon will require eight ounces, as the brine for this fish should be strong: the water should always be perfectly well skimmed from the moment the scum begins to form upon the surface.

Mackerel, whiting, and other small fish, 4 ounces of salt to a gallon of water. Cod fish, lobsters, crabs, prawns, shrimps, 5 to 6 oz. Salmon, 8 ozs.

TO RENDER BOILED FISH FIRM.

Put a small bit of saltpetre with the salt into the water in which it is boiled: a quarter of an ounce will be sufficient for a gallon.

TO KNOW WHEN FISH IS SUFFICIENTLY BOILED, OR OTHERWISE COOKED.

If the thickest part of the flesh separates easily from the back-bone, it is quite ready to serve, and should be withdrawn from the pan without delay, as further cooking would be injurious to it. This test can easily be applied to a fish which has been divided, but when it is entire it should be lifted from the water when the flesh of the tail breaks from the bone, and the eyes loosen from the head.

TO BAKE FISH.

A gentle oven may be used with advantage, for cooking almost every kind of fish, as we have ascertained from our own observation; but it must be subjected to a mild degree of heat only. This penetrates the flesh gradually, and converts it into wholesome succulent food; whereas, a hot oven evaporates all the juices rapidly, and renders the fish hard and dry. When small, they should be wrapped in oiled or buttered paper before they are baked; and when filleted, or left in any other form, and placed in a deep dish with or without any liquid before they are put into the oven, a buttered paper should still be laid closely upon them to keep the surface moist. Large pieces of salmon, conger eel, and other fish of considerable size are sometimes in common cookery baked like meat over potatoes pared and halved.

FAT FOR FRYING FISH.

This, whether it be butter, lard, or oil should always be excellent in quality, for the finest fish will be rendered unfit for eating if it be fried in fat that is rancid. When good, and used in sufficient quantity, it will serve for the same purpose several times, if strained after each frying, and put carefully away in a clean pan, provided always that it has not been smoked nor burned in the using.

Lard renders fish more crisp than butter does; but fresh, pure olive-oil (salad oil, as it is commonly called in England) is the best ingredient which can be used for it, and as it will serve well for the same purpose, many times in succession, if strained and carefully stored as we have already stated, it is not in reality so expensive as might be supposed for this mode of cooking. There should always be an ample quantity of it (or of any other friture[[44]]) in the pan, as the fish should be nearly covered with it, at the least; and it should cease to bubble before either fish or meat is laid into it, or it will be too much absorbed by the flesh, and will impart neither sufficient firmness, nor sufficient colour.

[44]. The French term for fat of all kinds used in frying.

TO KEEP FISH HOT FOR TABLE.

Never leave it in the water after it is done, but if it cannot be sent to table as soon as it is ready to serve, lift it out, lay the fish-plate into a large and a very hot dish, and set it across the fish-kettle; just dip a clean cloth into the boiling water, and spread it upon the fish, place a tin cover over it, and let it remain so until two or three minutes before it is wanted, then remove the cloth, and put the fish back into the kettle for an instant that it may be as hot as possible: drain, dish, and serve it immediately: the water should be kept boiling the whole time.

TO BOIL A TURBOT.

[In season all the year.]

Turbot.

A fine turbot, in full season, and well served, is one of the most delicate and delicious fish that can be sent to table; but it is generally an expensive dish, and its excellence so much depends on the manner in which it is dressed, that great care should be taken to prepare it properly. After it is emptied, wash the inside until it is perfectly cleansed, and rub lightly a little fine salt over the outside, as this will render less washing and handling necessary, by at once taking off the slime; change the water several times, and when the fish is as clean as it is possible to render it, draw a sharp knife through the thickest part of the middle of the back nearly through to the bone.[[45]] Never cut off the fins of a turbot when preparing it for table, and remember that it is the dark side of the fish in which the incision is to be made, to prevent the skin of the white side from cracking. Dissolve in a well-cleaned turbot or common fish-kettle, in as much cold spring water as will cover the fish abundantly, salt, in the proportion of four ounces to the gallon; wipe the fish-plate with a clean cloth, lay the turbot upon it with the white side upwards, place it in the kettle, bring it slowly to boil, and clear off the scum thoroughly as it rises. Let the water only just simmer until the fish is done, then lift it out, drain, and slide it gently on to a very hot dish, with a hot napkin neatly arranged over the drainer. Send it immediately to table with rich lobster sauce and good plain melted butter. For a simple dinner, anchovy or shrimp sauce is sometimes served with a small turbot. Should there be any cracks in the skin of the fish, branches of curled parsley may be laid lightly over them, or part of the inside coral of a lobster, rubbed through a fine hair-sieve, may be sprinkled over the fish; but it’s better without either, when it is very white and unbroken. When garnishings are in favour, a slice of lemon and a tuft of curled parsley, may be placed alternately round the edge of the dish. A border of fried smelts or of fillets of soles, was formerly served round a turbot, and is always a very admissible addition, though no longer so fashionable as it was. From fifteen to twenty minutes will boil a moderate-sized fish, and from twenty to thirty a large one; but as the same time will not always be sufficient for a fish of the same weight, the cook must watch it attentively, and lift it out as soon as its appearance denotes its being done.

[45]. This is the common practice even of the best cooks, but is very unscientific nevertheless. When the incision is made really into the flesh the turbot should be cooked altogether on Liebeg’s plan, for which see “[The Best Mode of Boiling Fish],” in the preceding pages.

Moderate sized turbot, 15 to 20 minutes. Large, 20 to 30 minutes. Longer, if of unusual size.

Obs.—A lemon gently squeezed, and rubbed over the fish, is thought to preserve its whiteness. Some good cooks still put turbot into boiling water, and to prevent its breaking, tie it with a cloth tightly to the fish-plate.

TURBOT À LA CRÊME.

Raise carefully from the bones the flesh of a cold turbot, and clear it from the dark skin; cut it into small squares, and put it into an exceedingly clean stewpan or saucepan; then make and pour upon it the cream sauce of Chapter [V]., or make as much as may be required for the fish by the same receipt, with equal proportions of milk and cream and a little additional flour. Heat the turbot slowly in the sauce, but do not allow it to boil, and send it very hot to table. The white skin of the fish is not usually added to this dish, and it is of better appearance without it; but for a family dinner, it may be left on the flesh, when it is much liked. No acid must be stirred to the sauce until the whole is ready for table.

TURBOT AU BÉCHAMEL, OR, IN BÉCHAMEL SAUCE.

Prepare the cold turbot as for the preceding receipt, but leave no portion of the skin with it. Heat it in a rich bechamel sauce, and serve it in a vol-au-vent, or in a deep dish with a border of fried bread cut in an elegant form, and made with one dark and one light sippet, placed alternately. The surface may be covered with a half-inch layer of delicately fried bread-crumbs, perfectly well drained and dried; or they may be spread over the fish without being fried, then moistened with clarified butter, and browned with a salamander.

For Mould of Cold Turbot with Shrimp Chatney, see Chapter [VI].

TO BOIL A JOHN DORY.

[In best season from Michaelmas to Christmas, but good all the year.]

John Dory.

The John Dory, though of uninviting appearance, is considered by some persons as the most delicious fish that appears at table; in the general estimation, however, it ranks next to the turbot, but it is far less abundant in our markets, and is not commonly to be procured of sufficient size for a handsome dish, except in some few parts of our coast which are celebrated for it. It may easily be known by its yellow gray colour, its one large dark spot on either side, the long filaments on the back, a general thickness of form, and its very ugly head. It is dressed in the same manner, and served usually with the same sauces as a turbot, but requires less time to boil it. The fins should be cut off before it is cooked.

SMALL JOHN DORIES BAKED.

