How to Cook Fish

by Myrtle Reed

BAKED STURGEON—V

Cover a buttered baking-pan with thin slices of salt pork. Sprinkle with chopped carrot, turnip, and onion, and lay a thick cut of sturgeon upon it. Season the fish with salt, pepper, and lemon-juice, and cover with thin slices of pork. Cook for ten minutes, then add one cupful of boiling water, and cook slowly, basting as required. Dredge with seasoned flour after each basting, and add more boiling water if necessary. After the fish has cooked for an hour, remove the pork, and drop it into the pan. Pour a wineglassful of Sherry over the fish, spread with butter, and dredge thickly with flour. Bake until the fish is a rich brown color. Take out the pork and add enough boiling water to the liquid in the pan to make the required quantity of sauce. Thicken with butter and flour cooked together, strain, and serve with the fish.

STURGEON À LA CARDINAL

Clean two pounds of sturgeon, bind into shape with tape, and put it into a buttered saucepan with acidulated water to cover. Add an onion, four cloves, a blade of mace, a sliced carrot, and a bunch of sweet herbs. Simmer gently until the fish is done and serve with Lobster Sauce.

STURGEON À LA FRANÇAISE

Skin and clean a five-pound cut of sturgeon, and tie into shape with strings. Put into a buttered saucepan with sliced carrots and onions, a bunch of parsley, three blades of mace, three cloves of garlic, and salt and pepper to season. Add red wine and white stock in equal parts to cover. Simmer until done, drain, and keep warm. Take enough of the strained liquid to make a sauce, and thicken with butter and flour cooked together. Take from the fire, add a tablespoonful of anchovy essence, a dash of paprika, two tablespoonfuls of butter, and the juice of a lemon. Pour over the fish and serve.

STURGEON À LA NORMANDY

Remove the skin from a five-pound cut of sturgeon, cover with thin slices of salt pork, and tie into shape with a string. Put into a saucepan with sliced vegetables, two tablespoonfuls of butter, one cupful of white wine, two cupfuls of white stock, a little oyster or mussel liquor, and salt and sweet herbs to season. Cover and cook slowly for an hour, basting with the liquid frequently. When done, drain the fish, and keep warm. Strain the liquid, skim off the fat, thicken with a tablespoonful each of butter and flour cooked together, take from the fire, add the yolks of four eggs beaten with the juice of a lemon, and two tablespoonfuls of butter in small bits. Take the pork off the sturgeon, pour the sauce over, and serve.

STURGEON À LA RUSSE

Soak two pounds of sturgeon in salted water to cover for ten or twelve hours. Drain and marinate in vinegar for an hour. Put it into a fish-kettle with boiling water to cover, adding two onions, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a little salt. When nearly done drain, dredge with flour, and brown in the oven, basting with melted butter. Bone and skin two anchovies and put them into a saucepan with a wineglassful of white wine, a small onion, a bit of lemon-peel, and a cupful of stock. Boil for five minutes, strain, thicken with flour and butter cooked together, take from the fire, add two tablespoonfuls of cream, and pour over the fish, or serve separately.