are tender, then add two quarts of cold water and simmer gently
for two hours. Pour the soup through a sieve, and press the
vegetables through with a wooden spoon. Dissolve the re-
maining one ounce of butter in a saucepan, stir into it the rice
or potato flour, add the vegetable puree, stirring well all the time.
Stir over the fire till it boils again, and add salt and pepper
and the cream or milk previously heated. Serve very hot, and
with crofltons of fried bread.
Vermicelli Soup. — i lb. vermicelli, 2 quarts ordinary stock✪ Vermicelli Soup.
Put the vermicelli in the soup when it is boiling ; simmer very
gently half an hour, and stir frequently.
2
1 8
FISH.
Fish when in Season. — Turbot and brill are always
good. Cod is good all the winter from September to the end of
March. Eels are good all the year except April, May, June, and
July. Haddock is always good, except, perhaps, in the spring,
when it is less good. Herrings are best in the autumn and winter.
Mackerel should not be eaten from November to the end of
March. Mullet are only good from the beginning of April to the
end of September. Smelts are only good from November to
end of May. Soles are always good, except in the early spring.
Salmon is good from February to end of September. Whiting
are good from June to end of April. Crabs must not be eaten
in January, February, and March ; lobsters the same. Oysters
are good in all the months that have an “ r” in them.
Fish, and how to Choose it. — The eyes must be bright,
the gills a clear fine red, the body stiff, and, though firm, yet
elastic to the touch. The fish must not have a disagreeable smell.
A good turbot is thick and fleshy. If the under side has a bluish
tint it is not good ; the colour of it should be a pale cream.
Soles can be chosen by the same signs as turbot. Salmon and
codfish are best when the head is small, the shoulders thick, and
the scales of a salmon must glisten and be very bright. If
mackerel are not fresh the bright green of their backs becomes
a coppery colour, and they are then very unwholesome food.
Prawns and shrimps should feel very stiff and crisp when they are
freshly boiled, and the tails turned inwards ; when these relax and
the fish is soft they are stale. Hen lobsters are best for soups and
sauces on account of the coral, but the flesh of the male is best
for eating. Oysters should close forcibly on the knife when they
are opened : it the shells are apart ever so little they are losing
their condition, and when they remain far open the fish are
dead, and oniy fit to be thrown away. Small natives are the
best.
KISH.
19
To Clean Fish. — To clean fish properly requires scrupulous
care, and it must never be so roughly handled as to bruise it. If
fish is soaked too long in water it loses its flavour, so that care
must be taken not to leave it longer than necessary in the water.
The scales must be scraped off, and water poured over the fish
to wash off all the loose scales ; then empty the fish without
opening it more than you can help ; wash out the blood, and
scrape it away from the backbone. The dark skin of the sole
must be stripped off when it is fried, but left on for boiling.
Whiting taste better with the skin left on, but usually have it
taken off for frying. The gills of all fish must be removed.
Page 16 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
are tender, then add two quarts of cold water and simmer gently for two hours. Pour the soup through a sieve, and press the vegetables through with a wooden spoon. Dissolve the remaining one ounce of butter in a saucepan, stir into it the rice or potato flour, add the vegetable puree, stirring well all the time. Stir over the fire till it boils again, and add salt and pepper and the cream or milk previously heated. Serve very hot, and with croutons of fried bread.
Vermicelli Soup. — i lb. vermicelli, 2 quarts ordinary stock. Put the vermicelli in the soup when it is boiling ; simmer very gently half an hour, and stir frequently.
1 8
Fish when in Season. — Turbot and brill are always good. Cod is good all the winter from September to the end of March. Eels are good all the year except April, May, June, and July. Haddock is always good, except, perhaps, in the spring, when it is less good. Herrings are best in the autumn and winter. Mackerel should not be eaten from November to the end of March. Mullet are only good from the beginning of April to the end of September. Smelts are only good from November to end of May. Soles are always good, except in the early spring. Salmon is good from February to end of September. Whiting are good from June to end of April. Crabs must not be eaten in January, February, and March ; lobsters the same. Oysters are good in all the months that have an “ r” in them.
Fish, and how to Choose it. — The eyes must be bright, the gills a clear fine red, the body stiff, and, though firm, yet elastic to the touch. The fish must not have a disagreeable smell. A good turbot is thick and fleshy. If the under side has a bluish tint it is not good ; the colour of it should be a pale cream. Soles can be chosen by the same signs as turbot. Salmon and codfish are best when the head is small, the shoulders thick, and the scales of a salmon must glisten and be very bright. If mackerel are not fresh the bright green of their backs becomes a coppery colour, and they are then very unwholesome food. Prawns and shrimps should feel very stiff and crisp when they are freshly boiled, and the tails turned inwards ; when these relax and the fish is soft they are stale. Hen lobsters are best for soups and sauces on account of the coral, but the flesh of the male is best for eating. Oysters should close forcibly on the knife when they are opened : it the shells are apart ever so little they are losing their condition, and when they remain far open the fish are dead, and oniy fit to be thrown away. Small natives are the best.
KISH.
To Clean Fish. — To clean fish properly requires scrupulous care, and it must never be so roughly handled as to bruise it. If fish is soaked too long in water it loses its flavour, so that care must be taken not to leave it longer than necessary in the water. The scales must be scraped off, and water poured over the fish to wash off all the loose scales ; then empty the fish without opening it more than you can help ; wash out the blood, and scrape it away from the backbone. The dark skin of the sole must be stripped off when it is fried, but left on for boiling. Whiting taste better with the skin left on, but usually have it taken off for frying. The gills of all fish must be removed.
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Vermicelli Soup