(Author’s Receipt—good.)

We have found these fish when they were too small to be worth cooking in the usual way, excellent when quite simply baked in the following manner, the flesh being remarkably sweet and tender, much more so than it becomes by frying or broiling. After they have been cleaned, dry them in a cloth, season the insides slightly with fine salt, dredge a little flour on the fish, and stick a few very small bits of butter on them, but only just sufficient to prevent their becoming dry in the oven; lay them singly on a flat dish, and bake them very gently from fourteen to sixteen minutes. Serve them with the same sauce as baked soles.

When extremely fresh, as it usually is in the markets of the coast, fish thus simply dressed au four is preferable to that more elaborately prepared by adding various condiments to it after it is placed in a deep dish, and covering it with a thick layer of bread-crumbs, moistened with clarified butter.

The appearance of the John Dories is improved by taking off the heads, and cutting away not only the fins but the filaments of the back.

TO BOIL A BRILL.

A fresh and full-sized brill always ranks high in the list of fish, as it is of good appearance, and the flesh is sweet and delicate. It requires less cooking than the turbot, even when it is of equal size; but otherwise may be dressed and served in a similar manner. It has not the same rich glutinous skin as that fish, nor are the fins esteemed. They must be cut off when the brill is cleaned; and it may be put into nearly boiling water, unless it be very large. Simmer it gently, and drain it well upon the fish-plate when it is lifted out; dish it on a napkin, and send lobster, anchovy, crab, or shrimp sauce to table with it. Lobster coral, rubbed through a sieve, is commonly sprinkled over it for a formal dinner. The most usual garnish for boiled flat fish is curled parsley placed round it in light tufts; how far it is appropriate, individual taste must decide.

Brill, moderate-sized, about 20 minutes; large, 30 minutes.

Obs.—The precise time which a fish will require to be boiled cannot be given: it must be watched, and not allowed to remain in the water after it begins to crack.

TO BOIL SALMON.

[In full season from May to August: may be had much earlier, but is scarce and dear.]

To preserve the fine colour of this fish, and to set the curd when it is quite freshly caught, it is usual to put it into boiling, instead of into cold water. Scale, empty, and wash it with the greatest nicety, and be especially careful to cleanse all the blood from the inside. Stir into the fish-kettle eight ounces of common salt to the gallon of water, let it boil quickly for a minute or two, take off all the scum, put in the salmon and boil it moderately fast, if it be small, but more gently should it be very thick; and assure yourself that it is quite sufficiently done before it is sent to table, for nothing can be more distasteful, even to the eye, than fish which is under dressed.

From two to three pounds of the thick part of a fine salmon will require half an hour to boil it, but eight or ten pounds will be done enough in little more than double that time; less in proportion to its weight should be allowed for a small fish, or for the thin end of a large one. Do not allow the salmon to remain in the water after it is ready to serve, or both its flavour and appearance will be injured. Dish it on a hot napkin, and send dressed cucumber, and anchovy, shrimp, or lobster sauce, and a tureen of plain melted butter to table with it.

To each gallon water, 8 oz. salt. Salmon, 2 to 3 lbs. (thick), 1/2 hour; 8 to 10 lbs., 1-1/4 hour; small, or thin fish, less time.

SALMON À LA GENEVESE.

A fashionable mode of serving salmon at the present day is to divide the larger portion of the body into three equal parts; to boil them in water, or in a marinade; and to serve them dished in a line, but not close together, and covered with a rich Genevese sauce (for which see Chapter [V].) It appears to us that the skin should be stripped from any fish over which the sauce is poured, but in this case it is not customary.

CRIMPED SALMON.

Cut into slices an inch and a half, or two inches thick, the body of a salmon quite newly caught; throw them into strong salt and water as they are done, but do not let them soak in it; wash them well, lay them on a fish-plate, and put them into fast boiling water, salted and well skimmed. In from ten to fifteen minutes they will be done. Dish them on a napkin, and send them very hot to table with lobster sauce, and plain melted butter; or with the caper fish-sauce of Chapter [V]. The water should be salted as for salmon boiled in the ordinary way, and the scum should be cleared off with great care after the fish is in.

In boiling water, 10 to 15 minutes.

SALMON À LA ST. MARCEL.

Separate some cold boiled salmon into flakes, and free them entirely from the skin; break the bones, and boil them in a pint of water for half an hour. Strain off the liquor, put it into a clean saucepan and stir into it by degrees when it begins to boil quickly, two ounces of butter mixed with a large teaspoonful of flour, and when the whole has boiled for two or three minutes add a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, one of good mushroom catsup, half as much lemon-juice or chili vinegar, a half saltspoonful of pounded mace, some cayenne, and a very little salt. Shell from half to a whole pint of shrimps, add them to the salmon, and heat the fish very slowly in the sauce by the side of the fire, but do not allow it boil. When it is very hot, dish and send it quickly to table. French cooks, when they re-dress fish or meat of any kind, prepare the flesh with great nicety, and then put it into a stewpan, and pour the sauce upon it, which is, we think, better than the more usual English mode of laying it into the boiling sauce. The cold salmon may also be re-heated in the cream sauce of [V]., or in the Mâitre d’Hôtel sauce which follows it; and will be found excellent with either. This receipt is for a moderate sized dish.

SALMON BAKED OVER MASHED POTATOES.

We are informed by a person who has been a resident in Ireland, that the middle of a salmon is there often baked over mashed potatoes, from which it is raised by means of a wire stand, as meat is in England. We have not been able to have it tried, but an ingenious cook will be at no loss for the proper method of preparing, and the time of cooking it. The potatoes are sometimes merely pared and halved; the fish is then laid upon them.

SALMON PUDDING, TO BE SERVED HOT OR COLD.

(A Scotch Receipt—Good.)

Pound or chop small, or rub through a sieve one pound of cold boiled salmon freed entirely from bone and skin; and blend it lightly but thoroughly with half a pound of fine bread-crumbs a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, a quarter of a pint of cream, a seasoning of fine salt and cayenne, and four well whisked eggs. Press the mixture closely and evenly into a deep dish or mould, buttered in every part, and bake it for one hour in a moderate oven.

Salmon, 1 lb.; bread-crumbs, 1/2 lb.; essence of anchovies, 1 teaspoonful; cream, 1/4 pint; eggs, 4; salt and cayenne; baked 1 hour.

TO BOIL COD FISH.

[In highest season from October to the beginning of February; in perfection about Christmas.]

When this fish is large the head and shoulders are sufficient for a handsome dish, and they contain all the choicer portion of it, though not so much substantial eating as the middle of the body, which, in consequence, is generally preferred to them by the frugal housekeeper. Wash the fish, and cleanse the inside, and the back-bone in particular, with the most scrupulous care; lay it into the fish-kettle and cover it well with cold water mixed with five ounces of salt to the gallon, and about a quarter of an ounce of saltpetre to the whole. Place it over a moderate fire, clear off the scum perfectly, and let the fish boil gently until it is done. Drain it well[[46]] and dish it carefully upon a very hot napkin with the liver and the roe as a garnish. To these are usually added tufts of lightly scraped horseradish round the edge. Serve well-made oyster sauce and plain melted butter with it; or anchovy sauce, when oysters cannot be procured. The cream sauce of Chapter [V]., is also an appropriate one for this fish.

[46]. This should be done by setting the fish plate across the kettle for a minute or two.

Moderate size, 20 to 30 minutes. Large, 1/2 to 3/4 hour.

SLICES OF COD FISH FRIED.

