Another.—When wiped dry, dip the fish in butter, and fry. Then the fish is dropped in hot fat (see Frying), turned into a colander, salted, and served hot, with fried parsley around or in the middle, according to how the fish is arranged in the dish.
Fry the following as above: carp, tench, frost, bass, perch, black and blue fish, gold, loach, mullet, porgy, weak, flounder, pike, pickerel, smelt, sun, herring, and white-fish of the lakes.
A la Orly.—If it is small fish, like the smelt, it is prepared whole; if the fish is larger, it must be boned and skinned, and cut in pieces about two inches long. Roll the fish, or pieces of fish, slightly in flour; dip it in beaten egg, and roll it again in bread-crumbs; then fry it in hot fat as above.
When fried, serve it with a tomato-sauce.
The fish may be served on a napkin in a dish, and the sauce in a boat or saucer.
Roasted.—The following fishes only are roasted: eel, salmon, shad, pike, turbot.
Clean and prepare as directed, and then tie with twine. Spread salt, pepper, and melted butter (with a brush) all over the fish, and then envelop it in buttered paper; set on the spit and roast. Baste with a little melted butter, and remove the paper about five minutes before it is done.
When on the dish the twine is cut off and removed, and it is served as hot as possible with the following sauces, to which tarragon is added in making them, if handy: caper, Hollandaise, Mayonnaise, piquante, poivrade, and rémolade. A roast fish is served after roast meat.
Another way.—Clean, and cut in slices half an inch thick, or leave entire, as it suits you; skin it well; lay it in a crockery vessel, spread over it some chopped parsley, grated nutmeg, salt, pepper, and two gills of white wine (this is for about three pounds), leave thus two hours; then take the fish only, envelop it in buttered paper, fix it on the spit before a good fire, baste with the wine and seasonings from the crockery dish, and when nearly done take the paper off; finish the cooking, basting the while, and serve with the drippings, to which you may add a little vinegar, sweet-oil, and mustard.
If there is any left, you can serve it cold the next day with an oil-sauce.