Would it not be beneficial, were the average
American to substitute fish for the everlasting
steak and chop of the breakfast-table?
For the sake of variety, if for no other reason,
we should eat more fish; and it need not
always be fried or broiled. A well-made fish
stew or a curry should be acceptable to the
majority of us, and undoubtedly would be if
appetizingly prepared.
This little work does not by any means propose
to exhaust the subject of sea-food, for the
subject is almost inexhaustible; but it places
within the reach of all a series of recipes and
suggestions extremely valuable to the average
housewife.
The Oyster Season opens in the city of
New York on the first day of September, and
closes on the last day of April in each year.
The annual amount of business done in the
oyster trade is close on to $5,000,000. Each
successive year witnesses an increase in the
business.
Notwithstanding the R canon, there are thousands
of persons who eat oysters at the summer
resorts along the seashore throughout hot
weather.
Oysters out of Season.—The writer
does not recommend the eating of oysters out
of their season, no matter how fresh they may
be, or how appetizing they may appear.
To supply the demands made upon them by
summer resorts, oyster-planters shift the oysters,
during the spawning season, from warm shallow
water to cold deep water. This checks or prevents
the oysters from spawning, and to all
appearance they are edible; but the writer
firmly believes that interfering with the laws
of nature affects the health of the oyster, and
they cannot be as wholesome as planters would
have us believe.
Oysters Preserved in Shell.—So long
as the oyster retains its natural juices, it will
live out of water, provided the changes in the
temperature are not too sudden. The moment
the oyster opens its shells, however, the juices
run out, and in a short time afterward the oyster
dies. To prevent the oyster opening its stony
overcoat, is the object of oyster-shippers; and
the Patent Office bears witness to their many
devices having this object in view. Some wire
the shells, others clasp or envelope the broad
end of the shells with tin or other metal. No
doubt these devices aid in keeping the oyster
alive and fresh a little longer. Whether the
nervous system of the oyster is affected by the
process, is a question. Scientists tell us that
oysters possess organs of sensation, and all
who have handled oysters learn in time that
a sudden jar or shock will kill them. The jar
of the machinery of a steamboat will sometimes
kill an oyster. When shipped to Europe
they are ordered to be stored as far away from
the machinery as possible. Some authorities
claim that the oyster can hear. One cannot
noisily approach an oyster-bed at feeding time
without their hearing, and instantly every shell
is closed. A cloud or a boat passing over an
oyster-bank will cause every shell to close with
proverbial tightness, and the sound of thunder
will often kill them while they are in transit,—conclusive
evidence that the nervous system
in an oyster, while not highly developed, is of
sufficient importance to merit attention from
those who roughly handle oysters.
The Food of the Oyster consists of
minute animal and vegetable organisms and
small particles of organized matter. Ordinary
sea-water contains an abundance of this sort
of food, which is drawn into the gills with the
water. As the water strains through the pores
into the water tubes, the food particles are
caught on the surface of the gills by a layer of
adhesive slime. As soon as they are entangled,
the microscopic hair-like projections on the
gills strike against them in such a way as to
slide them along the gills toward the mouth.
When they reach the anterior ends of the gills,
they are pushed off, and fall between the lips,
which are also covered with thin hair-like projections,
which carry the particles forward until
they slide into the mouth. No wonder the
intelligent tramp wished that he might become
an oyster. His food would then come to him
in a sort of endless progression.
Formation of the Deep Shell.—Although
the oyster lies upon the bottom with
one shell above and one below, the shells are
not upon the top and bottom of the body,
but upon the right and left sides. The two
shells are symmetrical in the young oyster; but
after it becomes attached, the lower or attached
side grows faster than the other, and becomes
deep and spoon-shaped, while the free valve
remains nearly flat. In nearly every case the
lower or deep valve is the left.
Cock Oysters.—There is a belief among
oyster-eaters, that the dark-gray or black oysters
are male oysters, and are therefore superior
to the female oyster. Such misinformation was
evidently promulgated by oyster-openers in anticipation
of a tip for serving selected oysters.
There is no truth in the assertion, however, for
there are just as many black female oysters as
there are black male oysters. There is no characteristic
color by which a male or cock oyster
can be distinguished from a female oyster.
Microscopic examination, or a scientific eye, is
the means of discovering the sex of an oyster.
The black-oyster romance is of ancient origin.
The Roman oyster-smashers successfully
“worked it” on Pliny, Horace, and other
ancient writers and epicures.
Green Oysters.—At least a million dollars
worth of oysters are annually destroyed in New-York
waters by sludge acid from the oil refineries
and illegal dumpings. The acid kills the
oysters the instant it touches them, and turns
them green. There is very little danger that a
poisoned oyster will reach the consumer, but the
loss to the planter is enormous.
The green tint of the oyster, or in fact any
distinguished color the oyster may possess, is due
to the color of its food and to the nature of the
surrounding bottom. The bottom of the Shrewsbury
River is mud; the oysters take on a peculiar
tawny color from their muddy bed. Rockaway
oysters exist on a hard sandy bottom. If
the beds are covered with sea-lettuce, as they
often are, the oysters take on a delicate green
tint. When the lettuce is removed by a strong
tide or high wind, the oysters gradually assume
their white, slightly grayish color. Their shells
are round, thin, and brittle. The shells from
mud bottoms are long, narrow, thick, and
spongy. Intruded mud is enclosed by a thin
layer of pearly shell.
The oyster epicure may rest assured of one
fact. No matter what the color of an oyster may
be, so long as it is alive and seasonable it is
wholesome. It cannot absorb enough foreign
matter to injure the epicure without committing
suicide, and there is no possible danger of any
one swallowing a dead oyster.
Banquet Oysters.—As served at the average
public banquet, the raw oyster is a thing of
terror to appetite and to weak digestive organs.
When looking for one’s seat, where, through an
oversight, one is not furnished with a chart of
the tables, one beholds six very small emaciated
oysters. The heat in the room has absorbed
their moisture, afterwards the bed of fine ice on
which they were placed has melted, and the
water overflowed them, thereby finishing the work
of destruction. One must be under the influence
of the sherry and Vermouth of the reception-rooms,
to be willing to begin the feast with such
an introductory course. No wonder fashionable
society demands a substitute for the oyster as
the dinner season progresses. In the name
of humanity, order the oysters to table and
announce the dinner at the same time. Guests
are willing to wait a few moments for toothsome
oysters, provided they are direct from the ice-box.
Ordering Oysters for the Family
Table.—Send the servant to the nearest
dealer, a few minutes before the oysters are
wanted, and let her wait for them. In this way
one is quite sure of procuring freshly opened
oysters. Many dealers begin opening oysters
for their family orders hours before they are
to be served; and the result is, they have lost
much of their juices before being served.
Miss Parloa’s “New Cook Book” says, “Six
large oysters are usually allowed each person.”
This error should be corrected in future editions.
Large raw oysters on the half-shell are only
served at oyster-counters to countrymen, and
are not served at a dinner, no matter how unpretentious
or how elaborate the affair may be.
How Oysters should be opened.—In
the author’s work on “Luncheon,” reference
is made to the great care which should be
exercised in opening oysters; and it will bear
repeating. Reject all oysters opened by the
“smashing” process. The shells are not only
broken and ragged, but, should a person swallow
a ragged splinter of oyster-shell, there is great
danger of its killing him. Insist on it that
your oysters are opened by the so-called “stabbing”
process.
How to serve Raw Oysters.—If for
a quiet family affair, where “opened” oysters
are used, keep the plates in ice-water, and dry
them before placing the oysters on them. For
more pretentious affairs, but where fancy oyster-plates
are not a part of the dinner service, use
soup-plates. Fill them with fine cracked ice,
place a dainty doily over each, and set the
oysters on top of the doily. The lemon should
be served on a side-dish, and not in the centre
of the dish as though one were dining in a restaurant.
Four small Rockaways are sufficient
to serve at the ordinary course dinner. In nine
cases are out of ten, Rockaways are served instead
of the Blue Points. It is therefore advisable
to order the former; the dealer might make a mistake
if he had them in stock, and send the latter.
It is quite English to serve raw oysters on the
flat half-shell, but it is quite American to serve
them on the deep shell. The American way is
the best.
Collation Service.—At evening collations,
the oysters are served in the centre of a block of
ice. A clear, square block of ice is selected, and
a cavity or receptacle is made in it by the aid of
a hot flat-iron held close to the ice. If one has
patience, the cavity may be shaved out with an
ice shave; if a pick is used, one is likely to
split the cake of ice. An ice boat is easily
formed by holding a hot flat-iron to a long piece
of ice. Holes may be made through the bottom
of the block of ice, and filled with brilliant
flowers; and the outer sides and top should be
handsomely decorated with flowers and smilax.
If electric lights are used in the house, it is an
easy matter to place them in the cake of ice:
the effect is striking. The wires are carried from
the room below the dining-room, or under the
carpet.
How to eat a Raw Oyster.—Avoid as
much as possible the use of condiments, when
eating oysters. They were never intended as
an accompaniment of the oyster, and are only
used by country people. A suspicion of lemon;
a dash of salt when the dealer has kept them
covered with cracked ice, and the descending
ice-water washed out all sea flavor; and, for
palates grown callous, a dash of cayenne. Such
abominations as ketchup, Worcestershire sauce,
etc., should never be used. Do not bolt the
oyster, but masticate it; and one will soon learn
to tell the different oysters by their different
flavors. By bolting them, one will never know
how to thoroughly appreciate them.
A Barrel of Oysters.—Persons living
away from the city are advised to purchase
oysters by the barrel. If kept with the deep
shell down, and in a cool place, they will live a
long time. The novice is likely to bruise fingers
in vain attempts to open them; but, like carving,
the opening of oysters should be part of a
man’s education. Then there is the charm of
roasting the oysters in the old-fashioned fire-place.
Here the novice may burn a finger or
two, but then it’s fun for the youngsters.
Read this!—In W. Mattieu Williams’s
“Chemistry of Cookery,” I find the following:
“More than half a century has elapsed since
Dr. Beaumont published the results of his experiments
on Alexis St. Martin. These showed
that fresh raw oysters required two hours and
fifty-five minutes to digest, and stewed fresh
oysters three and a half hours for digestion;
against one hour for boiled tripe, and three
hours for roast or boiled beef or mutton.”
The general impression among the people is,
that raw oysters digest almost as soon as they
become of the same temperature of the stomach.
