When done take them
out, lay them in a deep earthenware dish, pour the liquid
over them and let them soak in it all night. Next day fillet
the Mackerel, lay them in a dish over ice, and mask the surface
of the fillets with mayonnaise sauce. Garnish with chopped
aspic jelly, and, if olives are liked, add chopped and turned
MACKEREL
9i
olives, or cold cooked fillets of cucumber. For these see
chapter on Vegetables.
Mullet. — Red Mullet and Grey Mullet belong to different
families of fish. The Red Mullet is infinitely superior in
flavour. It is abundant in the Mediterranean, and tolerably
plentiful on our southern coasts. Fifty years ago gourmands
used to spend the summers at Weymouth, on purpose to eat
Red Mullet, and would give as much as two guineas for a fine
fish. Red Mullet lose their colour when they die in the water,
so that fishermen are apt to scale them whilst alive, as this
causes the cells holding the red pigment to expand, and the
colour is then preserved after death. Red Mullet are in
season from the end of June to October, and weigh from half
a pound to a pound and a half ; they never come near the
shore. These fish must be eaten when absolutely fresh, and are
not drawn ; they are cleaned by pulling out the gills, when all
that need be removed will come away. Red Mullet should
not be washed, only gently wiped with a clean soft cloth. Sir
Henry Thompson’s method is by far the best for cooking Red
Mullet. This is to set the fish in a high well-buttered
fire-proof dish in the Dutch oven, and bake it. It must be
protected for the first five minutes by a buttered paper, and
after that is removed it must be basted with its own liquor.
In this way, Sir Henry Thompson says, the gravy of delicious
flavour which issues abundantly from the fish (chiefly from the
liver) is secured and forms its only sauce. Red Mullet will
take from fifteen to twenty-five minutes to bake. Hand lemon
and brown bread and butter.
Red Mullet en Papillotes. — Fold half a sheet of white
foolscap paper in two, cut out of it a pocket large enough to
hold one Mullet. Double the edges firmly over at each end.
Butter a fire-proof dish✪ Red Mullet en Papillotes, and bake the Mullet in the papers. Or,
instead of the pocket, fold the paper over the fish so as to
wrap it up entirely. Serve in the papers, very hot.
Grey Mullet. — These fish are in season at the same time
as Red Mullet, and are much larger, often weighing five
pounds or more. Grey Mullet prefer estuaries and brackish
water to the open sea, and as they swallow quantities of mud
and dirty food it is best only to use those which one knows to
92
SEA FISH
Page 56 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1898. 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
When done take them out, lay them in a deep earthenware dish, pour the liquid over them and let them soak in it all night. Next day fillet the Mackerel, lay them in a dish over ice, and mask the surface of the fillets with mayonnaise sauce. Garnish with chopped aspic jelly, and, if olives are liked, add chopped and turned
MACKEREL
olives, or cold cooked fillets of cucumber. For these see chapter on Vegetables.
Mullet. — Red Mullet and Grey Mullet belong to different families of fish. The Red Mullet is infinitely superior in flavour. It is abundant in the Mediterranean, and tolerably plentiful on our southern coasts. Fifty years ago gourmands used to spend the summers at Weymouth, on purpose to eat Red Mullet, and would give as much as two guineas for a fine fish. Red Mullet lose their colour when they die in the water, so that fishermen are apt to scale them whilst alive, as this causes the cells holding the red pigment to expand, and the colour is then preserved after death. Red Mullet are in season from the end of June to October, and weigh from half a pound to a pound and a half ; they never come near the shore. These fish must be eaten when absolutely fresh, and are not drawn ; they are cleaned by pulling out the gills, when all that need be removed will come away. Red Mullet should not be washed, only gently wiped with a clean soft cloth. Sir Henry Thompson’s method is by far the best for cooking Red Mullet. This is to set the fish in a high well-buttered fire-proof dish in the Dutch oven, and bake it. It must be protected for the first five minutes by a buttered paper, and after that is removed it must be basted with its own liquor. In this way, Sir Henry Thompson says, the gravy of delicious flavour which issues abundantly from the fish (chiefly from the liver) is secured and forms its only sauce. Red Mullet will take from fifteen to twenty-five minutes to bake. Hand lemon and brown bread and butter.
Red Mullet en Papillotes. — Fold half a sheet of white foolscap paper in two, cut out of it a pocket large enough to hold one Mullet. Double the edges firmly over at each end. Butter a fire-proof dish, and bake the Mullet in the papers. Or, instead of the pocket, fold the paper over the fish so as to wrap it up entirely. Serve in the papers, very hot.
Grey Mullet. — These fish are in season at the same time as Red Mullet, and are much larger, often weighing five pounds or more. Grey Mullet prefer estuaries and brackish water to the open sea, and as they swallow quantities of mud and dirty food it is best only to use those which one knows to
Records on this page
Red Mullet en Papillotes