Cut the middle or tail of the fish into slices nearly an inch thick, season them with salt and white pepper or cayenne, flour them well, and fry them of a clear equal brown on both sides; drain them on a sieve before the fire, and serve them on a well-heated napkin, with plenty of crisped parsley round them. Or, dip them into beaten egg, and then into fine crumbs mixed with a seasoning of salt and pepper (some cooks add one of minced herbs also), before they are fried. Send melted butter and anchovy sauce to table with them. 8 to 12 minutes.

Obs.—This is a much better way of dressing the thin part of the fish than boiling it, and as it is generally cheap, it makes thus an economical, as well as a very good dish: if the slices are lifted from the frying-pan into a good curried gravy, and left in it by the side of the fire for a few minutes before they are sent to table, they will be found excellent.

STEWED COD.

Put into boiling water, salted as usual, about three pounds of fresh cod fish cut into slices an inch and a half thick, and boil them gently for five minutes; lift them out, and let them drain. Have ready heated in a wide stewpan nearly a pint of veal gravy or of very good broth, lay in the fish, and stew it for five minutes, then add four tablespoonsful of extremely fine bread-crumbs, and simmer it for three minutes longer. Stir well into the sauce a large teaspoonful of arrow-root quite free from lumps, a fourth part as much of mace, something less of cayenne, and a tablespoonful of essence of anchovies, mixed with a glass of white wine and a dessertspoonful of lemon juice. Boil the whole for a couple of minutes, lift out the fish carefully with a slice, pour the sauce over, and serve it quickly.

Cod fish, 3 lbs.: boiled 5 minutes. Gravy, or strong broth, nearly 1 pint: 5 minutes. Bread-crumbs, 4 tablespoonsful: 3 minutes. Arrow-root, 1 large teaspoonful; mace, 1/4 teaspoonful; less of cayenne; essence of anchovies, 1 tablespoonful; lemon-juice, 1 dessertspoonful; sherry or Maidera, 1 wineglassful: 2 minutes.

Obs.—A dozen or two of oysters, bearded, and added with their strained liquor to this dish two or three minutes before it is served, will to many tastes vary it very agreeably.

STEWED COD FISH, IN BROWN SAUCE.

Slice the fish, take off the skin, flour it well, and fry it quickly a fine brown; lift it out and drain it on the back of a sieve, arrange it in a clean stewpan, and pour in as much good boiling brown gravy as will nearly cover it; add from one to two glasses of port wine, or rather more of claret, a dessertspoonful of Chili vinegar, or the juice of half a lemon, and some cayenne, with as much salt as may be needed. Stew the fish very softly until it just begins to break, lift it carefully with a slice into a very hot dish, stir into the gravy an ounce and a half of butter smoothly kneaded with a large teaspoonful of flour, and a little pounded mace, give the sauce a minute’s boil, pour it over the fish, and serve it immediately. The wine may be omitted, good shin of beef stock substituted for the gravy, and a teaspoonful of soy, one of essence of anchovies, and two tablespoonsful of Harvey’s sauce added to flavour it.

TO BOIL SALT FISH.

When very salt and dry, this must be long soaked before it is boiled, but it is generally supplied by the fishmongers nearly or quite ready to dress. When it is not so, lay it for a night into a large quantity of cold water, then let it lie exposed to the air for some time, then again put it into water, and continue thus until it is well softened. Brush it very clean, wash it thoroughly, and put it with abundance of cold water into the fish kettle, place it near the fire and let it heat very slowly indeed. Keep it just on the point of simmering, without allowing it ever to boil (which would render it hard), from three quarters of an hour to a full hour, according to its weight; should it be quite small and thin, less time will be sufficient for it; but by following these directions, the fish will be almost as good as if it were fresh. The scum should be cleared off with great care from the beginning. Egg sauce and boiled parsneps are the usual accompaniment to salt fish, which should be dished upon a hot napkin, and which is sometimes also thickly strewed with chopped eggs.

SALT FISH, À LA MÂITRE D’HÔTEL.

Boil the fish by the foregoing receipt, or take the remains of that which has been served at table, flake it off clear from the bones, and strip away every morsel of the skin; then lay it into a very clean saucepan or stewpan, and pour upon it the sharp Mâitre d’Hôtel sauce of Chapter [IV].; or dissolve gently two or three ounces of butter with four or five spoonsful of water, and a half-teaspoonful of flour; add some pepper or cayenne, very little salt, and a dessertspoonful or more of minced parsley. Heat the fish slowly quite through in either of these sauces, and toss or stir it until the whole is well mixed; if the second be used, add the juice of half a lemon, or a small quantity of Chili vinegar just before it is taken from the fire. The fish thus prepared may be served in a deep dish, with a border of mashed parsneps or potatoes.

TO BOIL CODS’ SOUNDS.

Should they be highly salted, soak them for a night, and on the following day rub off entirely the discoloured skin; wash them well, lay them into plenty of cold milk and water, and boil them gently from thirty to forty minutes, or longer should they not be quite tender. Clear off the scum as it rises with great care, or it will sink and adhere to the sounds, of which the appearance will then be spoiled. Drain them well, dish them on a napkin, and send egg sauce and plain melted butter to table with them.

TO FRY CODS’ SOUNDS IN BATTER.

Boil them as directed above until they are nearly done, then lift them out, lay them on to a drainer, and let them remain till they are cold; cut them across in strips of an inch deep, curl them round, dip them into a good French or English batter, fry them of a fine pale brown, drain and dry them well, dish them on a hot napkin, and garnish them with crisped parsley.

TO FRY SOLES.

[In season all the year.]

All fish to fry well must be not only fresh but perfectly free from moisture, particularly when they are to be dressed with egg and bread-crumbs, as these will not otherwise adhere to them. Empty, skin, and wash the soles with extreme nicety, from one to two hours before they are wanted for table; and after having cleansed and wiped them very dry both inside and out, replace the roes, fold and press them gently in a soft clean cloth, and leave them wrapped in it until it is time to fry them; or suspend them singly upon hooks in a current of cool air, which is, perhaps, the better method of proceeding when it can be done conveniently. Cover them equally in every part, first with some beaten egg, and then with fine dry crumbs of bread, mixed with a very little flour to make them adhere with more certainty: a small teaspoonful will be sufficient for two large soles. Melt in a large and exceedingly clean frying pan over a brisk and clear fire, as much very pure-flavoured lard as will float the fish, and let it be sufficiently hot before they are laid in to brown them quickly; for if this be neglected it will be impossible to render them crisp or dry. When the fat ceases to bubble, throw in a small bit of bread, and if it takes a good colour immediately the soles may be put in without delay. An experienced cook will know, without this test, when it is at the proper point; but the learner will do better to avail herself of it until practice and observation shall have rendered it unnecessary to her. Before the fish are laid into the pan, take them by the head and shake the loose crumbs from them. When they are firm, and of a fine amber-colour on one side, turn them with care, passing a slice under them and a fork through the heads, and brown them on the other. Lift them out, and either dry them well on a soft cloth laid upon a sieve reversed, before the fire, turning them often, or press them lightly in hot white blotting paper. Dish them on a drainer covered with a hot napkin and send them to table without delay with shrimp or anchovy sauce, and plain melted butter.

Very small soles will be done in six minutes, and large ones in about ten. They may be floured and fried, without being egged and crumbed, but this is not a very usual mode of serving them.

Small soles, 6 minutes; large, about 10 minutes.

TO BOIL SOLES.

