(b) Remove skin and bone from cold fish; to 1 lb. fish add 4 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs, 2 of suet finely chopped, and 1 of flour; mix well together while dry; then beat 1 egg with ¼ pint milk: mix all well together, and put in a greased mould; steam for 1 hour or bake for ½ hour.
Chowder.—Cover the bottom of the pot in which the chowder is to be cooked with slices of pickled pork, or, if preferred, use a large teaspoonful of lard. Take any kind of firm fish (cod and bass are thought best), lay them over the pork or in the lard. If pork is used, first fry it slightly; if lard, make it boiling hot. Strew over the fish a layer of chopped onions if liked, one of split crackers (biscuits), pepper and salt; spices are used, but are not necessary; another layer of fish, onions, crackers, and seasoning until all the fish is in; dredge with flour, just cover the fish with water; stew gently; ½ hour will cook one of moderate size. Take up the chowder, thicken the gravy by adding a teaspoonful of flour to a teacup of butter, add this to the gravy; stew 2 minutes; add wine or ketchup if liked. Oyster or clam chowder may be made in the same way.
Croquettes.—Take some remnants of boiled turbot, brill, haddock, or salmon; pick out the flesh carefully, and mince not too finely. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, add a little flour and some hot milk. Stir on the fire until the mixture thickens, add pepper and salt, a little grated nutmeg, some chopped parsley, lastly the fish; as soon as the mixture is quite hot, turn out on a dish to get cold. Shape like corks, roll in beaten-up egg, and then in baked breadcrumbs; repeat the process in an hour’s time; fry in hot lard, and serve with fried parsley.
Curry.—Take 1 teaspoonful curry powder, 1 of raw rice pounded, 1 of chillies, 2 cloves of garlic, a little ginger, a few peppercorns, a little turmeric, half a coconut (remove the brown skin); grind all up with a coffee cup of water, then put half an onion, half cooked and minced, with ½ oz. butter in a stewpan, and melt it when quite dissolved. Add the curry stuff, also the gravy of ½ lb. beef, or some stock, and a dessertspoonful of vinegar; put 1½-2 lb. fish prepared in pieces about 1 in. square, and stew the whole.
Cutlets.—Melt 1 oz. butter, add 1 oz. flour and ¼ pint milk; let it boil and thicken. Then stir in the flavouring—lemon juice or vinegar, salt, cayenne, a little anchovy sauce or paste, or, as a last resource, a tiny piece of bloater paste. Last of all, add about a breakfastcupful of cold cooked fish cut small. When this mixture is cold, shape it into cutlets or balls, egg and breadcrumb them, and fry in hot fat or oil.
Jelly.—Put several large onions (sliced), some scraped horse-radish, lemon peel, pepper, salt, and mace into a stewpan with good white stock, simmer till the vegetables are tender; strain, remove the bones from 2 lb. turbot, sole, or any white fish; cut the fish into shapely pieces, stew in the liquor till quite done, strain the liquor, let it cool, add a glass of white wine, the whites of 2 or 3 eggs, and some lemon juice; hot it up. Lay the pieces of fish into a flat mould, fill up with the liquor, let get quite cold, turn out, and garnish with slices of cucumber. In very hot weather it will require ice.
Moolie.—Take some fried fish, 2 tablespoonfuls cream, 1 dessertspoonful butter, 3 or 4 onions, green chillies (when they are to be had), a piece of ginger, and 2-3 tablespoonfuls vinegar; boil 10 minutes, then serve. An excellent breakfast dish.
Omelet.—Beat up 3 fresh eggs with a quantity, equal to an egg in bulk, of the flesh of boiled salmon, shredded finely with a fork, a pinch of minced parsley, pepper, salt, and half a dozen bits of butter the size of a pea. Put a piece of butter the size of an egg into the pan, let it melt without browning, and as soon as it is melted and hot pour in your omelet mixture, and, holding the hand of the pan with one hand, stir the omelet with the other by means of a flat spoon. The moment it begins to set, cease stirring, but keep shaking the pan for a minute or so; then with the ladle or spoon double up your omelet, and keep on shaking the pan until one side of the omelet has become a golden colour, when you dexterously turn it out on a hot dish, the coloured side uppermost. (G. C.)
Patties.—1 moderate-sized haddock, 12 cooking oysters, 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley, a very little pounded mace, a pinch of cayenne, a little salt, 1 teaspoonful anchovy essence, 2 oz. butter, ½ pint good white sauce, yolks of 2 eggs, ½ lb. good puff paste, and a little lemon juice. Skin and fillet the haddock, dissolve the butter in a stewpan; put in the fish, sprinkle with a little salt, and let stand on the stove, where it will cook without taking any colour. When the fish is done on one side turn carefully; while the fish is cooking, beard the oysters, put the beards with the liquor from them on the fire, in a small stewpan, and simmer for a few minutes. When done, strain off and save the liquor for the sauce. When the fish is done, which should be in 15-20 minutes, lift it out of the butter on to a plate; and when cool, roughly mince, or cut it into small dice; cut the oysters in quarters, and mix them with the haddock. Put into a small stewpan ½ pint good white sauce, and when it boils stir into it 1 oz. butter, the chopped parsley, anchovy essence, mace, and cayenne. Let it boil up, then draw it back from the fire, and stir in the yolks of the eggs, a little lemon juice, a little salt, and lastly the fish. Let it stand by the fire a few minutes, but do not let it boil, as this would curdle the egg, and harden the oysters. Now turn the fish out on a plate ready for use. Have ready some good puff paste, roll it out to the thickness of ½ in., cut out the patty cases with a tin cutter; and with another, half this size, mark the cover by gently pressing it on the paste, so as to make a slight incision; egg over the top, and bake in a quick oven. When done, take off the covers, scoop out the underdone paste inside, and leave the patties till dinner-time, then fill with the prepared fish, and set in the oven to get hot. Serve as an entrée in the first course. Note: The butter in which the fish was cooked would make a fish sauce.