Spons' Household Manual / A treasury of domestic receipts and a guide for home management

by Unknown

Gurnet.—The gurnet is not so common as either of the foregoing; it is treated with the fish slice precisely upon the same principles as those prescribed for the haddock.

Haddock.—The haddock, which is generally cooked and served in a curled posture, will best recommend itself to the carver who has an eye to excellence in quality and cookery; the flakes should fall right and left, with a creamy suffusion upon the slightest touch of the fish-knife’s point as it is run down the spine. The thickest or shoulder end of the fish is the best; and if there be a preference, the inner side is likely to be the more delicate, and, therefore, suited to the special or appreciative friend, for whom the carver should always have a thought.

Herring.—The last remark also applies to the fresh herring, when of too great dimensions to form one portion by himself; he, like the red mullet, is more delicate when small in size, just enough for one.

John Dory.—The John Dory is to be carved upon precisely the same principles as the turbot, with additional emphasis laid on the importance of the fin, whilst the skin is in itself an exquisite delicacy—never to be tampered with by the carver. The wart-like growths which mar to some extent the back of the turbot are absent in the John Dory, which may be said to be always the better, the larger he is. His head, important as it looks, does not recommend itself, and, as a rule, being filled with parsley, should be left untouched upon the dish.

Mackerel.—Mackerel, though a simple dish for the carver to attack, must not be passed over without a word. When boiled, it should never be hacked by an attempt to divide it through and through; but the fish slice should be inserted from his tail upwards, to his gills, reserving for a special friend the tail quarter, and, if the fish be in roe, perhaps just a suggestion of an unfair share of the latter. The head and backbone are easily disengaged from the remaining underneath side upon the dish, and there is no question that it is better not to turn it over when this part is to be helped. A broiled mackerel, on the contrary, being split, should be cut through and through, bone and all.

Mullet.—The red mullet, again, makes very little demand upon dexterity, nothing being requisite beyond a fair division, longitudinally, into 2 parts, if the fish be too large for one. The so-called liver, usually just visible under the opening of the gill, is a most precious morsel, and must fairly be apportioned, whilst the head itself presents much pretty picking, the brain not being the least. Small red mullet, however, besides being superior in quality to the large, have the advantage of forming just sufficient for a single portion.

Salmon.—Salmon is a fish which offers very little difficulty to the carver, and so long as a due proportion of thick and thin be neatly cut—again in oblong squares—from the side lying uppermost, nothing remains to be attended to. The thick, however, must always predominate in quantity, and it is better to begin cutting from the left, and also better, as in the case of the turbot, to raise the bone when the upper side is gone than to attempt to turn the fish over to get at the remaining lower side. The head and tail, though usually despised, and rarely seen at table, have nevertheless some very succulent picking on them, but do not offer much of a field for the carver to display his skill upon. He has but “to help” them as neatly as may be. Equally, this is pretty much all he has to do when the fish is brought to table in slices; he has usually but to make an equal division of the slice, taking care, of course, that each half is made up of thick and thin together.

Shell-fish.—Shell-fish likewise only generally has to be “helped,” being usually cut up before it is sent to table, and therefore does not need more than a word of recognition here; but it maybe permissible to add that the lobster has no part, not even the minutest tendril, that is unworthy of attention.

Sole, &c.—In speaking of the turbot and dory, nearly all has been said that is necessary to guide the carver in his handling of brill, large sole, and plaice.

Turbot.—Lying flat upon its back, plunge the point of the fish slice at once into its thickest folds just below the jowl, and run it down in an imaginary central line to the tail; then split the flesh into oblong squares, each terminating with a due proportion of fin; for remember the fin of the turbot is a delicacy which should never be overlooked. A careful eye should be had to the number of guests to be helped; for if recourse must be had to the under side of the fish, it is well to bear in mind that here the carver will find himself amongst a shoal of starry wart-like growths, by no means agreeable to the masticatory functions. Still, of course, when these are eliminated, there is plenty of good eating on this under side or back of the waistcoat, and it is better to lift the bone away from it (in doing which there is no difficulty, if the fish be well cooked) than to attempt to turn him over when the white front has disappeared.