Stewed Oysters.—Boil half a pint of
milk; add to it eleven good-sized oysters, a
walnut of butter, a dash of salt and of pepper.
Allow the milk to boil up just once, and
serve.
The average cook puts the oysters on first,
and after they boil cold milk is added. When
the milk boils, the stew is served. The result
of such treatment of the oyster causes it to
shrivel so that it is hardly recognizable, and a
good-sized oyster becomes a mere sprat. From
this process of cooking originated the ancient
moth-eaten jokes about church-fair stews.
Cooked as in the foregoing recipe, the oyster
retains its plump characteristics.
Philadelphia Fried Oysters.—The author
originally published this recipe in the New
York “Evening Sun” by request.
The average New Yorker may call the City of
Brotherly Love a sleepy sort of a place, but it
is wide enough awake gastronomically. It has
within its city limits cooks who prepare fried
oysters that fairly melt in one’s mouth. They
are so delicate that there is not a pang of dyspepsia
in a whole winter’s supply of the toothsome
dainties. The reputation of Finneli’s
Philadelphia fried oysters extends from Maine
to California; and immense sums have been
offered for the recipe, but its owner would not
sell his secret at any price.
Beat up three eggs thoroughly; add half a
pint of oyster-juice, a pepper-spoonful of cayenne,
a saltspoonful of black pepper, a tablespoonful
of salt, and a teaspoonful of English
mustard. Work the mixture to a batter, and
gradually add a gill of oil. Now comes the
more particular part of the formula. Cover a
board or part of a table with a layer of cracker-crumbs
half an inch deep. Drain fifty oysters
free from liquid, place them on the cracker-crumbs,
and dredge over them more cracker-crumbs.
See to it that one oyster is not on top
of another. Pick up each oyster by its beard,
and dip it in the batter. Have ready a quantity
of bread-crumbs grated from the white part
of stale bread; spread this out on the table, and
after the oysters have been dipped in the batter
lay them carefully on the bread-crumbs two
inches apart. After they are all spread out, turn
them over neatly, which will bread-crumb the
other side. Dip them in the batter again by
taking hold of the beard, and again spread them
out on the bread-crumbs. Under no circumstances
place one oyster on top of another, or
in any way press them together; this would
make them heavy. When the fat is so hot that
the smoke from it would light a match, then fry
them by again taking hold of the beard, one at
a time, and dropping them into the fat. When
they are dark brown, take them up, and strew
over them a quantity of salt.
The secret is in carefully handling the oyster
after it has been breaded. How differently
New York restaurants serve fried oysters! In
almost every eating place in the city, one sees
piles of oysters covered with a batter that plainly
shows the cook purposely pressed them between
his hands. When served they look more like
liver-pads than human food. Nothing short of a
human ostrich could possibly digest them. The
Philadelphia oyster, however, is a culinary poem.
Curry of Oysters.—Put an ounce of butter
in a pan; add to it a teaspoon of curry-powder,
and water enough to prevent burning. Put
fifteen oysters in just water enough to cover
them, simmer three minutes, and drain; thicken
the broth with a teaspoonful of flour, salt to
taste, stir this into the curry; add the oysters,
simmer a moment, and serve with boiled rice.
Pickled-Oyster Omelet.—Rinse six
spiced or pickled oysters in cold water. Divide
an ounce of butter into little balls, and roll them
in flour; put them in a saucepan, heat gradually,
and whisk to a cream; add a gill of hot
water, salt and pepper. Cut the oysters in two,
and add to the butter. Prepare an omelet in
the usual manner; before folding, add the oysters;
turn out on a hot dish, and serve.
Deviled Oysters on Toast.—Mix together
a heaping saltspoonful of mustard flour,
half a saltspoonful each of white pepper and
salt, and the yolk of one egg. Dip six oysters
in the paste, then in fine crumbs, and broil over
a moderate fire. When done, arrange on toast,
and squeeze over them the juice of half a lemon.
Pickled Oysters.—A few pickled oysters
may be served instead of clams during warm
weather. Scald a quart of oysters a moment,
drain, and put them in jars. To a pint of oyster
liquor, add half a pint of hot water and half a
pint of hot vinegar; pour over the oysters; add
three cloves, four whole peppers, a small bit of
mace, and a slice of lemon, to each jar. This
will be sufficient for two ordinary fruit-jars.
Scalloped Oysters.—Put in the bottom
of a yellow dish two ounces of sweet butter,
divided into little pieces. Add a layer of raw
oysters, and cover them with cracker-dust or
bread-crumbs, and add salt and pepper to taste;
another layer of oysters, and so on until the dish
is full, the last or top layer to be crumbs, and
between each layer there should be a small
amount of butter. Moisten the ingredients with
a liberal quantity of oyster liquid, put small butter
balls on top of the dish, and bake a delicate
brown color. Oysters were formerly baked in
a scalloped or shell-shaped dish, hence the
name.
Oyster Salad.—Boil two dozen small oysters
for five minutes in water enough to cover
them; add a little salt and a tablespoonful of
vinegar; drain and cool. Put into a salad-bowl
the centre leaves of two heads of cabbage lettuce,
add the oysters whole, pour over them a
mayonnaise; garnish with oyster-crabs, hard-boiled
eggs, and, if liked, a few anchovies cut
into fillets.
Plain Fried Oysters.—As a rule, fried
oysters are not served as a breakfast dish, owing
to the coating with which they are usually surrounded.
Served plain, however, they are quite
acceptable. Dry them well in a napkin, and
roll them in a little flour to insure that they are
quite dry, then cook them in a very little hot
dripping.
Miss Parloa’s “New Cook-Book” says, “a
quart of oysters is enough for a party of ten”
(p. 118). There are from twenty to twenty-five
oysters in a quart, rarely more than this.
Oyster Toast.—Select fifteen plump oysters;
chop them fine, and add salt, pepper, and
a suspicion of nutmeg. Beat up the yolks of
two eggs with a gill of cream; whisk this into the
simmering oysters. When set, pour the whole
over slices of buttered toast.
Oyster Omelet.—Stew six oysters in their
own liquor for five minutes; remove the oysters,
and thicken the liquid with a walnut of butter
rolled in flour; season with salt and cayenne;
whisk this to a cream. Chop the oysters, and
add them to the sauce; simmer until the sauce
thickens. Beat up four eggs lightly, and add a
tablespoonful of cream; turn out into a hot pan,
and fry a light gold-color. Before folding the
omelet entirely, place the oysters with part of
the sauce within, and turn it over on a hot dish.
The remainder of the sauce should be poured
round it.
Oysters Broiled.—Rub the bars of a wire
broiler with a little sweet butter; dry twelve
large, plump oysters in a napkin, and place them
on the broiler; brush a little butter over them,
and broil over a fire free from flame and smoke.
When done on both sides, arrange them neatly
on toast; pour a little well-seasoned melted
butter over them, and serve.
Do not bread-crumb oysters intend for
broiling.
Tripe with Oysters.—Tripe, when properly
prepared by a simple process, is very nutritious
and easily digested.
Cut up half a pound of well-washed tripe;
simmer for three-quarters of an hour in water
slightly salted; take out the tripe; add to the
broth a little butter rolled in flour, salt and pepper;
add a little more flour if not thick enough.
Return the tripe and a dozen oysters; simmer
for a few minutes longer, and serve.
Oysters en Brochette.—Select one dozen
choice oysters; plunge them into hot water a
second to make them firm (this process is called
blanching), then drain, and dip them into melted
butter; arrange them on skewers with alternate
layers of neatly sliced bacon; broil over a moderate
fire. When done, add maitre-d’hôtel butter
to them, and serve on the skewers.
Fried Oysters.—Beat up the yolks of four
eggs with three tablespoonfuls of sweet oil, and
season them with a teaspoonful of salt and a
saltspoonful of cayenne pepper; beat up thoroughly.
Dry twelve fat oysters on a napkin; dip
them in the egg batter, then in cracker-dust;
shake off the loose cracker-dust, dip them again
in the egg batter, and lastly roll them in fine
bread-crumbs. Fry in very hot fat, using fat
enough to cover them. The oil gives them a
nice flavor.
Oyster and Canned Salmon Pie.—One
pound of best canned salmon, one pint of solid
oysters, half a pint of oyster liquid; cover the
bottom of the dish with neat pieces of the salmon,
season with salt and pepper and an ounce
of butter rolled in flour, add a few oysters, and
so on until the ingredients are used. Pour
in the liquid of both, and cover the top with
paste. Bake in a moderate oven. There should
be liquid enough to have the ingredients moist
when served.
Oyster Patties.—Roll out a pound of light
puff-paste, half an inch in thickness; cut it
into rounds with a cake-cutter two inches in
diameter; press a small cutter one inch in
diameter, on each round, one-fourth of an inch
deep. Place them on a buttered tin, brush a
little beaten egg over them, and bake in a quick
oven. When done, remove the centre and a
little of the inside. Scald (or, as it is called,
blanch) three dozen oysters; drain. Put into
a saucepan two ounces of butter, whisk it to a
cream; add a teaspoonful of flour, stir free from
lumps; add a heaping saltspoonful of salt, and
a pepperspoonful of white pepper; whisk into it
half a pint each of hot cream and the oyster
liquor; allow it to simmer a few minutes and to
thicken; then add the oysters and a “squeeze”
of lemon-juice; when hot fill the shells, and
serve. If nutmeg is not objected to, a little may
be used.
Oysters à la Poulette.—Blanch (scald)
a dozen oysters in their own liquor; drain them,
and add to the liquor, salt, half an ounce of
butter, the juice of half a lemon, a gill of cream,
and a teaspoonful of dissolved flour. Beat the
yolk of one egg, and add to the sauce. Stir until
the sauce thickens; place the oysters on a hot
dish, pour the sauce over them, add a very little
chopped parsley, and serve.
Pie of Oysters and Scallops.—Take
one pint of fresh scallops, and wash them in cold
water; drain, and dry them in a napkin. Cut a
few slices of fat bacon in strips small enough to
insert the ends in a larding-needle; lard the
scallops with them, and dredge them slightly
with flour. Select one quart of fat oysters; line
a baking-dish with puff-paste; add the scallops
and oysters in layers; season with salt, pepper,
and a dash of mace. Divide an ounce of butter
into little balls, roll them in flour, and put them
between the layers; add the oyster liquor.