The flesh of a fine fresh sole, when boiled with care, is remarkably sweet and delicate: if very large it may be dressed and served as turbot, to which it will be found little inferior in flavour. Empty it, take out the gills, cut off the fins, and cleanse and wash it with great nicety, but do not skin it; then either lay it into cold water in which the usual proportion of salt has been dissolved, and heat it rather slowly, and then simmer it from five to ten minutes, according to its size; or boil it in the manner directed in the first pages of this chapter. Drain it well on the fish-plate as it is lifted out, and dish it on a napkin, the white side upwards, and serve it quickly with anchovy, shrimp, or lobster sauce. It may also be sent to table thickly covered with the Cream Fish Sauce, Caper Fish Sauce, or Lady’s Sauce, of Chapter [VI].; though this is a mode of service less to be recommended, as the sauce cools more speedily when spread over the surface of the fish: it is, however, the continental fashion, and will therefore find more favour with some persons.

Very large sole, 5 to 10 minutes; moderate sized, 4 to 6 minutes.

FILLETS OF SOLES.

The word fillet, whether applied to fish, poultry, game, or butcher’s meat, means simply the flesh of either (or of certain portions of it), raised clear from the bones in a handsome form, and divided or not, as the manner in which it is to be served may require. It is an elegant mode of dressing various kinds of fish, and even those which are not the most highly esteemed, afford an excellent dish when thus prepared. Soles to be filletted with advantage should be large; the flesh may then be divided down the middle of the back, next, separated from the fins, and with a very sharp knife raised clear from the bones.[[47]] When thus prepared, the fillets may be divided, trimmed into a good form, egged, covered with fine crumbs, fried in the usual way, and served with the same sauces as the whole fish; or each fillet may be rolled up, in its entire length, if very small, or after being once divided if large, and fastened with a slight twine, or a short thin skewer; then egged, crumbed, and fried in plenty of boiling lard; or merely well floured and fried from eight to ten minutes. When the fish are not very large, they are sometimes boned without being parted in the middle, and each side is rolled from the tail to the head, after being first spread with pounded shrimps mixed with a third of their volume of butter, a few bread-crumbs, and a high seasoning of mace and cayenne; or with pounded lobster mixed with a large portion of the coral, and the same seasoning, and proportion of butter as the shrimps; then laid into a dish, with the ingredients directed for the soles au plat; well covered with crumbs of bread and clarified butter, and baked from twelve to sixteen minutes, or until the crumbs are coloured to a fine brown in a moderate oven.

[47]. A celebrated French cook gives the following instructions for raising these fillets:—“them up by running your knife first between the bones and the flesh, then between the skin and the fillet; by leaning pretty hard on the table they will come off very neatly.”

The fillets may likewise be cut into small strips or squares of uniform size, lightly dredged with pepper or cayenne, salt and flour, and fried in butter over a brisk fire; then well drained, and sauced with a good béchamel, flavoured with a teaspoonful of minced parsley.

SOLES AU PLAT.

Clarify from two to three ounces of fresh butter, and pour it into the dish in which the fish are to be served; add to it a little salt, some cayenne, a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, and from one to two glasses of sherry, or of any other dry white wine; lay in a couple of fine soles which have been well cleaned and wiped very dry, strew over them a thick layer of fine bread-crumbs, moisten them with clarified butter, set the dish into a moderate oven, and bake the fish for a quarter of an hour. A layer of shrimps placed between the soles is a great improvement; and we would also recommend a little lemon-juice to be mixed with the sauce.

Baked, 15 minutes.

Obs.—The soles are, we think, better without the wine in this receipt. They require but a small portion of liquid, which might be supplied by a little additional butter, a spoonful of water or pale gravy, the lemon-juice, and store-sauce. Minced parsley may be mixed with the bread-crumbs when it is liked.

BAKED SOLES.

(A simple but excellent Receipt.)

Fresh large soles, dressed in the following manner, are remarkably tender and delicate eating; much more so than those which are fried. After the fish has been skinned and cleansed in the usual way, wipe it dry, and let it remain for an hour or more, if time will permit, closely folded in a clean cloth; then mix with a slightly beaten egg about an ounce of butter, just liquefied but not heated at the mouth of the oven, or before the fire; brush the fish in every part with this mixture, and cover it with very fine dry bread-crumbs, seasoned with a little salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and nutmeg. Pour a teaspoonful or two of liquid butter into a flat dish which will contain the fish well; lay it in, sprinkle it with a little more butter, press the bread-crumbs lightly on it with a broad-bladed knife, and bake it in a moderate oven for about twenty minutes. If two or more soles are required for table at the same time, they should be placed separately, quite flat, in a large dish, or each fish should be laid on a dish by itself. On our first essay of this receipt, the fish dressed by it (it was baked for twenty-five minutes in a very slack iron oven) proved infinitely nicer than one of the same size which was fried, and served with it. The difference between them was very marked, especially as regarded the exceeding tenderness of the flesh of that which was baked; its appearance, however, would have been somewhat improved by a rather quicker oven. When ready to serve, it should be gently glided on to the dish in which it is to be sent to table. About three ounces of bread-crumbs, and two and a half of butter, will be sufficient for a large pair of soles. They will be more perfectly encrusted with the bread if dipped into, or sprinkled with it a second time, after the first coating has been well moistened with the butter.

SOLES STEWED IN CREAM.

Prepare some very fresh middling sized soles with exceeding nicety, put them into boiling water slightly salted, and simmer them for two minutes only; lift them out, and let them drain; lay them into a wide stewpan with as much sweet rich cream as will nearly cover them; add a good seasoning of pounded mace, cayenne, and salt; stew the fish softly from six to ten minutes, or until the flesh parts readily from the bones; dish them, stir the juice of half a lemon to the sauce, pour it over the soles, and send them immediately to table. Some lemon-rind may be boiled in the cream, if approved; and a small teaspoonful of arrow-root, very smoothly mixed with a little milk, may be stirred to the sauce (should it require thickening) before the lemon-juice is added. Turbot and brill also may be dressed by this receipt, time proportioned to their size being of course allowed for them.

Soles, 3 or 4: boiled in water 2 minutes. Cream, 1/2 to whole pint; salt, mace, cayenne: fish stewed, 6 to 10 minutes. Juice of half a lemon.

Obs.—In Cornwall the fish is laid at once into thick clotted cream, and stewed entirely in it; but this method gives to the sauce, which ought to be extremely delicate, a coarse fishy flavour which the previous boil in water prevents.

At Penzance, grey mullet, after being scaled, are divided in the middle, just covered with cold water, and softly boiled, with the addition of branches of parsley, pepper and salt, until the flesh of the back parts easily from the bone; clotted cream, minced parsley, and lemon-juice are then added to the sauce, and the mullets are dished with the heads and tails laid even to the thick parts of the back, where the fish were cut asunder. Hake, too, is there divided at every joint (having previously been scaled), dipped into egg, then thickly covered with fine bread-crumbs mixed with plenty of minced parsley, and fried a fine brown; or, the back-bone being previously taken out, the fish is sliced into cutlets, and then fried.

TO FRY WHITINGS.

[In full season from Michaelmas to beginning of February.]

Clean, skin, and dry them thoroughly in a cloth, fasten their tails to their mouths, brush slightly beaten eggs equally over them, and cover them with the finest bread-crumbs, mixed with a little flour; fry them a clear golden brown in plenty of boiling lard, drain and dry them well, dish them on a hot napkin, and serve them with good melted butter, and the sauce cruets, or with well made shrimp or anchovy sauce. A small half-teaspoonful of salt should be beaten up with the eggs used in preparing the whitings: two will be sufficient for half a dozen fish.

5 to 8 minutes, according to their size.

FILLETS OF WHITINGS.

