TENACITY OF LIFE IN THE EEL.-There is no fish so tenacious of life as this. After it is skinned and cut in pieces, the parts will continue to move for a considerable time, and no fish will live so long out of water.

THE LAMPREY.-With the Romans, this fish occupied a respectable rank among the piscine tribes, and in Britain it has at various periods stood high in public favour. It was the cause of the death of Henry I. of England, who ate so much of them, that it brought on an attack of indigestion, which carried him off. It is an inhabitant of the sea, ascending rivers, principally about the end of winter, and, after passing a few months in fresh water, returning again to its oceanic residence. It is most in season in March, April, and May, but is, by some, regarded as an unwholesome food, although looked on by others as a great delicacy. They are dressed as eels.

THE LAMPREY.

FISH AND OYSTER PIE.

257. INGREDIENTS.-Any remains of cold fish, such as cod or haddock; 2 dozen oysters, pepper and salt to taste, bread crumbs sufficient for the quantity of fish; teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoonful of finely-chopped parsley.

Mode.-Clear the fish from the bones, and put a layer of it in a piedish, which sprinkle with pepper and salt; then a layer of bread crumbs, oysters, nutmeg, and chopped parsley. Repeat this till the dish is quite full. You may form a covering either of bread crumbs, which should be browned, or puff-paste, which should be cut into long strips, and laid in cross-bars over the fish, with a line of the paste first laid round the edge. Before putting on the top, pour in some made melted butter, or a little thin white sauce, and the oyster-liquor, and bake. 1

Time.-If made of cooked fish, hour; if made of fresh fish and puff-paste, hour.

Average cost, 1s. 6d.

Seasonable from September to April.

Note.-A nice little dish may be made by flaking any cold fish, adding a few oysters, seasoning with pepper and salt, and covering with mashed potatoes; hour will bake it.

FISH CAKE.

258. INGREDIENTS.-The remains of any cold fish, 1 onion, 1 faggot of sweet herbs; salt and pepper to taste, 1 pint of water, equal quantities of bread crumbs and cold potatoes, teaspoonful of parsley, 1 egg, bread crumbs.

Mode.-Pick the meat from the bones of the fish, which latter put, with the head and fins, into a stewpan with the water; add pepper and salt, the onion and herbs, and stew slowly for gravy about 2 hours; chop the fish fine, and mix it well with bread crumbs and cold

potatoes, adding the parsley and seasoning; make the whole into a cake with the white of an egg, brush it over with egg, cover with bread crumbs, and fry of a light brown; strain the gravy, pour it over, and stew gently for hour, stirring it carefully once or twice. Serve hot, and garnish with slices of lemon and parsley. Time.-hour, after the gravy is made.

BOILED FLOUNDERS.

259. INGREDIENTS.-Sufficient water to cover the flounders, salt in the proportion of 6 oz. to each gallon, a little vinegar.

Mode.-Put on a kettle with enough water to cover the flounders, lay in the fish, add salt and vinegar in the above proportions, and when it boils, simmer very gently for 5 minutes. They must not boil fast, or they will break. Serve with plain melted butter, or parsley

and butter.

FLOUNDERS.

Time.-After the water boils, 5 minutes. Average cost, 3d. each.

Seasonable from August to Novem

ber.

THE FLOUNDER.-This comes under the tribe usually denominated Flat-fish, and is generally held in the smallest estimation of any among them. It is an inhabitant of both the seas and the rivers, while it thrives in ponds. On the English coasts it is very abundant, and the London market consumes it in large quantities.

It is considered easy of digestion, and the Thames flounder is esteemed a delicate fish.

FRIED FLOUNDERS.

260. INGREDIENTS.-Flounders, egg, and bread crumbs; boiling lard.

Mode.-Cleanse the fish, and, two hours before they are wanted, rub them inside and out with salt, to render them firm; wash and wipe them very dry, dip them into egg, and sprinkle over with bread crumbs; fry them in boiling lard, dish on a hot napkin, and garnish with crisped parsley.