Cover with a top crust; bake forty minutes in
a moderate oven.
Steamed Oysters.—Wash and scrub the
shells thoroughly, and rinse them off in cold
water. Put them in a steamer, large or deep
shell down. Put the steamer on top of a pot
of boiling water; steam about six minutes, or
until the shells separate. Have ready a hot dish
containing melted butter seasoned with a dash
of Worcestershire, lemon-juice, salt and cayenne.
Remove them from the steamer with gloved
hands, and pick out the oysters with a flat
knife, saving all the juice possible. Dip the
oysters in the butter as you open them, and
the number one can eat is surprising.
To serve Steamed Oysters.—Steam
them as in the foregoing recipe. At each guest’s
place at table have ready little saucers containing
a quantity of the hot melted butter. Remove
the flat shell, and serve the oyster in the lower
shell; send about six oysters to each guest at a
time.
Roast Oysters.—Clean the shells thoroughly,
and place them on the coals in an open
fire-place, or remove the top of range, and put
them on the live coals, until they snap open,
which they will soon do. Care must be exercised
not to burn fingers.
At evening, young folks like the fun of roasting
oysters in the furnace below stairs, and eating
them from the shell as fast as the host can open
them.
Baked Oysters.—Clean the shells thoroughly,
and fill a dripping-pan with them, deep
shell down. Look at them after ten minutes.
If the shells are all opened, they are cooked
enough. Melted butter, nicely seasoned, is the
only sauce to serve with them.
Little-Neck Clams.—From the first of
September until the first of May in the following
year, the clam—which is richer in nutrition
than the oyster—is as meek and as gentle as a
clam can be. Yet it submits to all sorts of
indignities from the oyster, and has never been
known to talk back during the period mentioned.
After the first of May, however, its
manner changes, and it assumes metropolitan
airs. It lords it over the oyster as a bantam
struts around a helpless foe; and it plainly
intimates to the oyster that moving-day was
invented to celebrate its departure.
After May 1, the clam must be recognized as
the avant-coureur of all dainty feasts. No summer
dinner or supper of any pretensions is considered
complete without the small clam. All
the small clams in market are supposed to
come from Little Neck, Long Island. Not one-quarter
of the supply comes from this locality.
Soft Clams in Chafing-Dish.—Select a
dozen large Guilford clams, wash them thoroughly,
and plunge them into boiling water for
a moment. Drain and open them, and use the
round plump part only. Put in a chafing-dish
a pat of butter, and when quite hot add a dash
of flour, and cayenne to suit the taste; add the
clams, and when they are slightly cooked add
a gill of light sherry. Cover the dish, and allow
it to simmer five minutes. Have ready three
slices of toast, put four clams upon each slice,
add a little of the hot sherry, and serve.
Stewed Little-Neck Clams.—Get two
dozen freshly opened, very small clams. Boil a
pint of milk, a dash of white pepper, and a small
pat of butter. Now add the clams. Let them
come to a boil, and serve. Longer boiling will
make the clams almost indigestible.
Soft Clams.—Select a dozen soft-shell
clams; wash them well; remove the shells;
trim off the tough neck; place each clam on a
half-shell, and add to each half a teaspoonful of
finely-chopped bacon, a little cayenne, a very
small bit of onion, and a pat of butter rolled in
flour; strew over the top a little grated Parmesan
cheese, and bake to a delicate brown. Cracker-crumbs
may be used instead of the cheese if
preferred.
Soft-Shell Clams, Scalloped.—Purchase
a dozen large soft clams in the shell, and three
dozen opened clams. Ask the dealer to open
the first dozen, care being used not to injure
the shells, which are to be used in cooking the
clams. Clean the shells well, and put two soft
clams on each half-shell; add to each a dash
of white pepper and half a teaspoonful of
minced celery. Cut a slice of fat bacon into
the smallest dice, add four of these to each
shell, strew over the top a thin layer of cracker-dust,
place a pat of table butter on top, and
bake in the oven until brown. They are delightful
when properly prepared.
Clam Toast.—Chop up two dozen small
clams into fine pieces; simmer for thirty minutes
in hot water enough to cover them. Beat
up the yolks of two eggs; add a little cayenne
and a gill of warmed milk; dissolve half a teaspoonful
of flour in a little cold milk; simmer
all together; pour over buttered toast, and
serve.
Clam Broth.—Procure three dozen Little-Neck
clams in the shell; wash them well in cold
water; put them in a saucepan, cover with a
quart of hot water; boil fifteen minutes; drain;
remove the shells; chop up the clams, and add
them to the hot broth with a pat of butter; salt
if necessary, and add a little cayenne; boil ten
minutes, pour into a soup-tureen, add a slice
of toast, and send to table. This is the mode
adopted when we do not have a clam-opener
in the house.
Raw, freshly opened clams should be chopped
fine and prepared in the manner above described.
The large clams are better for chowders than
for stews and broth.
Clam Fritters.—Chop medium fine
twenty-five large quahaugs, or seventy-five Little
Necks. To a pint of flour add the beaten yolks
of three eggs, half a teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful
of lemon-juice, a dash of cayenne, and
an ounce of melted butter. Mix well, and make
a batter by adding about a gill of milk. Add the
clams, and if the batter is too thick add a little
of the clam broth. To make them light, beat
the mixture well; drop spoonfuls in hot fat, and
fry brown, as you would doughnuts.
Fried Soft Clams.—Select half a dozen
of large Guilford clams. Remove the shells, and
trim off the dark tough parts. Cut into dice a
quarter of a pound of salt pork, and fry it. In
the pork-fat fry the clams, but first dredge them
with flour. Serve with a slice of broiled or
fried fat pork.
Hard-shell Crabs.—The common blue
crab is the species of the crab family which
we are most familiar with. We remember how
rapidly they darted away from us when we
pointed the net towards them, when on our
summer vacation. We also have vivid recollections
of their anxiety to shake hands with us
when in captivity.
Hard crabs are to be had during almost the
entire season, and the average price asked for
them is $3.00 per hundred. Those found in
market in winter were raked out of the mud,
where they had buried themselves until the
advent of warm weather.
Select a dozen hard crabs, and rinse them
well in fresh water. Have ready a kettle two-thirds
full of boiling water, slightly salted;
plunge them into it, and boil them for about
twelve minutes; drain, and when cool put them
in the ice-box to become cold.
After the theatre, return home for supper,
instead of patronizing the restaurant, and serve
the crabs with sandwiches of buttered bread. A
light sauterne may be served with them, if not
objected to.
Crab Patties, Cream Sauce.—Roll out
a pound of light puff-paste, half an inch in
thickness. Cut it into rounds with a cake-cutter
two inches in diameter. Press a small cutter
one inch in diameter, on each round, one-fourth
of an inch deep. Place them on a buttered tin,
brush a little beaten egg over them, and bake
in a quick oven. When done, remove the
centre, and a little of the inside.
Put into a saucepan half an ounce of butter,
half an onion minced, half a pound of minced
raw veal, and a small carrot shredded. Toss
about for two or three minutes to fry, but not
to color; then add two tablespoonfuls of flour.
Mix it well with the other ingredients, and add
three pints of hot water, a pint of boiling cream,
half a teaspoonful of salt, and a saltspoonful
of white pepper. Simmer one hour, and strain
into a saucepan. Add to each pint of it half a
gill of warm cream. Place back on range again,
and simmer until reduced enough to coat the
spoon, then strain into a crock, and whisk until
it is cold. This is done to prevent the formation
of a thick top. At this season of the year
this is an excellent sauce to have on hand for
patties, white fish sauces, and also for meat
sauces. When wanted for patties, melt an
ounce of butter. While whisking it, gradually
add a pint of the sauce. Mix it with a quart
of prepared crab-meat, obtainable at the grocer’s.
When hot, fill the shells with it.
Soft-shell Crabs.—When the blue crab
is desirous of increasing his growth, he sheds
his shell, and for a short period is perfectly
helpless. The male usually retires to a secluded
spot out of the reach of eels and other enemies,
but the female soft shell is protected by a male
companion whose shell is hard. At Sheepshead
Bay these are called elopers or double crabs.
As the tide changes, the soft shell begins to
harden, when it is called “paper-shell,” shedder,
or feeler. Before reaching its normal condition,
the crab is called a buckler, and is only used as
bait.
The Care of Soft Crabs.—Soft crabs
require delicate handling and much care. They
deteriorate rapidly after leaving the water, and
are often killed in transit by the sudden jarring
of the train. If a little care is exercised, they
may be kept alive from six to ten days. First
select vigorous crabs, remove them from the
crate, and give them a bath in water slightly
salted. Clean the crate thoroughly, renew or
wash the seaweed which accompanies them.
Strew over the bottom of the crate a layer of
the seaweed, and place the crabs in the crate
in layers, faces upward with side spines touching
each other, and alternated with layers of
seaweed. When the crate is full, cover it with
more seaweed, sprinkle salt water over all, and
set the crate in a dark, cool place. Sprinkle
salt water over them from day to day, and renew
the bath and fresh sea-tangle about every
other day. Treated this way, they will keep
in the hottest weather. One of the principal
objects in covering them with seaweed is to
keep the light from them. Sudden flashes of
lightning, if seen by them, would frighten them
to death. Their sensitive organization cannot
even stand the rumbling of thunder, and they
should be stored away where they cannot hear
it distinctly. The only care required in cleaning
them for the table is to remove the feathery
gill-like formations under the side spines, and
the sand-pouch. Soft crabs are too delicate
morsels to cover with batter.
Crabs, Soft-shell.—These should be
cooked as soon as possible after being caught,
as their flavor rapidly deteriorates after being
exposed to the air. Select crabs as lively as possible;
remove the feathery substance under the
pointed sides of the shells; rinse them in cold
water; drain; season with salt and pepper;
dredge them in flour, and fry in hot fat.
Many serve them rolled in eggs and cracker-dust;
but thus they are not as good.
Crab Croquettes.—Take one pound of
crab-meat; gently press out the juice, and put
it in a bowl with a tablespoonful of fine crumbs,
half a teaspoonful of salt, half a saltspoonful of
pepper, a dash of anchovy essence, the yolks
of two eggs, and a very little cold water. If the
eggs are not enough to make it the proper consistency,
bind the ingredients together, and place
on ice until wanted; then work into corks or
cone-shaped forms, dip them in beaten egg, then
in crumbs, and fry in hot fat.