Empty and wash thoroughly, but do not skin the fish. Take off the flesh on both sides close to the bones, passing the knife from the tail to the head; divide each side in two, trim the fillets into good shape, and fold them in a cloth, that the moisture may be well absorbed from them; dip them into, or draw them through, some beaten egg, then dip them into fine crumbs mixed with a small portion of flour, and fry them a fine light brown in lard or clarified butter; drain them well, press them in white blotting-paper, dish them one over the other in a circle, and send the usual sauce to table with them. The fillets may also be broiled after being dipped into eggs seasoned with salt and pepper, then into crumbs of bread, next into clarified butter, and a second time into the bread-crumbs (or, to shorten the process, a portion of clarified butter may be mixed with the eggs at first), and served with good melted butter, or thickened veal gravy seasoned with cayenne, lemon-juice, and chopped parsley.

Five minutes will fry the fillets, even when very large rather more time will be required to broil them.

TO BOIL WHITINGS.

(French Receipt)

Having scraped, cleansed, and wiped them, lay them on a fish-plate, and put them into water at the point of boiling; throw in a handful of salt, two bay leaves, and plenty of parsley well washed and tied together; let the fish just simmer from five to ten minutes, and watch them closely that they may not be overdone. Serve parsley and butter with them, and use in making it the liquor in which the whitings have been boiled.

Just simmered from 5 to 10 minutes.

BAKED WHITINGS À LA FRANÇAISE.

Proceed with these exactly as with the soles au plat of this chapter; or, pour a little clarified butter into a deep dish, and strew it rather thickly with finely-minced mushrooms mixed with a teaspoonful of parsley, and (when the flavour is liked, and considered appropriate) with an eschalot or two, or the white part of a few green onions, also chopped very small. On these place the fish after they have been scaled, emptied, thoroughly washed, and wiped dry: season them well with salt and white pepper, or cayenne; sprinkle more of the herbs upon them; pour gently from one to two glasses of light white wine into the dish, cover the whitings with a thick layer of fine crumbs of bread, sprinkle these plentifully with clarified butter, and bake the fish from fifteen to twenty minutes. Send a cut lemon only to table with them. When the wine is not liked, a few spoonsful of pale veal gravy can be used instead; or a larger quantity of clarified butter, with a tablespoonful of water, a teaspoonful of lemon-pickle and of mushroom catsup, and a few drops of soy.

15 to 20 minutes.

TO BOIL MACKEREL.

[In full season in May, June, and July; may be had also in early spring.]

Mackerel.

Open the fish sufficiently to admit of the insides being perfectly cleansed, but not more than is necessary for this purpose; empty them with care, lay the roes apart, and wash both them and the mackerel delicately clean. It is customary now to lay these, and the greater number of other fish as well, into cold water when they are to be boiled; formerly all were plunged at once into fast-boiling water. For such as are small and delicate, it should be hot; they should be brought gently to boil, and simmered until they are done; the scum should be cleared off as it rises, and the usual proportion of salt stirred into the water before the mackerel are put in. The roes are commonly replaced in the fish; but as they sometimes require more boiling than the mackerel themselves, it is better, when they are very large, to lay them upon the fish-plate by their sides. From fifteen to twenty minutes will generally be sufficient to boil a full-sized mackerel some will be done in less time; but they must be watched and lifted out as soon as the tails split, and the eyes are starting.

Dish them on a napkin, and send fennel or gooseberry sauce to table with them, and plain melted butter also.

Small mackerel, 10 to 15 minutes; large, 15 to 20 minutes.

TO BAKE MACKEREL.

After they have been cleaned and well washed, wipe them very dry, fill the insides with the forcemeat, No. 1 of Chapter [VIII.], sew them up, arrange them, with the roes, closely together in a coarse baking-dish, flour them lightly, strew a little fine salt over, and stick bits of butter upon them; or pour some equally over them, after having just dissolved it in a small saucepan. Half an hour in a moderate oven will bake them. Oyster forcemeat is always appropriate for any kind of fish which is in season while the oysters are so; but the mackerel are commonly served, and are very good with that which we have named. Lift them carefully into a hot dish after they are taken from the oven, and send melted butter and a cut lemon to table with them.

1/2 hour.

BAKED MACKEREL, OR WHITINGS.

(Cinderella’s Receipt—good.)

The fish for this receipt should be opened only so much as will permit of their being emptied and perfectly cleansed. Wash and wipe them dry, then fold them in a soft cloth, and let them remain in it awhile. Replace the roes, and put the fish into a baking-dish of suitable size, with a tablespoonful of wine, a few drops of chili vinegar, a little salt and cayenne, and about half an ounce of butter, well-blended with a saltspoonful of flour, for each fish. They must be turned round with the heads and tails towards each other, that they may lie compactly in the dish, and the backs should be placed downwards, that the sauce may surround the thickest part of the flesh. Lay two buttered papers over, and press them down upon them; set the dish into a gentle oven for twenty minutes, take off the papers, and send the fish to table in their sauce.

A few minutes more of time must be allowed for mackerel when it is large, should the oven be very slow.

Full-sized whitings are excellent thus dressed if carefully managed, and many eaters would infinitely prefer mackerel so prepared, to boiled ones. The writer has port-wine always used for the sauce, to which a rather full seasoning of chili vinegar, cayenne, and pounded mace, is added; but sherry, Bucellas, or any other dry wine, can be used instead; and the various condiments added to it, can be varied to the taste. This receipt is a very convenient one, as it is prepared with little trouble, and a stove-oven, if the heat be properly moderated, will answer for the baking. It is an advantage to take off the heads of the fish before they are dressed, and they may then be entirely emptied without being opened. When preferred so, they can be re-dished for table, and the sauce poured over them.

Obs.—The dish in which they are baked, should be buttered before they are laid in.

FRIED MACKEREL.

(Common French Receipt.)

After the fish have been emptied and washed extremely clean, cut off the heads and tails, split the bodies quite open, and take out the backbones (we recommend in preference that the flesh should be taken off the bones as in the following receipt), wipe the mackerel very dry, dust fine salt and pepper (or cayenne) over them, flour them well, fry them a fine brown in boiling lard, drain them thoroughly, and serve them with the following sauce:—Dissolve in a small saucepan an ounce and a half of butter smoothly mixed with a teaspoonful of flour, some salt, pepper, or cayenne; shake these over a gentle fire until they are lightly coloured, then add by slow degrees nearly half a pint of good broth or gravy, and the juice of one large lemon; boil the sauce for a couple of minutes, and serve it very hot. Or, instead of this, add a large teaspoonful of strong made mustard, and a dessertspoonful of chili vinegar, to some thick melted butter, and serve it with the fish. A spoonful of Harvey’s sauce or of mushroom catsup can be mixed with this last at pleasure.

FILLETS OF MACKEREL.

(Fried or Broiled.)

Take off the flesh quite whole on either side, from three fine mackerel, which have been opened and properly cleaned; let it be entirely free from bone, dry it well in a cloth, then divide each part in two, and dip them into the beaten yolks of a couple of eggs, seasoned with salt and white pepper, or cayenne; cover them equally with fine dry crumbs of bread, and fry them like soles; or dip them into clarified butter, and then again into the crumbs, and broil them over a very clear fire of a fine brown. Dish them in a circle one over the other, and send them to table with the Mâitre d’Hôtel sauce of Chapter [V.], or with the one which follows it. The French pour the sauce into the centre of the dish; but for broiled fillets this is not so well, we think, as serving it in a tureen. The roes of the fish, after being well washed and soaked, may be dressed with them, or they may be made into patties. Minced parsley can be mixed with the bread-crumbs when it is liked.

BOILED FILLETS OF MACKEREL.

After having taken off and divided the flesh of the fish, as above, place it flat in one layer in a wide stewpan or saucepan, and just cover the fillets with cold water; throw in a teaspoonful of salt, and two or three small sprigs of parsley; bring the mackerel slowly to a boil, clear off the scum with care, and after two or three minutes of slow simmering try the fillets with a fork; if the thick part divides with a touch, they are done. Lift them out cautiously with a slice; drain, and serve them very hot with good parsley and butter; or strip off the skin quickly, and pour a Mâitre d’Hôtel sauce over them.

