Turbot Boiled With Capers

Wash and dry a small turbot, then take some thyme, pars-ley, sweet herbs, and an onion sliced. Put them into a stew-pan, then lay in the turbot, (the stewpan should be just big enough to hold the fish.) Strew over the fish the same herbs that are under it, with some chives and sweet basil. Then pour in an equal quantity of white wine and white wine vinegar, till the fish is covered. Strew in a little bay salt, with some whole pepper; set the stewpan over a gentle stove, increasing the heat by degrees, till it be enough. Then take it off the fire, but do not take the turbot out. Set a saucepan on the fire with a pound of butter, two anchovies split, boned and washed, two large spoonfuls of capers cut small, some chives whole, and a little pepper, salt, some nutmeg grated, a little flour, a spoonful of vinegar, and a little water. Set the saucepan over the stove, and keep shaking it round for some time, and then set the turbot on to make it hot. Put it in a dish, and pour some of the sauce over it; lay some horse-radish round it, and put what remains of the sauce in a boat.

Pike

Gut and gill your pike, and having washed it well, make a good forcemeat of chopped oysters, crumb of bread, a little lemon-peel shred fine, a lump of butter, the yolks of two eggs, a few sweet herbs, and season them to your taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Mix all these well together, and put them into the belly of the fish, which must be sewed up, and skewered round. It must be boiled in hard water, with a little salt, and a tea-cup full of vinegar put into the fish-pan. Put in the fish as soon as the water boils, and if it be of the middling size, half an hour's boiling will be sufficient. Serve it up with oyster sauce in a boat. Use pickled barberries and parsley for a garnish.

Sturgeon

Lay as large a piece as you please of your fish all night in salt water, having first taken care to wash it clean. Take it out the next morning, and rub it well with vinegar, and let it lie in it two hours. Put your sturgeon into the fish-kettle when full of boiling water, and throw in an ounce of bay-salt, a few sprigs of sweet marjorum, and two large onions. When you perceive the bones begin to leave the fish, take it up, and strip off the skin ; then flour it well; put it before the fire, and having basted it with fresh butter, let it stand till it be of a fine brown. When you dish it up, you must make use of the white sauce. Crisp parsley and red pickles, for garnish. - See Sauces.

Mackarel

When you have gutted your mackarel, dry them carefully in a clean cloth, and gently rub them over with vinegar. Lay them on your fish-plate, and handle them as little as possible, as they are liable to break. Put them into your fish-pan when your water boils, put in a little salt, and let them boil gently about a quarter of an hour. When you take them up, drain them well, and serve them with fennel and parsley sauces. Your fish must be dished up with their tails in the middle, ;md scraned horse-radish and barberries will serve as garnish.

Flat Fish

Under this article we include flounders, plaice, and the various species of flat fish of that tribe. First cut off the fins, nick the brown side under the head, and take out the guts. Dry them with a cloth, and boil them in salt and water. Garnish them with parsley, and serve them up either with shrimp, cockle, or anchovy sauce.

Herrings

Scale, gut, and wash them, clean and dry them, and rub them over with a little salt and vinegar. Skewer their tails in their mouths, and lay them on your fish-plate. Put them in when the water boils, and in about ten or twelve minutes take them up. Let them drain properly, and then turn their heads into the middle of the dish. Use parsley and butter for sauce, and garnish with scraped horse-radish.

Perch

When you have scaled, gutted, and washed your fish, put it into the water when it boils, with some salt, an onion cut into slices, and separated into round rings, a handful of parsley clean picked and washed, and as much milk as will turn the water. Put the fish into a soup dish as soon as it is enough, and pour a little of the water, and the parsley and the onions. over it. It may be served up with butter and parsley in a boat, and with or without onions, as you choose. The same method may be observed in boiling a trout.

Eels

Having skinned, gutted, and taken the blood out of your eels, cut off their heads, dry them, and turn them round on your fish-plate. Boil them in salt and water, and serve them up with parsley sauce, and anchovy sauce.

Mullets

Boil them in salt and water; when they are enough, pour away part of the water, and put to the rest a gill of red wine, some salt and vinegar, two onions sliced, with a bunch of sweet herbs, some nutmeg, beaten mace, and the juice of a lemon. Boil these well together, with two or three anchovies. Then put in the fish, and when they have simmered in it some time, put them into a dish, and strain the sauce over them. Shrimps or oysters may be added.