Crab Patties, à la Bechamel.—Prepare
the shells the same as for oyster patties (which
see). Put into a saucepan half an ounce of
butter, half a medium-sized onion minced, half
a pound of minced raw veal, one small carrot
shredded; toss about for two minutes to fry, but
not to color; add two tablespoonfuls of flour,
stir it about with the vegetables; then add three
pints of hot water, or if convenient use hot soup-stock
instead; add a pint of boiling cream.
Season with half a teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful
of white pepper. Simmer one hour,
and strain into a saucepan. Add to each pint
of sauce half a wineglassful of cream. Simmer
until reduced enough to coat a spoon; strain it
again into a crock, and whisk it until cold, to
prevent a thick top from forming. When wanted
for patties, or any thing else, boil one pint of it
with an ounce of butter, whisking it thoroughly.
Prepare a quart of solid crab-meat, either picked
from the shells or purchased already prepared;
add it to a pint of the sauce; strew in a few
shredded mushrooms: fill the crab-shells with
this, and serve. On fast-days, omit veal and
stock from meats, and use milk instead.
[This very excellent sauce was named after
the Marquis de Bechamel, a worthless court-lounger
and steward under Louis XIV. Why his
unsavory memory has been perpetuated by a gastronomic
monument of worth, is one of those
inexplicable historical facts that students of the
art of cookery are continually stumbling upon.
The close observer will not fail, however, to
discover that nearly all dishes named after old
French celebrities were stolen bodily from old
Venetian and Provençal books of cookery, and
were re-baptized after some of the most notorious
profligates of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. Many of these old cook-books, like
“Opusculum de Obsoniis de Honesta Voluptate,”
a volume printed at Venice, 1475 (the first
cookery-book published), and others, contain
recipes almost identical with French cookery
of the past few centuries.]
Crabs, à l’Américaine.—Pick out the
meat from the shells of four dozen boiled hard-shell
crabs; squeeze out the water gently; put
the meat in a bowl, and add the yolks of two raw
eggs, salt, cayenne, and a very little chopped
parsley, and two tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs;
roll the mixture into small balls or cakes; dip
in egg batter, roll in cracker-crumbs, and fry to
a delicate brown. They may be served plain
or with tomato sauce.
Crabs, Deviled.—Pick out the meat of
four dozen boiled hard-shell crabs, put it into a
bowl, and add a half-pint of mayonnaise. Mix
carefully with your hand; wash a dozen of the
shells, put a little of the mixture into each; grate
a loaf of dry bread, season a pint of it with salt
and pepper, sprinkle it over the crabs evenly;
make twelve little balls of butter about the size
of hickory-nuts; put one on top of each crab,
and bake in a quick oven.
The scallop-shell is familiar to even the children
who have visited the seashore, and the
novice wonders why so small a tidbit should
require so large a shell. The edible part of the
scallop is only the powerful central muscle by
which the mollusk opens and closes its shell. The
medium-sized scallops are the best. The very
large and very white variety are more than likely
to have been inflated and bleached by the aid
of saleratus.
Scallop-shells were extensively used in ancient
cookery, and gave to various dishes the prefix
“scalloped.”
Scallop Broth.—The peculiar flavor of
scallops is quite attractive to the convalescent,
and a broth made from them is nourishing; but
care should be exercised in selecting the shell-fish.
To improve their appearance, shippers
add quantities of saleratus to the scallops, which
has the effect of bleaching them, and increasing
their size: this custom may please the dealers,
but not consumers. Select medium-sized scallops
of a natural creamy color, wash them, and
cut them into small pieces. To half a pint of
these, add half a pint of warm water and half a
pint of milk, a “pea” of butter, and a pinch
of salt; simmer for twenty minutes; strain and
serve.
A pint of milk and no water may be used
if the patient desires it.
Small Patties of Scallops.—Wash a
pint of scallops, drain, cut them up, and scald
them; then put them in just milk enough to
prevent burning. Add salt and white pepper,
simmer until quite tender, and thicken with half
a teaspoonful of flour dissolved in cold water.
Pour this mixture in small patty-shells (see recipe
for oyster patties), and serve after the soup and
before the fish, or as an entrée.
Fried Scallops.—Rinse a pint of scallops
in cold water slightly salted, then dry them in a
napkin, and dredge them slightly with flour.
Fry them in pork-fat. Egg batter and crumbs
are not recommended.
Scallops en Brochette.—Drain twenty-four
medium-sized scallops in a napkin. Parboil
them a moment. When cool arrange them on
four skewers, six on each, alternated with thin
slices of bacon the size of the scallops in width.
Brush over the scallops a little melted butter,
and broil. When done, serve with tufts of watercresses
and lemon.
Stewed Scallops.—Scald fifteen scallops,
and put them into a stewpan with half a pint
of boiling milk, a dash of cayenne, and a saltspoonful
of salt. Just before serving, add very
little table butter.
The Mussel is called the poor man’s
oyster; but why the poor should have a monopoly
of this very useful shellfish, the writer is at
a loss to comprehend. During warm weather
the spiced mussel is a treat: it may have the
honor of ushering in a family dinner instead
of the clam, and at collations and suppers it
should be welcome. As they may be purchased
at from eighteen to twenty-five cents per quart,
it is a waste of time to pickle them at home,
unless living at the seashore.
Remarks on the Lobster.—It takes a
lobster about five years to arrive at maturity, or
over ten inches in length. The spawning season
depends upon the temperature of the water.
Along the Sound, the season begins in June,
and ends in September.
The Season for Lobster.—Lobsters
are at their best before the spawning season.
They are then filled with roe, or coral as the
red spawn is called by some. This is a great
delicacy, and is highly esteemed by epicures.
After the spawning season, which is late in the
summer, they are in very poor condition, and
should not be offered for sale until cool weather.
The green part in the body of the lobster is
called the tom-alley by New-England folks. It
is excellent eating.
The external spawn adhering to the tail of
the female lobster, when not highly developed,
is edible, and is used in garnishing and making
lobster butter, paste, and cardinal-fish sauces.
It is a curious fact, that the lobster changes
or re-makes a shell from eight to ten times the
first year, five to seven the second, three to four
the third, and from two to three the fourth
year. So says Professor G. O. Sars of Norway,
about the European lobster, whose habits agree
more or less closely with those of the American
lobster.
Soft-shell Lobster not edible.—After
the fifth year the change of shell is only annual.
A soft-shell or shedder lobster, unlike
the soft-shell crab, is not edible, and if eaten is
likely to produce ill effects. In a soft condition
the lobster itself is sick, and is therefore unfit for
food.
Selecting Lobsters.—Always select a firm
shell, of a deep dark-green color. Light-colored,
thin-shelled lobsters are likely to be lean and
poor. When plunged into the boiling water,
the joints contract, and the tail draws under,
provided the lobster was alive at the time of
immersion. If dead when boiled, the tendons are
relaxed, the claws hang loosely, the tail will not
possess a spring-like tenacity when straightened
out. Select the former, and reject the latter.
Value of the Lobster as Food.—According
to Professor Atwater of Middletown,
Conn., the nutritive value of the flesh of the
lobster, compared with beef as a standard and
reckoned at 100, is 61 to 97. Forty per cent
of the lobster is edible, the remainder is shell
and waste.
Buckland says, “That phosphorus exists in
large quantities, may be easily proved. A
lobster in hot weather, when it ceases to be
fresh, assumes a highly phosphorescent appearance
when seen in the dark, equal if not superior
to that of a glow-worm or luminous centipede.
This light increases by friction.... The presence
of phosphorus in the lobster is of great
importance to the consumers of these sea
luxuries. There is no substance which conveys
phosphorus so readily into the human system
in an agreeable form, and which the system so
readily and quickly assimilates, as the flesh of
crabs and lobsters.”
Broiled Lobster.—Select alive and active
lobster not less than ten and a half inches long.
(If below this measurement, the dealer should
be arrested for breaking the law which protects
the lobster.) Split it in two lengthwise, which
instantly kills it. Remove the entrail through
the fleshy part of the tail, and the crop or
stomach near the head. This done, there are
two ways of preparing it for table. One is as
follows:—
Remove the flesh from the tail, and brush
over it a little melted butter or olive-oil; broil it
gently, but not too well done. Heat the shell,
put the meat back in the shell again, add more
butter, salt, pepper, and serve on hot plates.
The body parts may be boiled, and furnish
dainty pickings for a late meal.
The other way is that which is generally
adopted by restaurants. Brush a little butter
over the entire half of the green lobster; broil
the shell side thoroughly first, then turn, and
broil the other. Serve with maitre-d’hôtel sauce.
A lobster that has once been boiled and then
broiled is so thoroughly over-cooked as to be
very indigestible.
Lobster Croquettes, with Pease.—Boil
one-half pint of milk, thicken it with a tablespoonful
of flour, and let it become cold. Mince
the meat of a one-pound can of lobster, or one
pound of fresh lobster; when very fine, add a
saltspoonful of salt and half a saltspoonful of
white pepper. Moisten the lobster mince with
the thickened milk, and work the whole to a
paste; add very little bread-crumb if too thin;
let it become amalgamated over the range, and
place in the ice-box until wanted; then shape it
into neat rolls or cones; dip them in egg and
crumbs, and fry in plenty of hot fat. Arrange
the forms neatly on a dish, put round them a
border of pease, and serve.
Lobsters en Brochette.—Instead of boiling
the lobster-tails, cut them in pieces, and
arrange these on small skewers, alternated with
small pieces of bacon; brush melted butter over
them, and either broil or bake them; serve with
sauce tartare (which see on p. 84).
Deviled Lobster.—Take two live lobsters,
remove the tails, split them in two, and make
several incisions in them crosswise. Mix together
half a teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful
each of dry mustard and curry, and half a saltspoonful
of white pepper, add a tablespoonful of
oil; mix, spread it over the lobsters, and broil
them. When done, return to the shells, which
should have been kept hot for the purpose;
pour a little melted butter over them, and serve.
Stewed Lobster, à la Créole.—Remove
the tail part of the meat from three green lobsters;
split them in two lengthwise; remove the
thread-like intestine. Melt an ounce of butter in
a deep frying-pan; add the lobster; toss it for a
few minutes in the butter; add salt and pepper
and half a pint of hot water; cover, and simmer
three-quarters of an hour; drain, and reduce
the water one-half by rapid boiling. Put in
a saucepan half an ounce of butter and a
tablespoonful of minced onion; fry brown, and
add three peeled and sliced tomatoes, one sweet
pepper, four okra pods cut small, and half a teaspoonful
of salt. Allow these to cook fifteen
minutes, add the broth, and simmer until
reduced to a pulp; rub through a sieve; put
this puree on a hot dish, place the lobster on
top, add a little lemon-juice, and serve.
