JEWISH COOKERY

FISH

Observations on Dressing Fish.

Be careful to scrape off the scales and wash the inside perfectly clean. Do not allow the fish to remain too long in the water, as it will spoil its flavor. When quite clean, if to be fried, sprinkle lightly with salt a half hour before cooking; if to be boiled, a little vinegar should be put in the water, with a handful of salt, to keep it firm. Those who understand how to purchase fish, may, by taking more at a time than they want for one day, often get it cheap; such kinds as will pot or pickle, or keep by being sprinkled with salt and hung up, or by being dried, will serve for stewing the next day, may then be bought with advantage.

TO BOIL FISH.—All large fish, such as rock, salmon or halibut, with the skin whole, must be wrapped in a cloth with twine tied around it, and boiled in cold water; it must not be covered with more than two inches of water; put in a good handful of salt, when the water begins to boil skim it well, and remove it to one side and let it boil gently till done; the fish will separate from the bone when it is cooked, if it falls from the bone it is over-cooked; the exact time for boiling must be according to the size of the fish; Salmon will take longer. Take the cloth and twine off the fish carefully, and turn it upon a dish with a napkin; serve with drawn butter or egg sauce. If there is a strainer to your saucepan, there is no need for a cloth. In boiling salt cod fish, previously soak it for a day, change the water until fresh, then boil it gently, take it apart with a fork, thicken it with milk, butter and flour, dish it up hot and eat it with sauce.

TO FRY FISH.—If fish is to be fried or broiled, it must be wrapped in a nice soft cloth, after it is well washed. When perfectly dry, place some sweet olive oil in a frying pan, and be sure to observe that it must boil; and put a small piece of stale bread in the pan before the fish is put in, beat up some eggs, to three pound of fish two eggs will suffice, and a quarter of a pint of oil and some flour in a plate, then dip the fish in the flour smoothly and then in the egg, then put it into the boiling oil and let it fry quickly on one side, and turn it over to cook on the other side, and then turn it a third time on the other side to finish; take it out carefully with a fish slice, and place it on a dish to remain two or three hours; then change your fish on another dish for the table, to be garnished with fresh parsley around the dish. The same oil, with a little fresh added will do again. Butter gives a bad color and not so good a flavor. For those who will allow the expense oil is by far the cheapest, as it takes the smallest amount, used with care.

TO BROIL FISH.—Broiled fish must be seasoned with pepper and salt; then floured and put on a gridiron that is very clean, which, when hot, must be greased with a little butter, if for breakfast, or with oil for dinner, to prevent the fish from sticking. It must be broiled on a very clear fire, that it may not taste smoky and not too near that it may be scorched. If the fire is smoky, throw some salt on it, and it will get clear.

ENTREE FISH.—Chop fine four white fish, and rub them through a fine wire sieve, put this in a mortar with a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, an equal quantity of bread crumbs, pound these until well mixed; season with pepper, salt and nutmeg, add three yolks of eggs, beating all for five minutes, then add two whole eggs, mix all well together; then take up in a basin, add a spoonful of cream and the juice of a lemon, next shake some flour on a clean board or slab, divide the ingredients with a spoon into twelve equal parts, roll these, with the hand dipped into flour, in small oval shapes, dip in beaten eggs and place them in a frying pan with butter; when fried sufficiently dish them up close together, fill the centre with cooked mushrooms or truffles, pour round some sauce of lemon and egg, and the gravy made from the bones of the fish; any kind of good fish can be cooked the same way.

LEMON STEWED FISH.—Have washed and scraped clean the nape or head and shoulders of halibut, or any good firm fish; cut it up small and lay it in a stewpan, with one pint of water and three or four good sized onions, fried in oil a light brown; put them on top of the fish, with some cayenne pepper, a little ground mace, and a teaspoonful of ground ginger, with two tablespoonfuls of salt; let it all stew gently until it is done; if there should be too much gravy on it before adding the sauce, take it off; prepare two eggs and six good sized lemons, squeezed and strained; then take some of the gravy from the fish, while it is boiling, add it to the lemon, with the two eggs well beaten, and a tablespoonful of flour; mix smoothly with some chopped parsley; when all is well mixed, put it to the fish, shake it gently for five minutes while it is boiling, taking care not to let it burn; when it is sufficiently cooked, let it stand for an hour, and dish it up. Garnish with slices of lemon and parsley. To be eaten cold. Fish balls are made with it, as in recipe for fish balls.

