Thomas J. Murrey

“ Open a pound can of salmon, drain, add to the small amount of salmon liquid sufficient water to make a gill, season it with salt and pepper, and, if on hand, add a little anchovy paste. Beat up the yolks of two eggs with half a teaspoonful of flour dissolved in a little cold water or milk: add the gill of water, place it on the range to become hot and thick, whisking it meanwhile; break the salmon into pieces, and add to the sauce. When quite hot, fill the patty shells with it, and serve. A very rich sauce may be made by the addition of butter and cream. ”

“ For the sake of variety, if for no other reason, we should eat more fish; and it need not always be fried or broiled. A well-made fish stew or a curry should be acceptable to the majority of us, and undoubtedly would be if appetizingly prepared. ”

“ After they are all spread out, turn them over neatly, which will bread-crumb the other side. Dip them in the batter again by taking hold of the beard, and again spread them out on the bread-crumbs. Under no circumstances place one oyster on top of another, or in any way press them together; this would make them heavy. When the fat is so hot that the smoke from it would light a match, then fry them by again taking hold of the beard, one at a time, and dropping them into the fat. When they are dark brown, take them up, and strew over them a quantity of salt. ”

“ The crayfish are inhabitants of fresh-water streams; and they bear a striking resemblance to the lobster in appearance, spawning habits, shedding their shell, etc. Their season begins early in the spring, and lasts until cold weather. During a bountiful supply of these delicious shell-fish, large quantities are packed away in ice-houses for winter use, when there is a big demand for them from caterers who use them as garnishment, and for salads and sauces. They cost from three to four dollars per hundred in the New-York markets. Those that come from Milwaukee are highly esteemed ”

“ Pork gives a more delicate flavor to the fish than bacon.
Fish Curries.—Cold boiled or baked fish is simply a luxury when warmed up in a delicious curry sauce. This dish may be served at breakfast or luncheon. Americans are fast learning the usefulness of curry-powders; as yet they demand a mild form of curry, and a little flour is added to the sauce to tone down the pungency of the curry.
A Plain Fish Curry.—Fry an onion quite brown in a little butter or oil, add a teaspoonful of curry-powder and half a pint of hot water. Dissolve a teaspoonful of flour in a little cold water ”

“ Canned Salmon.—The canning of salmon at the source of supply has been of lasting benefit to mankind, for we are now able to pro58cure a pound of salmon in any quarter of the globe for a reasonable sum. Canned salmon has one advantage over the fresh fish: it does not deteriorate, and lose its flavor. Those who have tried it say they do not get surfeited with canned salmon, although many of the same individuals dislike the fresh salmon owing to its richness, and on this account rarely eat it. ”

“ A Barrel of Oysters.—Persons living away from the city are advised to purchase oysters by the barrel. If kept with the deep shell down, and in a cool place, they will live a long time. The novice is likely to bruise fingers in vain attempts to open them; but, like carving, the opening of oysters should be part of a man’s education. Then there is the charm of roasting the oysters in the old-fashioned fire-place. ”

“ They were never intended as an accompaniment of the oyster, and are only used by country people. A suspicion of lemon; a dash of salt when the dealer has kept them covered with cracked ice, and the descending ice-water washed out all sea flavor; and, for palates grown callous, a dash of cayenne. Such abominations as ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, etc., should never be used. Do not bolt the oyster, but masticate it; and one will soon learn to tell the different oysters by their different flavors. By bolting them, one will never know how to thoroughly appreciate them. ”

“ No wonder fashionable society demands a substitute for the oyster as the dinner season progresses. In the name of humanity, order the oysters to table and announce the dinner at the same time. Guests are willing to wait a few moments for toothsome oysters, provided they are direct from the ice-box.
Ordering Oysters for the Family Table.—Send the servant to the nearest dealer, a few minutes before the oysters are wanted, and let her wait for them. In this way one is quite sure of procuring freshly opened oysters. ”