Curry of Lobster.—Remove the meat
from two boiled lobsters, cut it into neat pieces;
take all green fat and coral, and set them aside;
mix the green fat with a heaping spoonful
of curry-powder. Squeeze out the juice of three
limes, and add to it half a teaspoonful of powdered
sugar. Put into a frying-pan an ounce
of butter; when creamed add a teaspoonful of
minced onion browned a little; now add the
mixed curry-powder; dissolve a teaspoonful of
rice-flour in cold water, add this to a pint of hot
water or soup-stock, simmer until thick; now
add the lobster, and simmer twenty minutes
longer. Wash and dry the coral, separate it.
Prepare a border of rice on a dish, and over it
sprinkle the coral and eggs (if any); pour the
curry in the centre, and serve.
Lobster Salad.—Take two live hen (female)
lobsters; boil them thirty minutes; drain. When
cold, break them apart; crack the claws, and
if the tail-fins are covered with eggs remove
them carefully. Take out the sand-pouch found
near the head; split the fleshy part of the tail
in two lengthwise, remove the small long entrail
found therein. Adhering to the body-shell
may be found a layer of creamy fat; save this,
and also the green fat in the body of the
lobster (called tom-alley by New-Englanders),
and the coral. If celery is used, tear the lobster
into shreds with forks; if lettuce, cut the
lobster into half-inch pieces. Place the salad
herb in a bowl, add the lobster and the fat, and
pour over it a rich mayonnaise; garnish with
the claws and heads, tufts of green, hard-boiled
eggs, etc. The lobster eggs may be separated,
and sprinkled over the mayonnaise. The coral
is used for coloring mayonnaise, and also butter,
which is then used in decorating salmon and
other dark fish used in salads.
The little crab found in the oyster is not, as
commonly supposed by two-thirds of the oyster-eating
community to be, the young of the blue
crab; but it is a distinct species. It is a messmate
of and caterer to the wants of the oyster,
being therefore a benefit instead of a detriment
to the latter. In return for the oyster’s kindness
in protecting it against its enemies, the little
crab catches and crushes food which in its entire
state could not be taken by the oyster. A
singular thing in connection with them is, that
all found inside of the oyster are females. The
male of the same variety is found in the neighborhood,
but its shell is firm.
Oyster-crabs are found at the grocer’s, put up
in half-pint bottles, which retail from 60 to 75
cents each. At the markets they are sold at
$2.50 per quart.
To Serve Oyster Crabs.—Put on a
small saucer a crisp but dry leaf of lettuce, and
put in the centre of each leaf a scant tablespoonful
of the oyster crabs. Add a scant teaspoonful
of mayonnaise to each, and serve as a whet
before a ladies’ collation, or at an afternoon
luncheon.
Oyster-Crab Omelet.—This is a most
tempting dish. Roll an ounce of butter into
little balls, dredge these with flour, put them in
a pan, and when they begin to melt whisk them;
do not let it brown; add a gill of hot water,
and simmer until thick; now add half a pint of
oyster crabs, salt, and a pinch of cayenne. Beat
up four eggs thoroughly, and make them into an
omelet; just before folding, add the crabs, and
serve.
Oyster-Crab Sauce.—Add a tablespoonful
of oyster-crabs to half a pint of drawn
butter, sauce hollandaise, or in fact any white
or cream fish-sauce, and serve with boiled
fish.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
The writer is deeply indebted to Prof. George
Brown Goode’s compilation and reports of the
“Fishery Industries of the United States,” for
much of the natural history of fish and shell
embodied in this work.
The common shrimp, which is caught in immense
quantities along our coast all summer, and
used for bait, is a dainty which summer residents
should not neglect. When a shrimp salad is
wanted, however, the servant is sent to the nearest
grocer for a can of Southern shrimp, and the
delicious morsel at their very door is used to
feed the fishes. The trouble seems to be, that
servants dislike the trouble of picking them out
of their transparent shells.
Summer hotels would buy the native shrimp
if fishermen would take the trouble of offering
them. No more appetizing or appropriate garnish
for lobster salads and for portions of boiled fish
can be imagined than the little home shrimp
properly boiled. A plunge into the hot water is
about all the cooking they need.
Market Price of Shrimps.—Cooked and
shelled shrimps are to be had in our markets
during warm weather, for from thirty to fifty cents
per quart. Canned shrimps retail for from thirty
to forty cents per can, and $3.50 per dozen.
Rinse them in fresh water before using them.
Shrimp Omelet.—Toss half a pint of
canned or fresh shrimps in a little hot butter for
a moment; add a little salt and pepper and a
tablespoonful of tomato sauce. Prepare the
omelet, and just before folding add the shrimps,
and serve.
Shrimp Sauce.—Cut up the shrimps into
halves, add them to a creamy fish sauce of any
kind; mix and serve.
Scientifically there is a difference between the
prawn and the shrimp; but it need not be considered
by the housewife, except that the prawn,
that comes to this market from the South already
cooked and shelled, is larger than the shrimp,
and a little stronger flavored.
The shrimps and prawns are found in salt and
brackish water, while the crayfish are inhabitants
of fresh water.
Curry of Prawns.—Prawns are at their
best served as a curry. Boil two quarts of live
prawns thirty minutes, drain when slightly cooled,
break away the shells, and set them aside. Put
two ounces of butter in a frying-pan; when very
hot add a clove of garlic and one sliced apple;
brown slightly, remove the garlic, and add a dessertspoonful
of curry-powder mixed with a gill
of water; stir, and add half a pint of soup-stock
and half a teaspoonful of flour; now add the
prawns, and the juice of half a lemon in which
a lump of sugar has been dissolved. Pour out
on a hot dish, and send to table with rice
croquettes.
Prawns, Deviled, en Coquille.—Simmer
a quart of prawns fifteen minutes in water flavored
with a little sharp vinegar; drain, and cut
them very fine. Add two ounces of butter, a gill
of water, salt and pepper, the yolks of two eggs,
and bread-crumbs to absorb the moisture. Mix
to a paste. Partly fill the shells, cover with
crumbs, add a small pat of butter to each, and
bake to a delicate brown.
Prawns, Sauté, à la Marengo.—Wash
one pint of “shelled” prawns, simmer them
twenty minutes, drain, and toss them a moment
in a little hot olive-oil; remove them, add a sprig
of parsley, half a dozen button mushrooms, a
gill of hot water, salt and pepper, and thicken
with a little flour. Put the prawns on a dish,
pour the sauce over them, garnish with fried
eggs and slices of tomatoes fried.
Prawn Salad.—Take one quart of prawns
and one quart and a pint of cut celery; put the
celery in a bowl; add the prawns; garnish neatly,
and serve with a mayonnaise.
The crayfish are inhabitants of fresh-water
streams; and they bear a striking resemblance
to the lobster in appearance, spawning habits,
shedding their shell, etc. Their season begins
early in the spring, and lasts until cold weather.
During a bountiful supply of these delicious
shell-fish, large quantities are packed away in
ice-houses for winter use, when there is a big
demand for them from caterers who use them
as garnishment, and for salads and sauces. They
cost from three to four dollars per hundred
in the New-York markets. Those that come
from Milwaukee are highly esteemed; and, as
they are already cooked, they may be used at
luncheon, and on fast-days as salads. A crayfish
salad is an enjoyable dish.
Crayfish Omelet.—Rinse half a pint of
crayfish tails in salted water, and drain them;
then split each tail in two lengthwise, and remove
the thread-like intestine found therein.
Toss them about a moment in a little butter and
tablespoonful of broth or gravy; season with a
dash of cayenne. Make a four-egg omelet, and
just before folding add the crayfish.
Salmon Steak.—Put into fast boiling water,
salted, a slice of fresh salmon, and boil for five
minutes quite rapidly; then set on back of the
range where it will simmer for fifteen minutes
longer. Drain, and place it on a napkin surrounded
with a border of parsley. On the two
ends of the platter place slices of lemon. Serve
with a sauce in a sauce-boat. Drawn butter
with a few prawns or shrimps cut up in it is a
nice sauce for salmon.
Canned Salmon.—The canning of salmon
at the source of supply has been of lasting benefit
to mankind, for we are now able to procure
a pound of salmon in any quarter of the
globe for a reasonable sum. Canned salmon
has one advantage over the fresh fish: it does
not deteriorate, and lose its flavor. Those who
have tried it say they do not get surfeited with
canned salmon, although many of the same individuals
dislike the fresh salmon owing to its
richness, and on this account rarely eat it.
Salmon Patties.—This is a very nice way
of serving salmon at luncheon. Open a pound
can of salmon, drain, add to the small amount of
salmon liquid sufficient water to make a gill,
season it with salt and pepper, and, if on hand,
add a little anchovy paste. Beat up the yolks
of two eggs with half a teaspoonful of flour dissolved
in a little cold water or milk: add the gill
of water, place it on the range to become hot
and thick, whisking it meanwhile; break the
salmon into pieces, and add to the sauce. When
quite hot, fill the patty shells with it, and serve.
A very rich sauce may be made by the addition
of butter and cream.
The patty shells are made as follows: Roll out
some very light puff-paste, half an inch thick;
stamp it in rounds with a three-inch cutter, press
a small cutter in the middle of each round to
the depth of quarter of an inch; put the rounds
on a buttered tin, brush a little beaten egg over
them, and bake in a quick oven. When done,
remove the centre, scoop out a little of the inside,
and the shells are ready for the mixture.
Salmon Surprise.—Boil two quarts of
potatoes with their jackets on. When done, peel
and mash them with butter and warm milk.
Arrange a border of potatoes on a flat, oval dish.
In the centre of this put a pound of canned or
cold salmon separated into neat-sized pieces, salt,
pepper, a very little mace, and a teaspoonful of
chopped parsley; cover the salmon with a layer
of raw oysters; add a little oyster-liquor, cover
the oysters with a thin smooth layer of mashed
potato, and brush the beaten yolk of egg over
all. Then make a small hole in the centre, and
place the dish in an oven hot enough to brown
the outside quickly.
