Philip E. Muskett

“ Not one cook in a hundred knows how to boil fish properly. If a little more time and attention were given to fish-cooking we should not have so many complaints, and fish, instead of being a neglected food, would be a much desired one. ”

“ Make a sauce of the butter, flour, and milk; season with anchovy, pepper, salt, and lemon juice; stir in the fish and mix well. Line some small patty pans with flaky pastry, put a spoonful of the mixture in the centre, cover with a round of pastry, press the edges together, and trim into a neat shape; make a small hole in the centre with a skewer, brush over with egg or milk, put into a quick oven, and bake for about twenty minutes. Dish on a fancy paper, and garnish each patty with a tiny sprig of parsley.
FISH, TO FRY Fish requires careful preparation for successful frying ”

“ If any fish sauce is left, nothing is nicer to warm it in; if not, make a little with 1 gill of milk or water, 1 oz of butter, and 1 oz of flour. Flake the fish up, butter a plate, put the fish in and pour the sauce over. Sprinkle with brown bread crumbs, and bake in the oven for a quarter of an hour.
SMALL FISH Any kind of small fish will do for this dish. Wash and dry them; well butter a sheet of stiff writing paper, lay the fish in, sprinkle them with a little very finely chopped onion or shallot, parsley, pepper, and salt. ”

“ Wash the whiting, dry them in a cloth, mix a little flour, pepper, and salt together, cover the fish thoroughly with this. Butter a thin dish, lay the whiting in and put the rest of the butter over them in small pieces, and put them into a hot oven; baste constantly with the butter. This must not be allowed to get black; it should be brown. When the whiting are done, which will be in from fifteen to twenty minutes, according to the thickness of the fish, place them in a hot dish and pour the butter in which they have been cooked over them. ”

“ The consumption of fish as a daily article of food is not nearly so large as it ought to be if we studied our health. It must be admitted that it is much more expensive than meat, and cannot be bought so readily. ”

“ It is easier of digestion, for one thing. It is therefore an invaluable food for people obliged to be indoors a great deal, or for those engaged in literary work, for it contains, besides other good things, a good proportion of phosphorus, and this is excellent food for the brain and organs of the chest. It is, however, with the cooking of fish that we have to deal. In the first place, be sure that it is perfectly fresh. The flesh should be firm and hard ”

“ Boil the macaroni in the oyster liquor or in weak stock till quite soft. Rub a little butter on a dish, cut the macaroni into pieces two inches long and lay it at the bottom. On this place the oysters, and season them with cayenne, salt, and a little lemon juice or nutmeg. Pour over the milk or sauce, cover with bread crumbs, and brown it in a quick oven. A few little pieces of butter laid on top of the crumbs make a richer dish. It must be served very hot. ”

“ In all dishes of dressed fish much depends upon the sauce served with it. Very simple directions for making several fish sauces will be found amongst the sauce recipes, and if these are carefully studied, the art will be easily acquired. ”

“ Then again, ordinary plain cooks only know how to fry and boil it, so that very little variety can be obtained; and even these two methods are often so badly followed as to take away rather than tempt the appetite. ”