MACKEREL BROILED WHOLE.

(An excellent Receipt.)

Empty and cleanse perfectly a fine and very fresh mackerel, but without opening it more than is needful; dry it well, either in a cloth or by hanging it in a cool air until it is stiff; make with a sharp knife a deep incision the whole length of the fish on either side of the back bone, and about half an inch from it, and with a feather put in a little cayenne and fine salt, mixed with a few drops of good salad oil or clarified butter. Lay the mackerel over a moderate fire upon a well-heated gridiron which has been rubbed with suet; loosen it gently should it stick, which it will do unless often moved; and when it is equally done on both sides, turn the back to the fire. About half an hour will broil it well. If a sheet of thickly-buttered writing-paper be folded round it, and just twisted at the ends before it is laid on the gridiron, it will be finer eating than if exposed to the fire; but sometimes when this is done, the skin will adhere to the paper, and be drawn off with it, which injures its appearance. A cold Mâitre d’Hôtel sauce (see Chapter [V].), may be put into the back before it is sent to table. This is one of the very best modes of dressing a mackerel, which in flavour is quite a different fish when thus prepared to one which is simply boiled. A drop of oil is sometimes passed over the skin to prevent its sticking to the iron. It may be laid to the fire after having been merely cut as we have directed, when it is preferred so.

30 minutes; 25 if small.

MACKEREL STEWED WITH WINE.

(Very good.)

Work very smoothly together a large teaspoonful of flour with two ounces of butter, put them into a stewpan, and stir or shake them round over the fire until the butter is dissolved; add a quarter of a teaspoonful of mace, twice as much salt, and some cayenne; pour in by slow degrees three glasses of claret; and when the sauce boils, lay in a couple of fine mackerel well cleaned, and wiped quite dry; stew them very softly from fifteen to twenty minutes, and turn them when half done; lift them out, and dish them carefully; stir a teaspoonful of made mustard to the sauce, give it a boil, and pour it over the fish. When more convenient, substitute port wine and a little lemon-juice, for the claret.

Mackerel, 2; flour, 1 teaspoonful; butter, 2 oz.; seasoning of salt, mace, and cayenne; claret, 3 wineglassesful; made mustard, 1 teaspoonful: 15 to 20 minutes.

FILLETS OF MACKEREL STEWED IN WINE.

(Excellent.)

Raise the flesh entire from the bones on either side of the mackerel, and divide it once, if the fish be small, but cut the whole into six parts of equal size should they be large. Mix with flour, and dissolve the butter as in the preceding receipt; and when it has simmered for a minute, throw in the spice, a little salt, and the thinly pared rind of half a small fresh lemon, lay in the fillets of fish, shake them over a gentle fire from four to five minutes, and turn them once in the time; then pour to them in small portions a couple of large wineglassesful of port wine, a tablespoonful of Harvey’s sauce, a teaspoonful of soy, and one of lemon-juice; stew the mackerel very softly until the thinner parts begin to break, lift them out with care, dish and serve them in their sauce as hot as possible. We can recommend the dish to our readers as a very excellent one. A garnish of fried sippets can be placed round the fish at will. A teaspoonful of made mustard should be stirred to the sauce before it is poured over the fish.

Fillets of mackerel, 2; butter, 2 oz.; flour, 1 teaspoonful; rind of 1/2 lemon; salt, cayenne, pounded mace: 2 minutes. Fish, 4 to 5 minutes. Port wine, two large glassesful; Harvey’s sauce, 1 tablespoonful; soy and lemon-juice each, 1 teaspoonful: 4 to 6 minutes. Mustard, 1 teaspoonful.

Obs.—Trout may be dressed by this receipt.

TO BOIL HADDOCKS.

In the best season in October, November, and December.

Haddock.

Scrape the outsides very clean, open the fish, empty them, wash the insides thoroughly, take out the gillet, curl the haddocks round, fasten the tails to the mouths, arrange them on a fish-plate, and lay them into hot water salted as for mackerel. Take off all the scum, and simmer them from seven to ten minutes or longer, according to their size, which, as we have said in the directions for “the best mode of cooking various kind of fish,” at the commencement of this chapter, varies greatly, as they are sometimes very large; they must then be brought more slowly to boil, and more time must be allowed for them. Send them very hot to table, with a tureen of melted butter, and one of anchovy sauce.

7 to 10 minutes.

Obs.—In Scotland haddocks are skinned before they are boiled, and the heads are taken off; but we see no advantage in this mode of dressing them. Whitings, fresh herrings, and codlings, may all be dressed by this receipt, the time only being varied according to the size of the fish.

BAKED HADDOCKS

After they have been cleaned, dry them thoroughly, then bake them, as directed in the common receipt for pike, or fill them with oyster forcemeat, or with No. 1 of Chapter [VIII.], if more convenient, and proceed as for baked mackerel.

20 to 30 minutes; longer if very large.

TO FRY HADDOCKS

Follow the directions given for fillets of whitings; or, should a more simple method be preferred, clean and dry the fish well, cut off the heads and tails, take out the backbones, cut each fish in three, egg and crumb them, fry them in boiling lard a fine golden brown, and serve them, well drained and dried, with the same sauces as boiled haddocks.

TO DRESS FINNAN HADDOCKS.

These are slightly salted and dried. They are excellent eating, if gently heated through upon the gridiron without being hardened; and are served usually at the breakfast or supper table; a feather dipped in oil may be passed over them before they are laid to the fire.

TO BOIL GURNARDS.

(With directions for dressing them in other ways.)

Gurnard.

It is more usual to fill gurnards with forcemeat, and to bake them, or to have the flesh raised from the bones and dressed in fillets, than to serve them simply boiled; they may, however, be cooked in any of the modes directed for mackerel,[[48]] rather more time being allowed for them, as they are much firmer-fleshed, thicker in the bodies, and generally of larger size altogether. Cut off all the fins, take out the gills, and empty and cleanse them like other fish, washing the insides well; put them into hot water ready salted and skimmed, and boil them gently from twenty minutes to half an hour; serve them with anchovy sauce, or with parsley and butter rendered acid with chili vinegar, lemon-juice, or caper-pickle.

[48]. Whitings or haddocks.

FRESH HERRINGS.

(Farleigh Receipt.)

In season from May to October.

Scale and clean the fish with the utmost nicety, split them quite open, and wash the insides with particular care; dry them well in a cloth, take off the heads and tails, and remove the backbones; rub the insides with pepper, salt, and a little pounded mace; stick small bits of butter on them, and skewer two of the fish together as flat as possible, with the skin of both outside; flour, and broil or fry them of a fine brown, and serve them with melted butter mixed with a teaspoonful or more of mustard, some salt, and a little vinegar or lemon-juice.

To broil from 20 to 25 minutes; to fry about 10 minutes.

TO DRESS THE SEA BREAM.

Sea Bream.

The sea-bream, which is common in many of our markets, is not considered a fish of first-rate quality; but if well broiled or baked, it will afford a good, and generally a cheap, dish of excellent appearance, the bream being of handsome size and form. Open and cleanse it perfectly, but do not remove the scales; fold it in a dry cloth to absorb the moisture which hangs about it; lay it over a gentle fire, and broil it slowly, that the heat may gradually penetrate the flesh, which is thick. Should any cracks appear on the surface, dredge a little flour upon them. If of ordinary weight, the bream will require quite half an hour’s broiling; it should be turned, of course, when partially done. Send plain melted butter and anchovy sauce to table with it. In carving it, remove the skin and scales, and serve only the flesh which lies beneath them, and which will be very white and succulent. A more usual and less troublesome mode of dressing the bream is to season the inside slightly with salt and pepper or cayenne, to dust a little more salt on the outside, spread a few bits of butter upon it, and send it to a gentle oven. It is sometimes filled with common veal-stuffing, and then requires to be rather longer baked; and it is often merely wrapped in a buttered paper, and placed in a moderate oven for twenty-five or thirty minutes.

