the fire until it is of a proper thickness; season it with cayenne pepper and salt, then put in the fish; stew all very gently until it is done, and add a tablespoonful of thickening and a glass of port wine the last thing.

Fillets of Mackerel.-Bone one or more mackerel ; take the fish off in fillets lengthwise, turning them round. Chop fennel and parsley, and put it in a stewpan with well-seasoned veal gravy, or some fish-broth if on maigre day; lay in the fish, and let it stew 10 minutes. Then take up the fillets, dish them, and thicken the sauce, adding to it the juice of a lemon; pour it round the fish, and serve up with a garnish of pickles.

Mackerel à la maître d'hôtel.—Split 3 mackerel, cut off the heads and tails, and take out the bone. Broil them nicely a fine brown. Boil a dozen small silver onions; scald a young cucumber, a bunch of parsley, and a bunch of fennel; chop the 2 latter, and cut the cucumber into dice. Season the whole, and put them into a small saucepan with a piece of butter; when the butter is melted, lay the vegetables on the fish, and squeeze the juice of 2 lemons over them.

The soft roes are sometimes parboiled in a little vinegar and water and salt, being afterwards replaced in the boiled fish, as it requires less boiling than the roe; but this is very seldom done, and then only for the purpose of frying them as a garnish for the boiled fish; but they form a very nice dish, if there be a sufficient number, when dressed, cut into dice, thrown into a little white sauce, and patties filled with them.

HERRINGS.—E. R.

257. This fish is in season from some time in May to the end of October. If good, their gills are of a fine red, and the eyes bright, as is likewise the whole fish, which must be stiff and firm their firmness, however, may be preserved, and the oiliness prevented, by sprinkling salt upon them, if required to be kept more than a day.

Fresh herrings are usually broiled over a good, but not a fierce cinder fire, and will be improved in delicacy if steeped in milk for a couple of hours before being dressed, they being properly gutted, wiped dry, floured, and put upon a hot gridiron; they must, however, be narrowly watched by the cook; they will be done enough in a few minutes. The heads and tails are sometimes cut off as a point of neatness, but imma

terial as regards the cookery; they should be served quite hot, with plain melted butter, and are usually eaten with mustard.

To fry.-Scale and prepare the herrings as above, but take out the soft roes and fry them separately, of a light brown, to form a garnish, and the whole well drained from the fat in which they have been dressed.

Notwithstanding the prejudice against the union of two such strongly flavoured viands, onions are frequently fried along with fresh herrings, the onions being shred finely and put under the fish, or, when peeled, the layers are separately unrolled, and placed over and around them. An excellent and very economical dish is also made by frying them with sliced, or baking them with whole-boiled potatoes.

To bake.-Wash and drain without wiping them; season with allspice in fine powder, salt, and a few whole cloves; lay them in a pan with plenty of black pepper, an onion, and a few bay-leaves. Add vinegar and small-beer in equal quantities, enough to cover them. Put paper over the pan, and bake for a couple of hours in a slow oven. If you like, throw saltpetre over them the night before, to make them look red. Gut, but do not open them.

Herrings are very seldom boiled, but when that is done they should be served with something more savoury than melted butter. In France, capers are commonly added, and tomata sauce is not unusual.

To smoke.-Clean, and lay them in salt with a little saltpetre 1 night; then hang them on sticks through the eyes, in a row. Have ready an old cask, in which put some sawdust, and in the midst of it a heater red-hot; fix the sticks over the smoke, and let them remain 24 hours. Or, if you have a kitchen in which wood is burnt, hang the herrings in strings across the chimney.

To pot. Take some of the above, or a dozen of recently cured bloaters; soak them for a short time in scalding water, and strip off the skins; cut off the heads and tails, take out the bones, cut the fish into pieces, and put them into a stewpan with a good lump of fresh butter, a little mace and either cayenne or white pepper. Set this on a slow fire to simmer until quite tender, or for some hours in a moderately heated oven; then pound the whole in a mortar, make it into

a purée of a good consistence; put it into pots, over which run some clarified butter, and cover them with bladder.

