Virginia Cookery-book

pieces of a size to be laid upon a person's plate ; after cleaning, drain and wipe dry ; then flour each piece on both sides ; drop them into a pan, with plenty of boiling lard ; drain again as soon as the fish is done brown, and serve on a hot dish. Butter sauce, mustard, and catsups are the condiments needed with it at table, besides salt, of course. To Broil a Shad. The fish is split so as not to come in two, but in order that it may be spread out and made to lie flat on the gridiron, which must be previously greased and heated. Sprinkle the fish plentifully with pepper and salt, and when you lay it upon its dish pour over it a little melted butter, and garnish with curled parsley. Court Bouillon. (A IjoniBiana Mode of Senring FishJ Take a large fish, cut it up into pieces, and with it put half a table-spoonful of lard rubbed up with one tablespoonful and a half of flour. Brown all together in a pot, being careful to stir them up and not let them bum; when nicely browned add to them three quarts of boiling water, and season with thyme, pepper (both black and Cayenne), a little onion, and a large teaspoonful of salt. Let it boil until the fish has come to pieces and thp whole mass is in fusion. To Broil Trout. June is the season in which trout are in their highest degree of perfection, and many esteem this as the best way of eating them. Let the trout be carefully cleaned, washed, and dried ; tie them round and round with packthread, to keep them entire and in shape ; then melt some butter with a good deal of salt, pour this over the trout, and roll it in the butter till perfectly covered ; then lay it over a clear fire at a good distance, that it may do leisurely. Saucb. Cut an anchovy up (first wash and bone it) very small, and chop also a table-spoonful of capers ; melt some butter with half a teaspoonful of flour, add to it pepper, salt, nutmeg, and last of all pour in half a spoonful of vinegar. When the trout is done take it up, lay it in a warm dish, pour this sauce upon it, and send it up hot. To Fry Trout. For those who love the real taste of this excellent fish there is no better way of dressing them than plain frying. It gives a crispness to the flesh and leaves its high flavor entire. Cut and clean the trout, wash them, dry them perfectly with napkins ; cut the sides and back slightly with a very fine knife, strew a little salt over them, and then dredge them with the flour ; set on a pan with some clarified butter, and when it is hot lay in the trout ; fry them to a delicate brown, and send them up in a napkin, garnished with fried parsley. Fresh Herrings. There is a season when herrings are in a particular perfection, and few know anything of the matter. This is the time of serving them up boiled, and we shall properly explain it. We have herrings in vast quantities early in the summer ; they are then in the breeding season. At their first coming they have small roes, and are less esteemed ; but in reality, though the roe is in less quantity, the flesh is more and better. From time to time new quantities come up, and the roes in these are larger, till at length they fill the whole body of the fish ; then it is by the ignorant supposed to be in perfection, but in fact the roe is all that is good then, and the flesh is never poorer. Soon after this the herrings deposit their roe for the production of their young, and they are then not worth catching. These are what we call "shotten herrings ;" the roe, which was valuable, is gone, and the flesh is in the poorest condition. All this time we have valued the herring only according to the quantity of the roe, as if the fish itself were of no use, and, indeed, so we seem to think. But there is after this a season when they are truly in their perfection.