TO BOIL PLAICE OR FLOUNDERS.

Plaice in season from May to January;

flounders in September, October, and November.

Plaice.

After having emptied and well cleaned the fish, make an incision in the back as directed for turbot; lay them into cold spring water; add salt and saltpetre in the same proportion as for cod fish, and let them just simmer for four or five minutes after the water first begins to boil, or longer should their size require it, but guard against their being broken. Serve them with plain melted butter. 4 to 5 minutes; longer if needful.

TO FRY PLAICE OR FLOUNDERS.

Sprinkle them with salt, and let them lie for two or three hours before they are dressed. Wash and clean them thoroughly, wipe them very dry, flour them well, and wipe them again with a clean cloth; dip them into egg, and fine bread-crumbs, and fry them in plenty of lard. If the fish be large, raise the flesh in handsome fillets from the bones, and finish them as directed for fillets of soles. Obs.—Plaice is said to be rendered less watery by beating it gently with a paste-roller before it is cooked. It is very sweet and pleasant in flavour while it is in the best season, which is from the end of May to about September.

TO ROAST, BAKE, OR BROIL RED MULLET.

[In best season through the summer: may be had all the year.]

Red Mullet.

First wash and then dry the fish thoroughly in a cloth, but neither scale nor open it, but take out the gills gently and carefully with the small intestine which will adhere to them; wrap it closely in a sheet of thickly buttered paper, tie this securely at the ends, and over the mullet with packthread, and roast it in a Dutch oven, or broil it over a clear and gentle fire, or bake it in a moderate oven: from twenty to twenty-five minutes will be sufficient generally to dress it in either way. For sauce, put into a little good melted butter the liquor which has flowed from the fish, a small dessertspoonful of essence of anchovies, some cayenne, a glass of port wine, or claret, and a little lemon-juice. Remove the packthread, and send the mullet to table in the paper case. This is the usual mode of serving it, but it is dished without the paper for dinners of taste. The plain red mullet, shown at the commencement of this receipt, is scarcely ever found upon our coast. That which abounds here during the summer months is the striped red mullet, or surmullet, which, from its excellence, is always in request, and is therefore seldom cheap. It rarely exceeds twelve, or at the utmost fourteen, inches in length.

20 to 30 minutes.

TO BOIL GREY MULLET.

Grey Mullet.

This fish varies so much in size and quality, that it is difficult to give exact directions for the time of cooking it. When quite young and small, it may be boiled by the receipt for whitings, haddocks, and other fish of about their size; but at its finest growth it must be laid into cold water, and managed like larger fish. We have ourselves partaken of one which was caught upon our eastern coast, that weighed ten pounds, of which the flesh was quite equal to that of salmon, but its weight was, we believe, an unusual one. Anchovy, or caper fish sauce, with melted butter, may be sent to table with grey mullet.

THE GAR-FISH.

Gar-Fish.

This is a fish of very singular appearance, elongated in form, and with a mouth which resembles the bill of the snipe, from which circumstance it is often called the snipe-fish. Its bones are all of a bright green colour. It is not to be recommended for the table, as the skin contains an oil of exceedingly strong rank flavour; when entirely divested of this, the flesh is tolerably sweet and palatable. Persons who may be disposed from curiosity to taste it will find either broiling or baking in a gentle oven the best mode of cooking it. It should be curled round, and the tail fastened into the bill. As it is not of large size, from fifteen to twenty minutes will dress it sufficiently. Anchovy sauce, parsley and butter, or plain melted butter, may be eaten with it.

SAND-LAUNCE, OR, SAND-EEL.

Sand-Eel.

The sand-launce, which is abundant on many parts of our coast, and the name of which is derived from its habit of burrowing in the sands when the tide retires, may be distinguished from the larger species, the true sand-eel, by its lighter colour and more transparent appearance, as well as by its inferior size. The common mode of dressing the fish, which is considered by many a great delicacy, is to divest them of their heads, and to remove the insides with the gills, to dry them well in a cloth with flour, and to fry them until crisp. They are sometimes also dipped in batter like smelts. We have not ourselves had an opportunity of testing them, but we have received the particulars which we have given here from various friends who have resided where they were plentiful. The sand-eels are not so good as the smaller kind of these fish called launces.

TO FRY SMELTS.

[In season from beginning of November to May.]

Smelts when quite fresh have a perfume resembling that of a cucumber, and a peculiarly delicate and agreeable flavour when dressed. Draw them at the gills, as they must not be opened; wash and dry them thoroughly in a cloth; dip them into beaten egg-yolk, and then into the finest bread-crumbs, mixed with a very small quantity of flour; fry them of a clear golden brown, and serve them crisp and dry, with good melted butter in a tureen. They are sometimes dipped into batter and then fried; when this is done, we would recommend for them the French batter of Chapter [V.]

3 to 4 minutes.

BAKED SMELTS.

Prepare them as for frying; pour some clarified butter into the dish in which they are to be sent to table, arrange them neatly in it, with the tails meeting in the centre, strew over them as much salt, mace, and cayenne, mixed, as will season them agreeably, cover them smoothly with a rather thick layer of very fine bread-crumbs, moisten them equally with clarified butter poured through a small strainer, and bake the fish in a moderately quick oven, until the crumbs are of a fine light brown. A glass of sherry, half a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, and a dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, are sometimes poured into the dish before the smelts are laid in.

About 10 minutes.

TO DRESS WHITE BAIT.

(Greenwich Receipt.)

[In season in July, August, and September.]

This delicate little fish requires great care to dress it well. Do not touch it with the hands, but throw it from your dish or basket into a cloth, with three or four handsful of flour, and shake it well; then put it into a bait sieve, to separate it from the superfluous flour. Have ready a very deep frying-pan, nearly full of boiling fat, throw in the fish, which will be done in an instant: they must not be allowed to take any colour, for if browned, they are spoiled. Lift them out, and dish them upon a silver or earthenware drainer, without a napkin, piling them very high in the centre. Send them to table with a cut lemon, and slices of brown bread and butter.

WATER SOUCHY.

(Greenwich Receipt.)

This is a very simple and inexpensive dish, much served at the regular fish-dinners for which Greenwich is celebrated, as well as at private tables. It is excellent if well prepared; and as it may be made with fish of various kinds when they are too small to present a good appearance or to be palatable dressed in any other way, it is also very economical. Flounders, perch, tench, and eels, are said to answer best for water souchy; but very delicate soles, and several other varieties of small white fish are often used for it with good effect: it is often made also with slices of salmon, or of salmon-peel, freed from the skin.

Throw into rather more than sufficient water to just cover the quantity of fish required for table, from half to three quarters of an ounce of salt to the quart, a dozen corns of white pepper, a small bunch of green parsley, and two or three tender parsley roots, first cut into inch lengths, and then split to the size of straws. Simmer the mixture until these last are tender, which will be in from half to a whole hour; then lay in the fish delicately cleaned, cleared from every morsel of brown skin, and divided into equal portions of about two inches in width. Take off all the scum as it rises, and stew the fish softly from eight to twelve minutes, watching it that it may not break from being overdone.

