When fish is rather deficient in flavor, a little vinegar rubbed over the skin; and a few sweet herbs boiled with it will greatly improve it. For boiling, large fish should be placed on the fire in cold water, and small ones in hot water; both are done when the fins pull out easily. Fish soup is the most economical of all fish dishes; baked fish the second best; broiled fish retains nearly all its nourishment; and boiled fish is the poorest of all. The following technical terms are used to denote different methods of cooking fish: to dress fish a la Hollandaise is to boil it in sea water; a l'eau de sel, in salt and water; au court bouillon, with cold water, white wine or vinegar, sweet herbs, soup vegetables, lemon, and whole spices; a la bonne eau, with sweet herbs and cold water; au bleu, in equal quantities of red wine and cold water, highly flavored with spices and aromatic herbs.

Boiled Cod With Oyster Sauce

Lay two pounds of cod in enough cold water to cover it, with a tablespoonful of salt, for an hour or more before cooking; then put it to boil in three quarts of cold water, with two tablespoonfuls of salt; as soon as the fish is done, set the kettle containing it off the fire, and let the fish stand in it until you are ready to use it; meantime put a pint of oysters on the fire to boil in their own liquor; as soon as they boil drain them, and put the liquor again on the fire to boil; mix together in a sauce-pan over the fire one ounce of butter and one ounce of flour, as soon as it bubbles, gradually pour in the boiling oyster liquor, and stir with an egg whip until the sauce is quite smooth; season with half a teaspoonful of salt, an eighth of a saltspoonful of pepper, and the same of nutmeg; and add the oysters. Take up the fish, serve it on a napkin, and send it to the table with a bowl containing the oyster sauce.

Baked Blackfish

Have a fish weighing from two to two and a half pounds cleaned by the fishmonger ; rub it well with a handful of salt, to remove the slime peculiar to this fish, wash it well, and wipe it with a clean, dry cloth; stuff it with the following forcemeat. Put four ounces of stale bread to soak in sufficient luke-warm water to cover it; meantime fry one ounce of chopped onion in one ounce of butter until it is light brown ; then wring the bread dry in a clean towel, put it into the onion with two tablespoonsful of chopped parsley, one ounce of salt pork chopped fine, one teaspoonful of chopped capers or pickles, one teaspoonful of salt, quarter of a saltspoonful of white pepper, and one gill of broth or hot water; stir until it is scalding hot, when it will cleave from the bottom and sides of the saucepan ; then stuff the fish with it, and lay it in a dripping pan on one ounce of carrot and one ounce of onion sliced, one bay leaf and two sprigs of parsley ; cover the fish with slices of salt pork, season it with a saltspoonful of salt, and one fourth that quantity of pepper, and bake it in a moderate oven for half-an hour, basting it occasionally with a little butter, or stock. When it is done, put it on a dish to keep hot while you prepare a sauce by straining the drippings in the pan, and adding to them one table-spoonful each of walnut catsup, Worcestershire sauce, chopped capers, and chopped parsley. Pour a little of this sauce in the bottom of the dish under the fish, and serve the rest with it in a bowl.