Salmon à la Créole.—Scald and put
three large tomatoes to simmer in very little
water, until tender: chop up very fine a sweet
Spanish pepper and quarter of an onion; fry
these in a little bacon fat; add the tomato, salt,
and little white pepper. Simmer until reduced
to a pulp. Open a pound can of salmon; set
the can in a saucepan half full of hot water, turn
the salmon out on a dish. When it is quite hot,
pour the pulp over it, and serve. Canned tomatoes
may be used instead of fresh tomatoes.
Salmon Pie.—Cut up four boiled potatoes
into neat pieces; cut half a pound of boiled salt
pork into dice; divide a pound of canned salmon
into symmetrical pieces; roll out quarter of
a pound of puff-paste, cut it into squares, and roll
each of these into a little ball. Arrange these
ingredients alternately in a deep yellow dish, season
with salt and pepper, add hot water or gravy
to prevent burning, cover the top with paste,
make a hole in the centre, and bake in a moderate
oven.
Salmon in Jelly.—Take one gallon of
clear soup, and boil it down to a quart. Soak
a teaspoonful of gelatine in cold water, and add
to the reduced soup to make sure that it will
be stiff when cold.
Take a two-quart tin mould, set it on ice, and
pour enough of the liquid in it to cover the
bottom. Let this become firm. Cut into slices,
and then into diamonds, boiled beets, white
turnips, and cold boiled tongue; dip each into
the liquid, and place them in the mould in a
very neat and artistic manner; when they become
firm, spread over them a layer an inch
thick, of cream-mashed potato; now add a
pound of canned salmon, and pour round the
edges and on top the remainder of the reduced
soup, and set the mould in a very cold place to
become firm. When wanted, dip the mould into
hot water quickly, and turn it out. This is an
excellent dish for collations, wedding breakfasts,
etc. The potato must be made rich with
butter and milk, and beaten to a light consistency
before being placed in the mould. Any
other kind of cold fish will answer quite as well
as salmon for this and other dishes herein
mentioned.
Salmon Omelet.—Separate half a pound
of canned salmon into flakes, season with salt and
pepper, a little lemon-juice, and add a little of
the liquid; heat it a little, whip up the eggs
for an omelet, prepare it as usual, and just before
completing the fold add the salmon; then
turn it out on a hot dish.
Salmon, German Style.—Boil two quarts
of sauerkraut; drain it, and pile it on a hot
dish; have ready a pound of canned salmon
hot; make a hole in the centre of the kraut,
insert the fish, simmer and season the salmon
liquid, pour it over the dish, and serve.
Salmon à l’Italienne.—Boil half a pound
of macaroni in water slightly salted; drain.
Heat a can of salmon in hot water; turn it out
on a dish; arrange the macaroni round it; pour
over the macaroni the contents of a pound
can of tomato-pulp (hot), sprinkle over this a
little grated Parmesan cheese, and serve.
Salmon à la Hollandaise.—Heat a
pound of canned salmon in the original can;
turn it out on a hot dish, garnish neatly, and
pour over it the following sauce: Cream two
ounces of butter, whisk into it the yolks of
two beaten eggs, add a little salt and white
pepper, and half a teaspoonful of strong vinegar;
put the pan in a larger one containing hot
water, whisk it until it thickens, and just before
serving add a little lemon-juice.
Salmon, Hunter’s Style.—One of the
best dishes I have ever eaten while hunting was
prepared as follows: Take three one-pound cans
of salmon (save the liquid), and divide into neat
pieces; make a dough as for milk biscuits:
divide half of it into little balls; take one box
of sardines; put a layer of sliced bacon in the
bottom of a gallon crock; add a layer of salmon,
a few dough balls, two sardines, salt, cayenne.
Continue arranging in alternate layers
until the ingredients are all used; add a wineglassful
of vinegar to the salmon liquid, and
if there is not enough add a little water; cover
the top with the remainder of the dough, and
tie one or two thicknesses of white cloth over
all. Dig a hole deep enough to be lined with
mud or stones and to receive the crock; build
a fire in and over it (the smoke will keep off the
mosquitoes). When reduced to coals, scoop
out the ashes and coals from the hole, cover the
cloth with mud, set the crock in the hole, and
cover up with the hot ashes; let it remain three
hours, and a more satisfactory dish cannot be
imagined.
Bouillabaisse.—This celebrated dish was
immortalized by Thackeray. Put into a frying-pan
a gill of olive-oil, a clove of garlic minced,
a tablespoonful of chopped onion, two cloves,
six peppercorns; when slightly brown, add one
pound of canned salmon and the salmon liquid
in the can; add a little salt, a bit of bay leaf,
three slices of lemon, a pint of tomato pulp, a
pinch of curry-powder or saffron, a gill of Rhine
wine, with water enough to cover the fish: simmer
twenty minutes. Line a deep dish with
toast, remove from the pan all seasoning in sight,
pour the contents of the pan on the toast, and
serve.
Boiled Codfish, Oyster Sauce.—The
only thing that can be urged against this most
excellent fish is its homely name. Were it not
so cheap, its good qualities would rapidly find
favor at all gastronomic entertainments where
palate-pleasing dishes are appreciated. Put the
fish into boiling water, slightly salted; add a
few whole cloves and peppers, and a bit of
lemon-peel; pull gently on the fins, and when
they come out easily the fish is done. Arrange
neatly on a folded napkin, garnish, and serve
with oyster sauce. Take six oysters to every
pound of fish, and scald them in a half-pint of
hot oyster liquor; take out the oysters, and add
to the liquor, salt, pepper, a bit of mace, and an
ounce of butter; whip into it a gill of milk,
containing half of a teaspoonful of flour. Simmer
a moment; add the oysters, and send to
table in a sauce-boat.
A four-pound fish should cook in about forty
minutes.
Codfish Tongues.—Wash four codfish
tongues thoroughly in cold water; put them
on the range in hot water, slightly salted, and
boil thirty minutes; drain; arrange neatly on
a folded napkin placed upon a hot dish; garnish
with parsley and slices of lemon, and send
to table with cream sauce.
Codfish Steak.—Select a medium-sized
fresh codfish, cut it in steaks crosswise of the
fish about an inch and a half thick; sprinkle a
little salt over them, and let them stand two
hours. Cut into dice a pound of salt fat pork,
fry out all the fat from them, and remove the
crisp bits of pork; put the codfish steaks in a
pan of corn-meal, dredge them with it, and,
when the pork-fat is smoking hot, fry the steaks
in it to a dark brown color on both sides.
Squeeze over them a little lemon-juice, add a
dash of freshly ground pepper, and serve with
hot, old-fashioned, well buttered johnny-cake.
New-England Codfish Balls.—Shred
the codfish the night before, and soak it over
night; drain quite dry on towel next day. Mash
fine one pound of hot boiled potatoes. Take
an equal amount of codfish, and divide it very
fine. Mix both together, and add the beaten
yolks of two eggs, two ounces of melted butter,
and a saltspoonful of white pepper. Now beat
the mixture until it is very light, for upon this
process depends the success or failure of the
dish. In shaping them together, do not press
them any more than is absolutely necessary.
Most cooks press them into cakes so hard
that it is next to an impossibility to eat them.
Dredge them lightly with a little flour, and fry
them like doughnuts in smoking hot fat. When
properly prepared and cooked they should fairly
melt in the mouth, which they will do if thoroughly
beaten and lightly handled.
Baked Cod.—When purchasing a four-pound
cod, ask your fish-dealer to send you
three “codfish-heads;” and as soon as the basket
comes into the house, rub a little salt on the
fish, chop the heads into six pieces each, and
sprinkle a little salt over them. Place them in
the centre of the baking-pan (to be used as
supports for the fish), with a gill of water. Set
the pan in the oven while you prepare the cod.
Soak in cold water until soft a sufficiency of
bread to fill the fish; drain off the water, and
pound the bread to a paste; mix with it two
tablepoonsfuls of melted butter, two raw eggs, a
tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce, with salt
and pepper to taste. Put this stuffing inside the
fish, and sew it up; place the cod in the pan
with two or three pieces of butter on the upper
side of the fish, and baste it frequently; when it
is cooked, lay the fish on a hot platter, and garnish
with fried oysters if convenient. Add a
tablespoonful of brown flour to the pan, a wineglass
of claret; mix, and strain the gravy into a
sauce-boat. Time to cook, one hour.
Salt Codfish with Cream.—Soak one
pound and a half of salt codfish over night.
Next morning set the fish to simmer for about
two hours; drain off the water, and strip the fish
into shreds; place it in a saucepan with a quart
of milk and two ounces of butter; mix a tablespoonful
of flour with two tablespoonfuls of cold
milk, and add to the fish. Let the whole come to
a boil; remove the dish from the fire, beat up one
egg to a froth, add it to the fish, stir, and serve.
Scrod.—Small codfish no larger than our
tomcod are called scrod in Eastern Massachusetts.
After they have been corned over night,
they are broiled and fried.
Cultivated trout may be purchased at from
sixty to seventy-five cents per pound, and wild
trout from twenty-five to thirty-five cents per
pound, after April first. There are many house-keepers
who will not purchase the latter, thinking
that as they are cheaper, they cannot be so
good as the more expensive trout. Cultivated
trout are only trout in name and outside appearance,
and no more compare in flavor with the
wild trout than chalk does with cheese. They
are fattened (not allowed to feed naturally) on
cheap animal food that destroys all trout flavor;
and they live in artificial streams or ponds,
acquiring a peculiar swampy flavor which is
decidedly objectionable.
The wild trout lives in clear running streams,
fed from never-ending springs; here he finds a
beautiful supply of food furnished by nature’s
generous hand, instead of the refuse of the
butcher furnished to his more aristocratic
brother. Besides being superior in every way,
the wild trout is always cheaper.
Shippers of trout often pack their speckled
beauties in moss, which injures their flavor materially;
and the housekeeper is obliged to let
them stand in cold water, slightly salted, to
extract the flavor of the moss. This is a good
plan to follow, by the way, when the trout are
frozen, as nearly all wild trout are in the early
spring.
Brook Trout, Sportsman Style.—Clean
and rinse a quarter-of-a-pound trout in cold
spring water; dry it in a towel. Cut half a
pound of salt pork into small pieces; put these
into a thoroughly clean frying-pan; fry out the
clear fat, and remove the small pieces of pork.