A GOOD BROWN STEWED FISH.—Take either some carp or shad, and place it in your stewpan, with a pint of vinegar, a quarter of a pound of dark molasses and a couple of sliced onions, some ginger, a tablespoonful of salt, pepper, mace, allspice, nutmeg and a little piece of cinnamon, and let them stew together until done; then mix some gingerbread with the gravy and a few raspings of bread, and pour on the fish, and let all boil up together for a few minutes, and dish up. To be eaten cold.

POLISH STEWED FISH.—Take some pike, after being well washed, and place it in a stewpan, with a pint of water, a small piece of butter, a little ginger, pepper, salt and chopped parsley, and let them stew well; when done, roll some butter in flour and add to the fish; let all boil together for a few minutes, and dish up. To be eaten either cold or hot.

TO MAKE STEWED FISH-BALLS.—Take some fish, clear from the bone, and chop it up with some cod liver and bread crumbs, grate with parsley, ginger, pepper, a little mace and salt, and a beaten egg; mix all the ingredients together and stew with your fish, not too stiff, with bread crumbs; be sure to beat your egg first, as it will bind the articles together.

BAKED HADDOCK.—Take a haddock of five or six pounds, after it has been well cleaned, and lay it in a baking dish, with a half pint of water, a quarter of a pound of butter, broken into small pieces, and some pepper, ginger and salt; sprinkle flour and rasped bread crust over the fish; a stuffing of bread crumbs, chopped parsley, thyme, marjoram, pepper and salt, and eggs beaten up, all mixed together, with a small piece of butter, to be put inside the fish, and with some potatoes cut in thin slices around it. Bake in a good oven for one hour and a half.

SALMON, WITH PEAS.—Take three or four pounds of salmon, cut into slices two inches thick, and place in a saucepan with some young green peas, in sufficient water to cover them, with a good sized piece of butter, pepper, salt and ginger, and let them stew for three-quarters of an hour; when done mix a little flour and milk and pour over them, and let it boil up, shaking the saucepan carefully for two or three minutes.

TO POT SALMON.—Take a large piece, scale and wipe, but do not wash it; salt it very well, and let it lie till the salt is melted and drained from it, then season with beaten mace, cloves and whole pepper; lay in a few bay leaves; put it close into a pan; cover it over with butter, and bake it: when well done drain it from the gravy; put it into pots to keep. When cold, cover it with clarified butter; in this manner any kind of firm fish may be done.

TO POT SHAD, HERRING OR OTHER FISH.—Let the fish be well scraped and washed, then lay it for three or four hours in salt; take a good sized jar, and cut the fish in pieces to fit; season it with salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, mace and ginger; put in the jar a layer of fish, one of spices, strewed over smoothly, then sprinkle a little flour over, and pieces of good butter, and so on alternately until the jar is full; pack it down tightly, then fill the jar with vinegar and a little water, cover the jar with a crust made of flour and water, press close to the jar that the steam may not escape; bake it in a gentle oven for five or six hours. Do not remove it from the jar until it is cold. Slice it thin and serve with lemon sauce.

TO PICKLE SALMON.—Split the salmon and divide it into good sized pieces, lay it in the saucepan, with as much water as will cover it; to three quarts of water put a pint of vinegar, a handful of salt, twelve bay leaves, six blades of whole mace and a quarter of an ounce of black pepper; when the salmon is boiled enough, drain it and put it on a clean cloth, then put more salmon into the saucepan and pour the liquor upon it, and so on till done. After this, if the pickle be not strongly flavored with the vinegar and salt, add more, and boil it quickly three-quarters of an hour. When all is cold, pack the fish in something deep, and let there be enough of pickle to cover and preserve it from the air; the liquor must be drained from the fish, and occasionally boiled and skimmed.

