Caviare.—This is the roe of the female Sturgeon. It should be taken out and beaten flat, then sprinkled with salt and dried, first in the sun and air, and afterwards in an oven, till it becomes very dry and of a reddish brown colour. Thus prepared, it is a fine relish; it is to be eaten with oil and vinegar.
Turbot, when good, is thick, firm, and plump; and the nose, and fins all round the belly, tinged with a pink colour; but if it has lost this beautiful tinge, or if the belly be changed from a yellowish white to a blueish cast, the fish is either stale or poor, or both.
Soles are to be chosen by these rules, particularly as to the pink tinge round their bellies and under their noses.
Cod Fish should be thick at the neck, having the gills red, the flesh very white, firm, hard, and dear, and the eyes bright.
Haddock are to be chosen by these rules. The shortest fish are the best.
Salmon should be chosen for its small head and thick neck; its scales should be bright, and its gills and flesh of a fine red colour. The Thames and Severn Salmon are mostly esteemed.
Skate, Maids, and Thornbacks are all of one species; they ought to be white and thick. The two latter should be kept a day, or perhaps two, to make them tender, and Skate may be kept longer. The maiden Skate and the young male, or Thornback, are the best; but large, old Skate, is generally coarse and rank.
Flounders, Plaice, &c. should be stiff and firm, with bright, full eyes. If flabby, these and all other kinds of fish are certainly stale. The Thames Flounders are reckoned best, in London, because they may be had alive, or nearly so, and they are always best when dressed as soon as caught.
Herrings, Pilchards, Whitings, Sprats, &c.—These may be classed together. The largest are the best. Their gills should be of a fine red, their fins stiff, their eyes bright, and their flesh, when best, is bright and firm. As the Herrings emigrate, in immense shoals, from the northern regions, they are in the greatest perfection on their first arrival on the coasts of Scotland, the North of Ireland, and the Isle of Man. On the coast of the German Ocean also, even so far south as Yarmouth, they are taken in great quantities, remarkably fat and fine, and full of spawn; but before they reach the southern coast of England, they become poor and thin, and are then known by the denomination of Shotten-Herrings.
Mackerel look beautifully bright when first caught. These and Whitings should be dressed as soon as possible.