Rub a little fine table-salt in the inside of the
fish, and when the pork-fat is smoking hot, add
the fish to it; turn it three times before it is
done. When nicely browned, serve it on a hot
dish, and send it to the table without adding
condiments of any kind. Should you be able to
procure fresh butter, a little may be put on the
fish before it is served, but it must be of
the very best quality.
Broiled Trout.—The foregoing is a recipe
for cooking trout immediately after catching
them. After they are brought to our city markets
from distant mountain streams, however,
they are most toothsome when broiled over a
declining fire, and require a seasoning of salt,
pepper, and a little lemon-juice mixed with the
sweetest of sweet butter. Serve with hot plates.
Brook Trout, Baked.—Trout weighing a
pound or over are best when served baked,
though many sportsmen will not listen to this
proposition. The outside of a large trout is
almost ruined in broiling before the centre of
the fish is cooked. Do not split the fish down
the back. Take half a pint of fine grated bread-crumbs,
and soak them in a little milk; squeeze
out the milk; add two ounces of table butter, a
saltspoonful of salt, half a saltspoonful of white
pepper, the juice of a quarter of a lemon, and
the slightest sprig of thyme; add the yolk of
one raw egg; mix; open the trout just enough
to clean it properly; remove the gills (leave the
heads on), fill the cavity with the stuffing, and
sew it up carefully. Put the fish in a tin, on top
of it place small bits of butter previously rolled
in flour, place it in a good oven, and bake with
the back toward the hottest part of the oven.
The length of time it will take to cook properly
is from twenty to thirty minutes, very often a
little longer, for much depends on the temperature
of the oven.
Brook Trout, Boiled.—To boil trout
seems an outrage; but when one receives a
large quantity of them, and there is danger of
their spoiling if not immediately used, put four
small trout properly cleaned into a saucepan,
cover them with claret, add a slice of lemon,
two cloves, four whole peppers, the least bit of
mace, and a heaping saltspoonful of salt. Simmer
slowly three-quarters of an hour; remove
the saucepan from the range, and when cold
take out the fish, put them in a dish, and pour
the boiled wine over them. Serve at luncheon
or collations.
The head, tail, and fins of trout should not be
removed before cooking.
Catfish, Fried.—Catfish and waffles is a
combination dear to the hearts of Philadelphians,
and the road-houses near that city are celebrated
for cooking them. Select the fish already cleaned,
as it is a troublesome job to clean them, and
pick out the white instead of the red catfish;
rub a little salt along the backbone on the inside,
and let the fish stand over night. Next
day dredge them with corn-meal or flour, and
fry in a little fat; sprinkle salt and pepper over
them before serving.
The Tenderloin Trout.—Large catfish
are caught in Southern rivers; and while they are
fair eating, they are not popular with the whites
in the vicinity of New Orleans. The restaurant
people, however, cut the fish into pieces an
inch square and about four inches long; these
are dipped in egg, rolled in crumbs, and fried
and served as tenderloin trout.
Fricasseed Eels.—Cut up three pounds
of eels into pieces of three inches in length;
put them into a stewpan, and cover them with
Rhine wine (or two-thirds water and one-third
vinegar); add fifteen oysters, two pieces of
lemon, a bouquet of herbs, one onion quartered,
six cloves, three stalks celery, a pinch of cayenne,
pepper and salt to taste. Stew the eels one
hour; remove them from the dish; strain the
liquor. Put it back into the stewpan with a
gill of cream and an ounce of butter rolled in
flour; simmer gently a few minutes, pour over
the fish, and serve.
Eel Patties.—Take three medium-sized
eels, and cut them up into inch pieces. Put
them in a stewpan, add salt, and cover them
with cold water. When the water comes to a
boil, take them off the fire, wash them in cold
water, scrape off any fat that may adhere, return
them to the stewpan with just enough hot water
to cover them, and add a blade of mace, a bay
leaf, a few whole peppers, a few sprigs of parsley,
and one lemon cut into slices. Stew gently
until the fish will separate from the bone; remove
the fish from the broth, pick it into small
pieces, and set them aside; reduce the broth a
little, strain, and thicken with flour and butter.
Return the fish to the broth, simmer a moment,
fill your patties, and serve; make patty-shells as
directed for oyster patties.
Stewed Eels, Hoboken Turtle Club
Style.—Cut into three-inch pieces two pounds
of medium-sized cleaned eels. Rub the inside of
each piece with salt. Let stand half an hour,
then parboil them. Boil an onion in a quart of
milk, and remove the onion. Drain the eels from
the water, and add them to the milk. Season
with half a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, salt
and pepper, and the slightest suspicion of mace.
Simmer until the flesh falls from the bones.
Fried eels should be slightly salted before
cooking them. Do not cover them with batter,
but dredge them with just flour enough to absorb
all moisture, then cover them with boiling
fat, as for doughnut cooking. Many New England
families use corn-meal to dredge them with
instead of flour.
Eels en matelotte, or sailor fashion, are appreciated
by many. Cut them into three-inch
pieces, and salt them. Fry an onion brown in a
little dripping; add half a pint of broth to the
brown onion, part of a bay leaf, six broken peppercorns,
four whole cloves, and a gill of claret.
Add the eels to this, and simmer until thoroughly
cooked. Remove the eels, put them on a hot
dish, add a teaspoonful of browned flour to the
sauce, strain, and pour over the eels.
Pan Bass, Anchovy Butter.—During
February, March, and the first part of April,
there may be found in market a variety of bass
which much resembles the Oswego bass. They
come from the Carolinas and Virginia, and are
excellent eating. Let them stand an hour in
salt water, then drain and wipe dry, and fry
them in tried-out salt-pork fat. Serve them
with a butter made as follows: Mix together a
teaspoonful of anchovy paste with a tablespoonful
of sweet butter, and, if not objected to, add
a few blades of chopped chives.
The chive has the flavor peculiar to the onion
family, but in a mild form. It is cultivated by
truck gardeners, and may be found on the New
York vegetable stands as early as January. The
retail price at the first of the season is ten cents
a tuft; as it becomes more plentiful, it is offered
at five cents.
Placed in the kitchen, it grows luxuriantly,—in
fact, it grows faster than it can be used by a
small family. This very useful herb should be
in the kitchen window of every home where
soups and salads are rightly appreciated.
The chive grows wild in nearly all of the
Middle and Eastern States, and the first green
spot seen in our parks is more than likely to be
chives. Cows eat it, and their milk has a slight
garlic flavor. The garlic flavor in milk is decidedly
objectionable; yet the early Dutch settlers
planted the chives in the pastures for the cows
to eat, thereby imparting to the milk this peculiar
flavor.
Fillet of Flounder, Tartar Sauce.—Cut
the flesh from the bone lengthwise, and then
cut each piece into strips an inch wide. Dip
them in beaten egg. Roll them in cracker-crumbs,
and fry in hot fat enough to cover them.
This dish appears on our French bills-of-fare as
filet de sole. Serve with sauce tartare.
Fried Tomcods.—These delicate, sweet-flavored
pan-fish are called frost-fish by dealers,
but the fishermen along the Hudson call them
“Tommies.” Whatever name they are known
by, they are delicious morsels when fresh caught.
Clean them without removing the heads, dry
them in a napkin, and salt their insides, dredge
them with a little flour, and fry them crisp in
hot smoking fat. Put the clean fish into a
baking-tin. Over each fish place a thin slice
of bacon, add salt and pepper, and bake them
twenty minutes in a hot oven.
Broiled Salt Codfish.—Cut half of a
small codfish into medium-sized square pieces;
split them in two, and soak them over night
in cold water. Drain, and dry them in a napkin,
next morning. Rub a little butter over each
piece, and broil them. Place them on a hot
platter, and pour a little melted butter over
them.
Drawn butter is sometimes served with this
dish. It should be very smooth looking, and
have a starchy appearance. Divide three ounces
of butter into little balls. Dredge them with
flour. Put one-fourth of them into a saucepan,
and when they begin to melt, whisk to a smooth
consistency. Now add one more of the floured
balls, and whisk thoroughly until incorporated
with the first. Repeat this process until all are
used. When smooth and thick, stir in a teaspoonful
of lemon-juice, and, if liked, a little
chopped parsley.
Broiled Salt Mackerel.—“I like salt
mackerel, but it does not agree with me,” is a
remark often heard in nearly all classes of society.
Many imagine they can eat cured fish with the
same degree of recklessness and lack of regard
for dietetic laws which they often show in eating
more digestible food. They soon discover,
however, that something is radically wrong; just
where the blame rests, is a matter they settle to
their own satisfaction by declaring that salt mackerel
was not intended for civilized people, because
they are unable to eat it without experiencing
disagreeable after-effects.
Salt mackerel is really wholesome food, but,
like all cured food, is not so digestible as when
fresh: it is therefore necessary to restore it as
near as possible to its original freshness. This
is done by a thorough soaking in a liberal quantity
of fresh water. There is no danger of the
fish becoming too fresh; if it does, it is an easy
matter to add fresh salt, which is much more
acceptable than condensed brine.
In selecting salt mackerel, examine them carefully.
If rusty in appearance reject them, “for
rust in fish, if I am not mistaken, is as bad as
rust in steel or rust in bacon.” Large fish are
likely to be poor and coarse; a medium-sized or
No. 2 is the most profitable provided the white
or under part of the fish is fat. After soaking
thoroughly, rub a little melted butter or olive-oil
over them, and broil not too close to the fire; do
not cook them enough to dry up all moisture, as
they would then be unpalatable. After broiling,
plunge them into boiling water for a moment to
swell them,—this treatment gives the fish the
appearance of being fat,—place on a hot plate,
add a little melted butter, a dash of pepper, and
finally the juice of half a lemon.
To avoid the unpleasantness referred to, drink
all liquids first, before eating a mouthful of the
fish; masticate the food thoroughly and slowly,
and the result will be surprising. Those who
eat salt fish alternated with mouthfuls of liquid
must expect the oily particles to rise up, and
create a gastronomic disturbance.
Fried Porgies with Salt Pork.—The
much-abused porgy is one of the sweetest of
pan-fish. Select four good-sized porgies, and
clean them, but do not remove the heads. Cut
into small dice a quarter of a pound of fat salt
pork, fry out the fat, and when it is very hot fry
the fish in it. While they are cooking, broil four
small thin slices of the pork, and serve by placing
them on top of the fish. Pork gives a more
delicate flavor to the fish than bacon.