“ Cultivated trout may be purchased at from sixty to seventy-five cents per pound, and wild trout from twenty-five to thirty-five cents per pound, after April first. There are many house-keepers who will not purchase the latter, thinking that as they are cheaper, they cannot be so good as the more expensive trout. Cultivated trout are only trout in name and outside appearance, and no more compare in flavor with the wild trout than chalk does with cheese. They are fattened (not allowed to feed naturally) on cheap animal food that destroys all trout flavor ”

“ To a pint of flour add the beaten yolks35 of three eggs, half a teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of lemon-juice, a dash of cayenne, and an ounce of melted butter. Mix well, and make a batter by adding about a gill of milk. Add the clams, and if the batter is too thick add a little of the clam broth. To make them light, beat the mixture well; drop spoonfuls in hot fat, and fry brown, as you would doughnuts. ”

“ When wanted for patties, melt an ounce of butter. While whisking it, gradually add a pint of the sauce. Mix it with a quart of prepared crab-meat, obtainable at the grocer’s. When hot, fill the shells with it.
Soft-shell Crabs.—When the blue crab is desirous of increasing his growth, he sheds his shell, and for a short period is perfectly helpless. The male usually retires to a secluded spot out of the reach of eels and other enemies, but the female soft shell is protected by a male companion whose shell is hard. At Sheepshead Bay these are called elopers or double crabs. ”

“ The average New Yorker may call the City of Brotherly Love a sleepy sort of a place, but it is wide enough awake gastronomically. It has within its city limits cooks who prepare fried oysters that fairly melt in one’s mouth. They are so delicate that there is not a pang of dyspepsia in a whole winter’s supply of the toothsome dainties. The reputation of Finneli’s Philadelphia fried oysters extends from Maine to California ”

“ If celery is used, tear the lobster into shreds with forks; if lettuce, cut the lobster into half-inch pieces. Place the salad herb in a bowl, add the lobster and the fat, and pour over it a rich mayonnaise; garnish with the claws and heads, tufts of green, hard-boiled eggs, etc. The lobster eggs may be separated, and sprinkled over the mayonnaise. The coral is used for coloring mayonnaise, and also butter, which is then used in decorating salmon and other dark fish used in salads. ”

“ It is quite English to serve raw oysters on the flat half-shell, but it is quite American to serve them on the deep shell. The American way is the best.
Collation Service.—At evening collations, the oysters are served in the centre of a block of ice. A clear, square block of ice is selected, and a cavity or receptacle is made in it by the aid of a hot flat-iron held close to the ice. If one has patience, the cavity may be shaved out with an ice shave; if a pick is used, one is likely to split the cake of ice. An ice boat is easily formed by holding a hot flat-iron to a long piece of ice. ”

“ When smooth and thick, stir in a teaspoonful of lemon-juice, and, if liked, a little chopped parsley.
Broiled Salt Mackerel.—“I like salt mackerel, but it does not agree with me,” is a remark often heard in nearly all classes of society. Many imagine they can eat cured fish with the same degree of recklessness and lack of regard for dietetic laws which they often show in eating more digestible food. They soon discover, however, that something is radically wrong ”

“ The edible part of the scallop is only the powerful central muscle by which the mollusk opens and closes its shell. The medium-sized scallops are the best. The very large and very white variety are more than likely to have been inflated and bleached by the aid of saleratus.
Scallop-shells were extensively used in ancient cookery, and gave to various dishes the prefix “scalloped.”
Scallop Broth.—The peculiar flavor of scallops is quite attractive to the convalescent, and a broth made from them is nourishing; but43 care should be exercised in selecting the shell-fish. ”

“ Cock Oysters.—There is a belief among oyster-eaters, that the dark-gray or black oysters are male oysters, and are therefore superior to the female oyster. Such misinformation was evidently promulgated by oyster-openers in anticipation of a tip for serving selected oysters. There is no truth in the assertion, however, for there are just as many black female oysters as there are black male oysters. There is no characteristic color by which a male or cock oyster can be distinguished from a female oyster. ”

