The household cook book

SALT CODFISH OMELET.— Soak a piece of codfish about 3 inches square over night. Split 3 crackers and lay them in enough cold water to cover them. Pick the fish up fine and mix well with the crackers, and add 1 well beaten egg, 1 tablespoon of butter, and salt and pepper. Take 2 cups milk and 1 teaspoon of corn-starch and boil 5 minutes, and pour it over the other ingredients. Bake 20 minutes. CODFISH TONGUES.— Wash them thoroughly in cold water and then boil them in slightly salted water. When done, drain them, arrange them on a napkin on a hot dish, and garnish with slices of lemon and parsley. Serve cream sauce with them. Time to boil about | hour. COD SOUNDS — These usually come salted. Soak them all night in cold water, then scrape and rub off the dark skin with a cloth, wash thoroughly, and then boil them very gently in equal parts of fresh milk and water until tender. Be careful to remove the scum as it rises. Serve them on a hot napkin with egg sauce. Time to boil about f hour per pound. SCROD — This is a term applied in the east to small cod. They can soak over night in salted water and then be boiled or fried, as previously directed for fish at the beginning of this chapter. TOMCODS — These are small codfish. They are nice fried as follows. Do not remove the heads, but dress, clean, dry, and rub salt on the inside. Dredge with flour and fry a golden brown in deep, smoking hot fat. (2) They can also be baked. Dress as above, put in the baking pan, put a thin slice of bacon on each one, add pepper and salt, and bake in a hot oven. Time to bake about 20 minutes. S^rve with slices of lemon. They are sometimes called " Tommies." The Codfish is found in the northern Atlantic, but is not known in tlie Mediterranean sea. It is the most important of our food fishes. Cod tongues, and sounds, {i. e. airbladders) are esteemed a delicacy, and are often salted for the market. Cod is less digestible than most other white fish, and is hardly suitable for invalids, being more difficult of digestion than is commonly imagined. DACE. This is nice either fried in the frying-pan (sauted), or broiled, as directed for cooking fish by these methods at the beginning of this chapter. The dace is common in western Europe, but it is not very highly esteemed for food. There are many allied species in the United States, as the horned dace found in clear streams in the east which attains a length of 10 or 12 inches. The "horns" develop on the males in the breeding season, but arc absent at other times. The John Dory is a marine fish found on the coasts of Europe. It has a large head with a black spot on each side, and it attains a length of 18 inches. The French Canadians apply the name to a species of pike. It is not found in America. THE DRUM. The young make a fine pan-fish, ?. e. fried in the frying pan. The large ones are not much esteemed for food. The drum derives its name from the drumming noise which it makes. It is found on the gulf coast and as far north as Maryland. When young and fresh the flavor is agreeable, but the flesh is coarse though tender. EELS.