Fish Curries.—Cold boiled or baked fish
is simply a luxury when warmed up in a delicious
curry sauce. This dish may be served at breakfast
or luncheon. Americans are fast learning
the usefulness of curry-powders; as yet they demand
a mild form of curry, and a little flour is
added to the sauce to tone down the pungency
of the curry.
A Plain Fish Curry.—Fry an onion quite
brown in a little butter or oil, add a teaspoonful
of curry-powder and half a pint of hot water.
Dissolve a teaspoonful of flour in a little cold
water; when free from lumps add it to the sauce,
then strain; divide the cold fish into flakes, and
warm it up in the sauce.
Curry of Scallops.—Wash a quart of
scallops in cold water, drain, put them in a saucepan,
and let them simmer gently one hour.
Blanch two ounces of sweet almonds, remove
husks, and fry a delicate brown; drain from the
hot butter, and pound to a paste with a clove of
garlic, the grated rind of a lemon. Mix two teaspoonfuls
of curry, a little sauce, and an ounce
of butter, put it in the frying-pan, and add gradually
one half-pint of the scallop broth and the
almond paste. Now add a pint of hot milk;
simmer until the liquid is reduced one-third,
add the scallops, and serve.
Curry of Crayfish.—These may be purchased
by the quart at all seasons. They are
already boiled. Prepare the curry sauce as
above described, add the crayfish, and serve
with rice; over all squeeze the juice of a sweet
orange.
Curry of Eels, with Rice.—Cut into two-inch
pieces one medium-sized eel or two small
ones; put them in a saucepan, and cover with
boiling water; add a little salt, a piece of lemon-peel,
and a tablespoonful of vinegar; boil slowly
one hour, and drain. Cut up a small onion, and
fry it brown in a little butter; add a pint of
the water in which the fish was boiled, and a
teaspoonful of walnut catsup. Mix together
a teaspoonful of flour with a gill of cold water,
rub it smooth, and add a teaspoonful of dry curry-powder.
Mix, and add it to the pan, strain, and
return to the pan; then add the eels; simmer
fifteen minutes, and serve surrounded by a border
of boiled rice.
Curry of Shad Roe.—Fry half an onion
very brown in a heaping teaspoonful of dripping;
add a teaspoonful of curry-powder, and a few
moments later add a gill of hot water; simmer
five minutes, and add a teaspoonful of flour
dissolved in a little water. When it begins to
thicken, strain. While preparing the sauce, boil
two roes in water well salted. When done, place
them on a hot platter, and pour the sauce over
them.
Curry of Frogs’ Legs.—This is an excellent
dish. Wash one pound of frogs’ legs in cold
water; brown one-fourth of an onion in oil or
butter; add a teaspoonful of curry and a pint of
hot water; pour this in a saucepan, and add the
frogs; simmer an hour and a half, and drain.
Mix a teaspoonful each of rice-flour and curry
to a paste, with the broth; add salt to taste,
and half a pint of milk. Place on the range, and
when hot add the frogs. Blanch two dozen sweet
almonds; rub off the skins, split them, and toss
them about in hot butter; season with pepper
and salt; when done squeeze a little lemon-juice
over them, and send to table on separate dish
with the curry.
Broiled Weakfish.—When freshly caught,
this is an excellent fish and well flavored; but
it loses its flavor when kept on ice more than
a day, and the flesh becomes soft and spongy.
In color the weakfish is of a bluish-gray, with
faint speckled back and sides, belly white, the
fins yellow. It is in season from May to October,
and is best-flavored in the latest two months
of that time. Select a medium-sized fish for
broiling; see that the flesh is firm, the eyes
bright, and the gills a bright red, and free from a
soft, flabby appearance. Place the well-cleaned
whole fish on the table or fish-board, back
towards you; make an incision close to the
head, down to the bone; hold the head firmly
with the left hand, and cut the fish in two lengthwise,
keeping the knife close to the bone the
whole length of the fish; remove the bone. (The
bone and head may be boiled a few hours, seasoned,
and the broth used in fast-day soups.)
Cut each piece of fish in two, crosswise; rub on
a little sweet oil or melted butter; broil the
outer side first, then the inner side, and serve
with this side upwards on the hot dish; pour
over the fish well-made drawn butter (which
see).
Baked Whitefish, Bordeaux Sauce.—Clean
and stuff the fish. Put it in a baking-pan,
and add a liberal quantity of butter, previously
rolled in flour, to the fish. Put in the pan half
a pint of claret, and bake for an hour. Remove
the fish, and strain the gravy; add to the latter
a gill more of claret, a teaspoonful of brown
flour, and a pinch of cayenne, and serve with
the fish.
Halibut, Egg Sauce.—Select a three-pound
piece of white halibut, cover it with a
cloth, and place it in a steamer; set the steamer
over a pot of fast boiling water, and steam two
hours; place it on a hot dish, surrounded with
a border of parsley; and serve with egg-sauce,
which is made as follows:—
Egg Sauce.—Cream an ounce of butter;
add to it one tablespoonful of dry flour, a saltspoonful
of salt, and half a saltspoonful of white
pepper (black pepper spoils its color). Stir it
briskly, and add half a pint of hot water. Divide
an ounce of butter into little balls, roll them in
flour, and add them one at a time; stir constantly,
and care should be exercised not to
allow the sauce to brown or discolor. Chop
three cold hard-boiled eggs, and add them to
the sauce; let it heat thoroughly, and serve in a
boat.
Fried Butterfish.—These flat, slate-colored
little fish are excellent when quite fresh;
and as they are easily cleaned, they are recommended
to house-keepers. Fry them in tried-out
salt-pork fat, which gives them a very nice
flavor.
Broiled Shad.—The secret of having the
fish juicy, and at the same time properly cooked,
is to rub a little olive-oil over it before broiling,
and broil it over a fire free from smoke or flame.
Charcoal affords the best fire. The sulphurous
fumes of hard coal injure the flavor of the fish.
When done, have ready a little sweet butter melted
and mixed with salt, white pepper (black pepper
spoils the looks of the fish), half a teaspoonful
of chopped parsley to two ounces of butter, and
the juice of half a lemon. Place the fish on a
hot dish, pour the hot sauce over it, and serve
with hot plates.
Baked Shad.—Broiling is, next to planking,
the best way of cooking this excellent fish; but
a baked shad is not to be despised. Prepare it
as follows:—
Make a stuffing of soaked bread-crumbs, butter,
pepper, and salt; place it lengthwise in a pan;
roll walnuts of butter in flour, and put four to
six of them on top of the fish; fill the space
around the fish with inch slices of raw potato,
and bake forty minutes. When done, serve potatoes
and fish together.
Shad Roe à la Poulette.—Cover a pair
of roes with water slightly salted; add a tablespoonful
of vinegar and a slice of lemon; simmer
twenty minutes, and drain; put into a saucepan
an ounce of butter; when it begins to melt, whisk
it, and add the juice of half a lemon.
Beat up the yolk of one egg with a gill of
cream containing half a teaspoonful of flour
rubbed free from lumps; whisk this gently into
the warm butter; keep it quite warm until it
thickens, but do not boil, or it will curdle. Pour
it over the shad roes, strew over the top a trifle
of chopped parsley, and serve.
Broiled Royans.—These delicate little fish
are excellent as whet at dinner-parties, and may
be served au naturel, or broiled, or served on
toast. Procure them from the nearest grocer,
open the can carefully to prevent breaking the
fish, remove the skin, and broil them over a
slow fire; arrange them on toast, squeeze a little
lemon-juice over them, and serve.
Broiled Sardines.—When neatly prepared,
this forms an excellent breakfast or luncheon
dish.
Remove the sardines from the can without
breaking them; scrape off the skin, place them
between double wire broilers, and broil to a
delicate brown; arrange neatly in a hot dish,
squeeze a little lemon-juice over them, and serve.
Orange-juice is very nice with the above dish.
Broiled Smelts, Sauce Tartare.—Thoroughly
clean half a dozen smelts, split them in
two, place them on a double wire broiler, and
broil. Send to table with sauce tartare, which
is made as follows: Chop together a few sprigs
of parsley, six capers, one small pickle, a piece of
onion as large as a bean. Add these to half a
pint of mayonnaise, mix, and add a teaspoonful
of French mustard, mix again, and serve.
Smelts Fried, Sauce Tartare.—Clean
six small smelts, leave on the heads, dip them in
beaten egg, roll them in fine cracker-dust,
and fry in very hot fat. Serve with sauce
tartare.
Broiled Whitefish.—The whitefish is one
of the best of summer fish, but does not stand
long transportation very well. See that the flesh
is firm, and free from flabbiness. Cut the fish
in two lengthwise, remove the backbone, divide
each piece in two; brush over it a little sweet
butter or olive-oil, and broil over a moderate fire
for ten minutes. Place it in a hot dish, squeeze
the juice of a lemon over it, add salt and pepper
and a tablespoonful of melted butter. Garnish
with tufts of parsley and thin slices of lemon,
and serve.
Sheeps-head with Drawn Butter.—The
Englishman who wrote the extraordinary statement
that sheeps-head sometimes sold for “four
or five pounds sterling in New York” may be
pleased to learn that the price for this excellent
fish is fifteen to eighteen cents per pound on an
average, and that the best mode of preparing it
for table is to boil or steam it, although broiled
sheeps-head is very good.
Procure a medium-sized fish, clean it thoroughly,
and rub a little salt over it; wrap it in a
cloth, and put it in a steamer; place this over
a pot of fast boiling water, and steam one hour;
then lay it whole upon a hot side-dish, garnish
with tufts of parsley and slices of lemon, and
serve with drawn butter prepared as follows:—
Drawn Butter.—Take four ounces of
butter, and roll it into small balls; dredge these
with flour; put one-fourth of them in a saucepan,
and as they begin to melt whisk them; add
the remainder, one at a time, until thoroughly
smooth; while stirring add a tablespoonful of
lemon-juice and half a teaspoonful of chopped
parsley; pour into a hot sauce-boat, and serve.
Broiled Sheeps-head.—Split the fish in
two lengthwise, and remove the head and bone,
brush over the fish a liberal quantity of melted
butter or oil, then broil over a fire free from
flame or smoke. When done, squeeze the juice
of a lemon over the fish, then add salt, pepper,
and a pat of the choicest table butter.
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Other
variations in hyphenation, spelling and punctuation remain unchanged.
