The procedure changes according as to whether the fish is to be cooked whole or in slices. If whole, after having [263] ]properly cleaned, washed, and trimmed it, lay it on the drainer of the utensil best suited to its shape; i.e., a fish-kettle. Cover it with water, salt it in the proportion of one-quarter oz. of salt per quart of water, cover the utensil, and bring the liquid to the boil. As soon as this is done skim and move the kettle to the side of the fire, where the cooking of the fish may be completed without boiling.
If the fish is cut into slices, plunge these, which should never be cut too thin, into boiling salted water, and move the fish-kettle containing them to the side of the fire; complete their cooking slowly without allowing the water to boil.
The object of this process is to concentrate, inside the fish, all the juices contained in its flesh, whereof a large portion escapes when the cut fish is plunged in cold water gradually brought to the boil. If this method is not applied to large fish, cooked whole, the reason is that the sudden immersion of these in boiling water would cause such a shrinking of their flesh that they would burst and thereby be spoiled.
In the case of certain kinds of fish, such as Turbot and Brill, milk is added to the water in the proportion of one-eighth of the latter, the object being to increase the whiteness of the fish.
For the various kinds of Salmon and Trout, the court-bouillon (No. [163]) is used in the place of salted water, but the general working process remains the same.
The boiled fish is dished on a napkin and drainer; it is garnished with fresh parsley; and the sauce announced on the menu, together with some plain-boiled and floury potatoes, is sent to the table separately.
[777—THE FRYING OF FISH]
In Part I. of this work I explained the general theory of frying (Chapter X., No. [262]); I shall now, therefore, only concern myself with the details of the operation in its relation to fish.
As a rule, frying should never be resorted to for very large fish or very thick slices of the latter, for, owing to the very high temperature that the operation enjoins, the outside of the fish would be dried up before the inside had even become affected.
If the fish to be fried is somewhat thick, it is best to cut several gashes in it, lengthwise and across, these being deeper and closer together the thicker the fish may be. The object of this measure is to facilitate the cooking, but the measure itself is quite unnecessary when dealing with small fish. In [264] ]the case of flat-fish, partly detach the two underlying fillets on either side of the back-bone instead of gashing them.