244. - Fish Cake

Cut the meat from the bones, put them, the head and fins, over the fire to stew for gravy, with a pint of water, an onion, herbs, popper, and salt. Mince the meat, put to it one-third part of crumbs of bread, a little minced onion, parsley, pepper, salt, and a very small bit of mace; mix well, and make it into a cake with white of egg and a little melted butter; cover it with raspings, and fry it a pale brown, keeping a plate on the top while doing. Then lay it in a stew-pan, with the fish gravy, and stew it gently a quarter of an hour; turn it twice, but with great care not to break it: cover it closely while stewing.

Cake of dressed meat, done in the same way, is remarkably good.

246. - Kedgeree For Breakfast

Boil two tablespoonfuls of rice, add any fish previously cooked (salmon or turbot is preferable), and nicely picked; beat up an egg well, and stir it in just before serving. The egg must not boil.

247. - Fricandelles Of Fish

Take any quantity that may be convenient of either dressed or undressed fish of firm quality; skin and bone it; mince it of the size of dice, with a few anchovies, say two to each pound, seasoned with mace, cayenne, and a grating of nutmeg; soak the crumb of a French roll, one to each pound, in milk, and beat it up with the yolks of two eggs to each roll, so as to make it into a puree, and put the fish into it; warm the whole gently, and add to it a moderate quantity of cream.

Put the fish thus prepared into a buttered mould, cover it thickly with breadcrumbs, and either bake it in a Dutch oven, or warm it before the fire, and brown it with the salamander.

A few oysters are an excellent addition; and if wine be employed instead of milk, the dish may be dressed in the same manner, but rather more highly seasoned.

248. - A Matelote Of Fish. (English.)

Take carp or tench, or both, together with an eel and any small fish; cut them into pieces, and put them along with a quantity of button-onions into a stewpan containing just wine or gravy enough of any sort to cover them, and let them stew very gently until nearly done; then have ready a couple of minced truffles and a good handful of shrimps to mix into the sauce, which may be made of either white or red wine; the red may be made the more savory, but the white wine will be found the most delicate: it should be thickened with yolk of egg, and the dish garnished with sippets of fried bread.

249. - Ragout Of Fish

Take carp, perch, pike, and eels; clean and scale them well, and cut them into pieces for serving; put in your stew-pan a good-sized piece of butter, let it fry to a pale brown, fry some flour in it, and add a quart or two of good bouillon with a glass or two of red wine, and a few cloves and onions. When boiling put your ragout into it, let it well boil, and add some lemon-juice before serving it up.

250. - A Vol-Au-Vent

Of fish, of any sort, is an elegant side-dish when prepared either with meat gravy or made up maigre.

Muscles also make an excellent vol-au-vent.