“ Care must be exercised not to burn fingers.
At evening, young folks like the fun of roasting oysters in the furnace below stairs, and eating them from the shell as fast as the host can open them.
Baked Oysters.—Clean the shells thoroughly, and fill a dripping-pan with them, deep shell down. Look at them after ten minutes. If the shells are all opened, they are cooked enough. Melted butter, nicely seasoned, is the only sauce to serve with them. ”

“ The Food of the Oyster consists of minute animal and vegetable organisms and small particles of organized matter. Ordinary sea-water contains an abundance of this sort of food, which is drawn into the gills with the water. As the water strains through the pores into the water tubes, the food particles are caught on the surface of the gills by a layer of adhesive slime. ”

“ Green Oysters.—At least a million dollars worth of oysters are annually destroyed in New-York waters by sludge acid from the oil refineries and illegal dumpings. The acid kills the oysters the instant it touches them, and turns them green. There is very little danger that a poisoned oyster will reach the consumer, but the loss to the planter is enormous. ”

“ That phosphorus exists in large quantities, may be easily proved. A lobster in hot weather, when it ceases to be fresh, assumes a highly phosphorescent appearance when seen in the dark, equal if not superior to that of a glow-worm or luminous centipede. ”

“ Let them stand an hour in salt water, then drain and wipe dry, and fry them in tried-out salt-pork fat. Serve them with a butter made as follows: Mix together a teaspoonful of anchovy paste with a tablespoonful of sweet butter, and, if not objected to, add a few blades of chopped chives.
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The chive has the flavor peculiar to the onion family, but in a mild form. It is cultivated by truck gardeners, and may be found on the New York vegetable stands as early as January. The retail price at the first of the season is ten cents a tuft; as it becomes more plentiful, it is offered at five cents. ”

“ Scientists tell us that oysters possess organs of sensation, and all who have handled oysters learn in time that a sudden jar or shock will kill them. The jar of the machinery of a steamboat will sometimes kill an oyster. ”

“ Value of the Lobster as Food.—According to Professor Atwater of Middletown, Conn., the nutritive value of the flesh of the lobster, compared with beef as a standard and reckoned at 100, is 61 to 97. Forty per cent of the lobster is edible, the remainder is shell and waste. ”

“ Put the fish in a tin, on top of it place small bits of butter previously rolled in flour, place it in a good oven, and bake with70 the back toward the hottest part of the oven. The length of time it will take to cook properly is from twenty to thirty minutes, very often a little longer, for much depends on the temperature of the oven. ”

“ This light increases by friction.... The presence of phosphorus in the lobster is of great importance to the consumers of these sea luxuries. There is no substance which conveys phosphorus so readily into the human system in an agreeable form, and which the system so readily and quickly assimilates, as the flesh of crabs and lobsters.”
Broiled Lobster.—Select alive and active lobster not less than ten and a half inches long. (If below this measurement, the dealer should be arrested for breaking the law which protects the lobster.) ”

“ Placed in the kitchen, it grows luxuriantly,—in fact, it grows faster than it can be used by a small family. This very useful herb should be in the kitchen window of every home where soups and salads are rightly appreciated. ”

“ In return for the oyster’s kindness in protecting it against its enemies, the little crab catches and crushes food which in its en52tire state could not be taken by the oyster. A singular thing in connection with them is, that all found inside of the oyster are females. ”

“ Pour in the liquid of both, and cover the top with paste. Bake in a moderate oven. There should be liquid enough to have the ingredients moist when served.
Oyster Patties.—Roll out a pound of light puff-paste, half an inch in thickness; cut it into rounds with a cake-cutter two inches in29 diameter; press a small cutter one inch in diameter, on each round, one-fourth of an inch deep. Place them on a buttered tin, brush a little beaten egg over them, and bake in a quick oven. When done, remove the centre and a little of the inside. Scald (or, as it is called, blanch) three dozen oysters ”

“ When they reach the anterior ends of the gills, they are pushed off, and fall between the lips, which are also covered with thin hair-like projections, which carry the particles forward until they slide into the mouth. ”