Two minutes before it is dished, strew in a large tablespoonful or more of minced parsley, or some small branches of the herb boiled very green in a separate saucepan (we prefer the latter mode); lift out the fish carefully with a slice, and the parsley roots with it; pour over it the liquor in which it has been boiled, but leave out the peppercorns. For a superior water souchy, take all the bones out of the fish, and stew down the inferior portions of it to a strong broth: about an hour will be sufficient for this. Salt, parsley, and a little cayenne may be added to it. Strain it off clear through a sieve, and use it instead of water for the souchy. The juice of half a good lemon may be thrown into the stew before it is served. A deep dish will of course be required for it. The parsley-roots can be boiled apart when more convenient, but they give an agreeable flavour when added to the liquor at first. Slices of brown or white bread and butter must be sent to table always with water souchy: the first is usually preferred, but to suit all tastes some of each may be served with it.

SHAD, TOURAINE FASHION.

(Alose à la mode de Touraine.)

[In season in April, May, and early part of June.]

Empty and wash the fish with care, but do not open it more than is needful; fill it either with the forcemeat No. 1, or No. 2 of Chapter [VIII.], and its own roe; then sew it up, or fasten it securely with very fine skewers, wrap it in a thickly buttered paper, and broil it gently for an hour over a charcoal fire. Serve it with caper sauce, or with chili vinegar and melted butter.

We are indebted for this receipt to a friend who has been long resident in Touraine, at whose table the fish is constantly served thus dressed, and is considered excellent. It is likewise often gently stewed in the light white wine of the country, and served covered with a rich béchamel. Many fish more common with us than the shad might be advantageously prepared in the same manner. The charcoal fire is not indispensable: any one that is entirely free from smoke will answer. We would suggest as an improvement, that oyster-forcemeat should be substituted for that which we have indicated, until the oyster season ends.

Broiled gently, 1 hour, more or less, according to the size.

STEWED TROUT.

(Good common Receipt.)

[In season from May to August.]

Trout.

Melt three ounces of butter in a broad stewpan, or well tinned iron saucepan, stir to it a tablespoonful of flour, some mace, cayenne, and nutmeg; lay in the fish after it has been emptied, washed very clean, and wiped perfectly dry; shake it in the pan, that it may not stick, and when lightly browned on both sides, pour in three quarters of a pint of good veal stock, add a small faggot of parsley, one bay leaf, a roll of lemon-peel, and a little salt: stew the fish very gently from half to three quarters of an hour, or more, should it be unusually fine. Dish the trout, skim the fat from the gravy, and pass it through a hot strainer over the fish, which should be served immediately. A little acid can be added to the sauce at pleasure, and a glass of wine when it is considered an improvement. This receipt is for one large or for two middling-sized fish. We can recommend it as a good one from our own experience.

Butter, 3 oz.; flour, 1 tablespoonful; seasoning of mace, cayenne, and nutmeg; trout, 1 large, or 2 moderate-sized; veal stock, 3/4 pint; parsley, small faggot; 1 bay-leaf; roll of lemon-rind; little salt: 1/2 to 3/4 hour.

Obs.—Trout may be stewed in equal parts of strong veal gravy, and of red or white wine, without having been previously browned; the sauce should then be thickened, and agreeably flavoured with lemon-juice, and the usual store-sauces, before it is poured over the fish. They are also good when wrapped in buttered paper, and baked or broiled: if very small, the better mode of cooking them is to fry them whole. They should never be plain boiled, as, though naturally a delicious fish, they are then very insipid.

TO BOIL PIKE.

[In best season from September to February.]

Pike.

Take out the gills, empty and clean the fish very thoroughly, and soak it for half an hour with a cup of vinegar thrown into as much water as will cover it well, should there be any danger of its having a muddy taste.[[49]] Wipe the inside dry, and fill it with oyster-forcemeat, or with common veal forcemeat made either with butter or with suet (for which see Chapter [VIII].); curl the fish round, and fasten it with the tail in the mouth, lay it on a fish-plate, cover it well with cold water, throw in some salt as soon as it boils, skim it well, and boil the fish gently from half to a whole hour according to its size. Some persons prefer the scales taken off the pike when it is prepared for this mode of dressing; and many cooks still put the fish into boiling water well salted and skimmed. Serve it with plain melted butter, or anchovy sauce.

[49]. Soaking fish is always better avoided when it can be so; well washing the inside with strong vinegar would perhaps remove the objectionable flavour without it.

Moderate sized, 1/2 hour; large, 1 hour.

Obs.—We must repeat that it is impossible to give for fish which varies so much in quality as well as in size, directions for the exact time which is required to cook it; a few minutes, more or less, must often be allowed; and it should always be watched attentively, and lifted from the water as soon as it is done.

TO BAKE PIKE.

(Common Receipt.)

Pour warm water over the outside of the fish, and wipe it very clean with a coarse cloth drawn from the head downwards, that the scales may not be disturbed; then wash it well in cold water, empty, and cleanse the inside with the greatest nicety, fill it either with the common forcemeat No. 1, or with No. 4 of Chapter [VIII.], sew it up, fasten the tail to the mouth, give it a slight dredging of flour, stick small bits of butter thickly over it, and bake it from half to three quarters of an hour, should it be of moderate size, and upwards of an hour, if it be large. Should there not be sufficient sauce with it in the dish, melted butter and a lemon, or anchovy sauce may be sent to table with it. When more convenient the forcemeat may be omitted, and a little fine salt and cayenne, with some bits of butter, put into the inside of the fish, which will then require rather less baking. A buttered paper should always be laid over it in the oven, should the outside appear likely to become too highly coloured or too dry before the fish is done; and it is better to wrap quite small pike in buttered paper at once before they are sent to the oven.

Moderate-sized pike, 30 to 45 minutes; large pike, 1 to 1-1/4 hour.

TO BAKE PIKE.

(Superior Receipt.)

Scale and wash the fish, take out the gills, then open it just sufficiently to allow the inside to be emptied and perfectly cleansed, but not more than is necessary for that purpose. Wipe it as dry as possible in every part, then hang it for an hour or two on a hook in a cool larder, or wrap it in a soft cloth. Fill the body with the forcemeat No. 1 or 3, or with the oyster forcemeat of Chapter [VIII.]; sew it up very securely, curl it round, and fasten the tail into the mouth with a thin skewer, then dip it into the beaten yolks of two or more eggs, seasoned with nearly half a teaspoonful of salt and a little pepper or cayenne; cover it equally with the finest bread-crumbs, dip it a second time into the egg and crumbs, then pour some clarified butter gently over it, through a small strainer, and send it to a well heated oven for an hour and a quarter or more, should it be very large, but for less time if it be only of moderate size. As it is naturally a very dry fish, it should not be left in the oven after it is thoroughly done, but it should never be sent to table until it is so. The crumbs of bread are sometimes mixed with a sufficient quantity of minced parsley to give the surface of the fish a green hue. Send plain melted butter, and brown caper, or Dutch sauce to table with it.

TO STEW CARP.

(A common Country Receipt.)

Carp.

Scale and clean the fish with exceeding care, lay it into a stewpan, and cover it with good cold beef or veal broth; add one small onion stuck with a few cloves, a faggot of savoury herbs, three or four slices of carrot, and a little salt, and stew the carp as gently as possible for nearly an hour. Have ready some good brown gravy, mixed with a couple of glassesful of port wine; add a squeeze of lemon-juice, dish the carp very carefully, pour the sauce over, and serve it immediately. We would recommend the Genevese Sauce, of Chapter [V.], as superior to any other for this dish.

This receipt is for a fish which averages from five to six pounds in weight, but the carp sometimes attains to a very large size; and sufficient time to cook it perfectly should always be allowed for it.

TO BOIL PERCH.[[50]]

[50]. The figure of this fish is very disproportioned in size to that of the carp and other kinds inserted here, as it is quite small at its fullest growth compared with the carp, which sometimes attains to a great weight.