RED HERRINGS.

Red herrings are dried when salted, but those cured in Ireland, Scotland, and Holland are packed and left in the pickle for exportation. Dutch herrings have acquired the highest reputation in consequence of their superior delicacy. They are brought to London in small casks, containing only a dozen each, and in Holland are always eaten raw, though English prejudice spoils them by broiling. They are so highly cured as to make the fish quite transparent; are generally steeped for an hour or two in cold milk, scored across, and form an excellent relish.

258. Choose those that are large and moist; cut them open and pour some boiling small-beer over them to soak an hour; drain them dry, and make them just hot through before the fire; then rub some cold butter over them, and serve. Instead of butter, a little salad oil will add to the richness; but it must be dropped on while before the fire, and in the smallest quantity. A very usual mode is, however, to split them open without any soaking, and hang them separately on the hooks of a cheese-toaster, by which means the soft roe will be browned. Some of them will have hard roes, in which case the belly should be carefully opened, and a little butter inserted between the lobes, but again close up the belly to more readily melt the butter. The "Yarmouth bloaters,' whether arising from any improvement in their quality during their passage to London, or from the mode of curing them, are considered the best.

PILCHARDS,

259.-Though more oily than herrings, yet resemble them both in taste and appearance: they also come into season about the same time, and may be dressed, smoked, and potted in the same manner; but, if not speedily consumed, they become rancid, and are, therefore, when fresh, seldom brought to London. They are caught on the coasts of Devon and Cornwall in large quantities, and, when salted, are chiefly exported to the Mediterranean.

SPRATS

260. May be smoked, dried, and potted like herrings, but the most common mode of cooking is to fry, or rather to broil, them on a close-barred gridiron, as their oiliness, when fried, increases the rankness of their flavour. They ought not to be gutted with the knife, but, if the head be cut off, the gut may be drawn out at the same time. They come into the London market on Lord Mayor's Day, and go out of season at the close of January. Most people eat them with salt alone, but a little lemon-juice, with a few grains of cayenne pepper, will be found an improvement.

As they must be eaten quite hot, and are by many considered very nice, yet, as their odour in the parlour is disagreeable, it is not unusual among amateurs to have them at supper 66 as a sprat feast," at the kitchen fire.

261.-Fresh-water Fish are equally nutritious with those of the sea; they are much lighter as food, and therefore easier of digestion; they are, however, more watery, and it is requisite to use salt, in order to extract the watery particles. Every sort of fresh-water fish ought, therefore, as soon as killed and cleaned, to have salt well rubbed inside and outside, and should be allowed so to remain for some time before it is cooked, when it should be well washed out with pure spring water, and wiped thoroughly dry with a clean cloth.

If bred in ponds, it often acquires a muddy smell and taste; to take off which, soaking in strong salt and water, or, if of a size to bear it, scalding in the same, will have the proper effect.

SALMON

262. Has ever been looked upon as the most pre-eminent of all fresh-water, and indeed, by some, of every species of fish ; but those who have lived in the neighbourhood of salmon fisheries can alone have tasted this monarch of the floods in full perfection. It should be dressed before it has lost a tide, Families who purchase a whole salmon, and like it quite fresh, should parboil the portion not required for the day's consumption, and lay it aside in the liquor, boiling up the whole together when wanted; by which means the curd will be set, and the fish be equally good on the following day. If new, and in season, the flesh is of a fine red (the gills particularly), the scales bright, and the whole fish stiff. When in greatest perfection, there is a whiteness between the flakes, which gives great firmness; by keeping, this melts down, and the fish becomes more rich, but suffers somewhat in flavour. The Thames salmon bears the highest price, both in consequence of its generally acknowledged superiority, and its great scarcity; we have known 12s. a pound paid for it when in the