To prepare the Caviar, or Spawn, of the Sturgeon.
Wash it well in Vinegar and Water, and then lay it in Salt and Water two or three Days; then boil it in fresh Water and Salt; and when it is cold, put it up for Use. This is eaten upon Toasts of white Bread with a little Oil.
To Roast a piece of fresh Sturgeon; from Mr. Ralph Titchbourn, Cook.
Take a piece of fresh Sturgeon, of about eight or ten Pounds; let it lie in Water and Salt, six or eight Hours, with its great Scales on: then fasten it on the Spit, and baste it well with Butter for a quarter of an Hour; and after that, drudge it with grated Bread, Flour, some Nutmeg, a little Mace powder'd, Pepper and Salt, and some sweet Herbs dry'd and powder'd, continuing basting and drudging of it till it is enough. Then serve it up with the following Sauce, viz. one Pint of thin Gravey and Oyster Liquor, with some Horse-Radish, Lemon-Peel, a bunch of sweet Herbs, some whole Pepper, and a few Blades of Mace, with a whole Onion, an Anchovy, a spoonfull or two of liquid Katchep, or some Liquor of pickled Walnuts, with half a Pint of White Wine: strain it off, and put in as much Butter as will thicken it. To this put Oysters parboil'd, Shrimps or Prawns pickt, or the inside of a Crab, which will make the same Sauce very rich; then garnish with fry'd Oysters, Lemon sliced, butter'd Crabs and fry'd Bread, cut in handsome Figures, and pickled Mushrooms. N.B. If you have no Katchep, you may use Mushroom Gravey, mention'd in the first Part of your Treatise, or some of the travelling Sauce in the same Book, or else a small Tea spoonful of the dry Pocket-Sauce.
To Roast a Collar, or Fillet, of Sturgeon; from the same.
Take a piece of fresh Sturgeon; take out the Bones, and cut the fleshy Part into Lengths, about seven or eight Inches; then provide some Shrimps, chopt small with Oysters; some Crumbs of Bread, and such seasoning of Spice as you like, with a little Lemon-Peel grated. When this is done, butter one side of your Fish, and strew some of your Mixture upon it; then begin to roll it up, as close as possible, and when the first Piece is rolled up, then roll upon that another, prepared as before, and bind it round with a narrow Fillet, leaving as much of the Fish apparent as may be. But you must remark, that the Roll should not be above four Inches and a half thick; for, else one Part would be done enough before the Inside was hardly warm'd: therefore, I have sometimes parboil'd the inside Roll before I began to roll it.
When it is at the Fire, baste it well with Butter, and drudge it with sifted Raspings of Bread. Serve it with the same Sauce as directed for the former.
A Piece of fresh Sturgeon boiled; from the same.
When your Sturgeon is clean, prepare as much Liquor to boil it in, as will cover it; that is, take a Pint of Vinegar to about two Quarts of Water, a stick of Horse-Radish, two or three bits of Lemon-Peel, some whole Pepper, a Bay-leaf or two, and a small handful of Salt; boil your Fish in this, till it is enough, and serve it with the following Sauce.
Melt a pound of Butter; then add some Anchovy Liquor; Oyster Liquor; some White Wine; some Katchep boil'd together with whole Pepper and Mace strain'd; put to this the Body of a Crab, and serve it with a little Lemon-Juice. You may likewise put in some Shrimps, the Tails of Lobsters, cut to Pieces, stew'd Oysters, or Cray-fish cut into small Bits: garnish with pickled Mushrooms and roasted or fry'd Oysters, Lemon sliced, and Horse-Radish scraped.