An illustration of what this means.

A sole "cleaned" is half wasted.

The cook's duty.

Sauces, for fried and broiled fish.

Fish should partly furnish its own sauce.

* A leading review, in a friendly notice of the above when it first appeared, spoke of a "mistake" made by me in "imagining a sole en matelote normande to be a simpler dish than it really is." I certainly intended the sentence in which it is named, and which is reprinted above without change, to signify my high respect for this finished dish, and if I have not made this clear, I hereby desire to do so. It was named to show that the principle of employing the juices of fish, and especially of shell-fish, as a sauce, finds its highest expression in the sole a la normande. Turning to my copy of Jules Gouffe's classical work, pp. 621 - 22 of the original edition, Paris, 1867, I see that he remarks specially thereupon, "La recette que j'indique n'a pour base comme on a pu constater, que l'essence de poisson," precisely warranting what I had stated. It is understood, of course, that these juices are combined with a good veloute to make the sauce, and that it may be garnished further to any extent, according to the luxury demanded by the guest, or for the entertainment.

Shell - fish as garnish.

Illustrations.

Some fish furnish their own sauce in a still simpler manner, of which an illustration no less striking is at hand in the easiest, but perhaps best mode of cooking a red mullet, viz. baking it, and securing the gravy of delicious flavour, which issues abundantly from the fish, chiefly from the liver, as its only sauce. Paris suffers in the matter of fish by distance from the seaboard. London has a far fresher supply. No Frenchman knows what salmon is until he tastes, sometimes with much astonishment, a Severn or Christchurch fish, taken from the water in the morning, crimped on arrival in London in the afternoon, such as our leading fishmongers can supply during all the spring and summer in time for dinner. It is one of the few things which we are able to offer our neighbours without fear of rivalry. A Parisian cannot obtain a salmon until the very delicate oil of the fish, by reason of the lapse of time, say sixteen to twenty-four hours after having been killed, has acquired a certain flavour, which is in fact the result of commencing decomposition. That flavour is for him, and for all those who cannot obtain a salmon freshly killed, the natural and inherent flavour of the fish. Such persons are surprised to find that this distinctive characteristic is wholly absent in the fresh fish. The fine nutty flavour of the latter, and the crisp brittle quality of the flakes which the flesh offers after crimping, are wholly unknown wherever the salmon has to be carried by a transit exceeding in length a duration of twenty-four hours.

Paris far from sea - coast.

Really fresh salmon not possible there, for reasons given.

Perhaps I ought to add, lest a doubt should exist in the mind of any one, that crimping thus done, that is, eight hours after removal from the water, inflicts no pain whatever on the fish; were it otherwise I would not sanction it for any consideration whatever. To cook crimped salmon in perfection, a slice should be plunged into an ample saucepan of boiling salted water, and allowed to boil six or seven minutes only. The quantity of water in the fish-kettle should of course be sufficient in relation to the salmon put therein, not to cease boiling in consequence; and on removing the slices when the time is up, they should not be exposed more than is necessary even to the action of the steam arising from the kettle. This may appear almost an unnecessary refinement: I can vouch for the fact that exposure to the current of steam for a few seconds lessens materially the crisp- ness of the crimped fish.

Closely related to the baking of fish is another mode of cooking it, which is applicable to nearly every variety, and which has the advantage of retaining all the nutritive material, while the juices and the characteristic flavour are preserved in a manner not attained by any other process. It is rarely practised, because any other than those conventional methods which have been universally employed in cookery are slowly adopted by the public, until attention has been thoroughly aroused on the subject. Nevertheless, the method I am about to advocate is widely applicable, and well deserves at least to rank among the other and better known modes of preparing fish. It consists in placing the fish, after the usual cleaning, entire, if of moderate size, say from a sole to a small turbot or dory, in a block tin, aluminium, or pure nickel dish, adapted to the form and size of the fish, but a little deeper than the thickness of it, so as to retain all the juices, which by exposure to the heat will flow out. First, however, the surface of the fish is to be lightly spread with butter, and a morsel or two added round it; the whole is then to be placed in a Dutch or American oven, in front of a clear fire.* The advantages of this method are, that the fish is cooked entirely in its own juices, which are abundant, and form the best sauce, and that these juices which contain part of the nutriment and much of the characteristic flavour are saved and utilized; lastly, the direct action of the fire browning the surface of the fish, gives that appetizing flavour which is the especial charm of the "roast" and the "grill," and which has been frequently referred to in this volume as "tasting of the fire." In fact, the proper term for denoting the method described is that of "roasting," for the fish is literally roasted before the fire, and basted in its own gravy; and with the same advantage in result as that which roasted meat possesses by universal consent over that which is baked in an oven. It is necessary to guard against over-roasting so as to dry the fish and evaporate the gravy; and if through carelessness this condition has been reached, the fish should be moistened by the addition of a little light stock before serving; and this is always done on the dish in which the cooking has taken place. The method is susceptible of innumerable variations to accommodate different tastes. Portions of fish prepared as fillets may be treated as well as entire fish; garnishes of all kinds, as shell-fish, etc., may be added, flavouring also with fine herbs and condiments, according to taste. I may add that the process may be conducted in a properly ventilated oven where a clear fire is really not to be had, producing a result nearly, although not quite, equal to true roasting; or the dish may be first placed in the oven, and be finished before the fire, which is better. Cooked, however, as first described, such a dish may be welcome at any table; in preparing red mullet, for example, as just referred to, it is inimitable; while a fresh haddock or a dory, stuffed or not, take higher rank by being thus treated. But the working man also can thus advantageously cook before his kitchen fire, in a common Dutch oven, some fillets of plaice or skate with a slice or two of bacon; the dish to be filled or garnished with some previously boiled haricots; and by this means he may secure an economical and most savoury meal, which is at the same time nutritious. This is but a single illustration among many which might be adduced, of what may be done by this simple method for those whose resources are of the slenderest kind. Having regard to this question of economy and preserving the juices of the fish, it should never be forgotten that by boiling it in any manner considerable waste of nutritive material occurs. Relative to this subject, I have made numerous experiments, and find that the loss in weight by boiling varies with different fish, and also with the mode of operating. It is rarely as low as five per cent, it is generally much more, and I have known it to reach thirty per cent., the water in which the fish has been boiled containing of course a certain amount of lost solid animal matter. In order to avoid waste as much as possible, the fish should be placed in absolutely boiling water, which should contain a good proportion of salt. The liquor in which the fish has thus been cooked, I have evaporated, and have obtained from it, in solid deposit, no less than four per cent, of the original weight of the fish; a considerable quantity, constituting it, in fact, a fish broth. There is no doubt, then, that steaming is a far more economical process than boiling, and ought to be substituted for the latter when fish is to be cooked by heated water only. See description of that method at pp. 105, 106.

Flavour retained.

Crimping of salmon inflicts no pain.

Roasting of fish.

*Mr. W. Burton, some time ago of Oxford Street, made for me an oven and dishes expressly for the purpose of cooking fish before the fire. The oven is a modification of that known as the "American," being rather deeper, from before backwards, and much shallower, from above downwards, on account of the flat form of fish not occupying the space which is required by joints of meat.