SAUCE FOR BOILED FISH.—Make the sauce in this way: Take one cup of butter, rub in it a table-spoonful of flour, a little salt and pepper, then add to it a pint of cold water, boil it gently, stirring it all the time; you can add more butter if you wish it richer; also chopped parsley. For egg sauce, add to the above hard boiled eggs, chopped fine.

CAPER SAUCE FOR FISH.—Chop some capers quite small, some melted butter, and a little of the liquor off the fish, and three anchovies chopped fine and a little of the essence; mix all together with salt, pepper and ginger, and boil all smoothly.

BREAD SAUCE FOR FISH.—Grate some light bread, to which add some pepper, two onions, a little salt, and boil the milk to cover it; let it simmer gently until the bread soaks up the milk; then add some cream, make it very hot, strained if preferred, and pour it over the fish.

BUTTER SAUCE FOR BROILED FISH.—Take a good sized piece of butter, roll it up with one ounce of flour, pour over it a quarter pint of boiling milk, stir it smoothly and boil for a few minutes, add a little salt and chopped parsley to make it rich; when boiled break up an egg in the sauce tureen, and pour it over the boiling sauce, stirring all the time.

A GOOD BUTTER SAUCE FOR BOILED FISH.—Take a small sized piece of butter and roll it up in one ounce of flour until fine, clear of lumps; have some milk boiling, then take a few spoonfuls of it and add it to the butter, so on until it is all smooth, and boil it up with a little salt, ginger and chopped parsley.

BURNT BUTTER SAUCE.—Fry some butter, and when it begins to smoke throw into it some chopped parsley; when quite done, add pepper, salt and a teaspoonful of vinegar.

ANCHOVY SAUCE.—Take two tablespoonfuls of essence of anchovies, add to it some good butter sauce and a little lemon juice.

FENNEL SAUCE FOR BOILED MACKEREL.—Chop very fine a bunch of green fennel, and to it some good butter sauce, let it look nice and green, a little cayenne and a tablespoonful of lemon juice.

MUSTARD SAUCE.—A tablespoonful of mustard, and a tablespoonful of vinegar can be added to some good butter sauce. If made in butter, same recipe.

EGG SAUCE No. 1.—Boil two or three eggs hard, when they are cold cut them up in small square pieces, and put them in some good butter, seasoned with salt and pepper.

EGG SAUCE No. 2.—Take four hard boiled eggs, cut the whites into small pieces and put them into a stewpan, then rub the yolks through an iron sieve, keep them separate until the sauce is prepared, pour some good butter sauce over the whites, add a teaspoonful of English mustard, pepper, salt and lemon juice; before dishing up the sauce warm it, then mix the yolks of the eggs, which will look like vermicelli.

FISH SALAD—Two pounds of cold boiled halibut or rock fish, or any hard fish, cut it up small, and prepare the same sauce as herb; and chop up some anchovies fine with anchovy sauce, and pour all on the fish in a salad bowl; if onions are liked they may be used with some chopped parsley. Garnish the dish with some good dutch herring, previously soaked for an hour, and horse radish scraped fine. Place hard boiled eggs cut in slices around the bowl in fanciful style.

FISH CAKE—Take the bones from fish of any kind ; put the head and bones into a stewpan with a pint of water, a little salt, pepper, an onion and some sweet herbs to stew for gravy. Chop the fish up and mix it well with some crumbs of bread and cold potatoes, equal parts, a little parsley and seasoning. Make into a cake, with the white of an egg or a little butter or milk, egg it over and cover with bread crumbs, then fry a light brown. Pour the gravy over and stew gently for fifteen minutes, stirring it carefully twice or thrice; serve hot and garnish with slices of lemon or parsley.

SALAMAGUNDY.—For this purpose, chop separately the white part of cold chicken or veal, yolks of eggs, boiled hard, the whites of eggs, parsley, half a dozen anchovies, red beet root, pickled cabbage, smoked beef, grated tongue, or anything well flavored and of a good color, a little onion, if desirable; put a saucer into a small dish, then make rows round it, wide at the bottom and growing smaller towards the top; choose such of the ingredients for each row as will most vary the colors. At the top a little sprig of parsley may be stuck in, or without anything in the dish, the salamagundy may be laid in rows, or put into it the half of the whites of the eggs, which may be made to stand upright, by cutting off a bit at the round end.