[357—HERRINGS WITH FRENCH BEANS]
These hors-d’œuvres can only be served at their best in the months of September and October, when the first shoals of herrings begin to appear. Dutch fishermen know of a means of salting and marinading this fish, which greatly increases its value, and it is not unusual to pay as much as two or three shillings for one in the early part of the season. They can only be kept a few days, but they form an excellent dish, and their flavour is exquisite. Before serving them, it is only needful to skin them, whereupon they may be dished up with a little chopped parsley. Send a bowl of French beans to the table with them, the vegetables having been freshly cooked, kept somewhat firm, buttered, and not cooled. Some cooks serve the beans cold, in the form of a salad, but as a rule they are preferred hot with butter, while the herrings should be very cold.
[358—OYSTERS]
The best oysters to be had are those of Whitstable, Colchester, Burnham, and Zeeland. The green, French Marennes, which might equal the above, are not favoured by everyone on account of their colour. Ostend oysters are also excellent, but they are neither as delicate nor as fleshy as the English ones.
Oysters are the dish par excellence; their delicacy satisfies the most fastidious of epicures, and they are so easily digested that the most delicate invalid can partake of them freely. With the exception of caviare, they are the only hors-d’œuvres which should ever appear on the menu of a well-ordered dinner.
Oysters ought to be served very cold; hence the prevailing custom of dishing them on ice. In England they are served plain on the flat half of the shell, whereas in France and elsewhere they are left in the hollow half, which is better calculated to retain the natural liquor of the oyster, held in high esteem by many. Send some slices of brown bread and butter to the table with the oysters.
The various methods of treating oysters will be given hereafter in the chapter dealing with fish. I have given them merely because consumers and caterers alike may wish to have them; but the real and best way of serving oysters is to send them to the table raw.
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][359—ARDENNES HAM]
This is served like smoked breast of goose, cut, raw, into thin and even slices.