Time.-From 5 to 10 minutes, according to size.

Average cost, 3d. cach.

Seasonable from August to November.

Sufficient, 1 for each person.

GUDGEONS.

261. INGREDIENTS. Egg and bread crumbs sufficient for the quantity of fish; hot lard.

Mode.-Do not scrape off the scales, but take out the gills and

inside, and cleanse thoroughly; wipe them dry, flour and dip them into egg, and sprinkle over with bread crumbs. Fry of a nice brown. Time.-3 or 4 minutes. Average cost. Seldom bought.

Seasonable from March to July.

Sufficient, 3 for each person.

THE GUDGEON.-This is a fresh-water fish, belonging to the carp genus, and is found in placid streams and lakes. It was highly esteemed by the Greeks, and was, at the beginning of supper, served fried at Rome. It abounds both in France and Germany; and is both

THE GUDGEON.

excellent and numerous in some of the rivers of England. Its flesh is firm, wellflavoured, and easily digested.

GURNET, or GURNARD.

262. INGREDIENTS.-1 gurnet, 6 oz. of salt to each gallon of water. Mode.-Cleanse the fish thoroughly, and cut off the fins; have ready some boiling water, with salt in the above proportion; put the fish in, and simmer very gently for hour. Parsley and butter, or anchovy sauce, should be served with it.

Time.-hour. Average cost. Seldom bought.
Seasonable from October to March,

but in perfection in October.

Sufficient, a middling sized one for 2 persons.

Note. This fish is frequently stuffed with forcemeat and baked.

THE GUENET.-"If I be not ashamed of my soldiers, I am a souced gurnet," says Falstaff; which shows that this fish has been long known

THE GURNET.

in England. It is very common on the British coasts, and is an excellent fish as food.

BAKED HADDOCKS.

263. INGREDIENTS.-A nice forcemeat (see Forcemeats), butter to taste, egg and bread crumbs.

Mode.-Scale and clean the fish, without cutting it open much; put in a nice delicate forcemeat, and sew up the slit. Brush it over with egg, sprinkle over bread crumbs, and baste frequently with butter. Garnish with parsley and cut lemon, and serve with a nice brown gravy, plain melted butter, or anchovy sauce. The egg and bread crumbs can be omitted, and pieces of butter placed over the fish. Time.-Large haddock, hour; moderate size, 4 hour. Seasonable from August to February.

Average cost, from 9d. upwards.

Note.-Haddocks may be filleted, rubbed over with egg and bread crumbs, and fried a nice brown; garnish with crisped parsley.

THE HADDOCK. This fish migrates in immense shoals, and arrives on the Yorkshire coast about the middle of winter. It is an inhabitant of the northern seas of Europe, but does not enter the Baltic, and is not known in the Mediterranean. On each side of the body, just beyond the gills, it has a dark spot, which superstition asserts to be the impressions of the finger and thumb of St. Peter, when taking the tribute money out of a fish of this species.

THE HADDOCK.

BOILED HADDOCK.

264. INGREDIENTS.-Sufficient water to cover the fish; lb. of salt to each gallon of water.

Mode.-Scrape the fish, take out the inside, wash it thoroughly, and lay it in a kettle, with enough water to cover it, and salt in the above proportion. Simmer gently from 15 to 20 minutes, or rather more, should the fish be very large. For small haddocks, fasten the tails in their mouths, and put them into boiling water. 10 to 15 minutes will cook them. Serve with plain melted butter, or anchovy

sauce.

Time.-Large haddock, hour; small, 4 hour, or rather less.
Average cost, from 9d. upwards.

Seasonable from August to February.

WEIGHT OF THE HADDOCK.-The haddock seldom grows to any great size. In general, they do not weigh more than two or three pounds, or exceed ten or twelve inches in size. Such are esteemed very delicate eating; but they have been caught three feet long, when their flesh is coarse.

DRIED HADDOCK.

I.

265. Dried haddock should be gradually warmed through, either before or over a nice clear fire. Rub a little piece of butter over, just before sending it to table.

II.

266. INGREDIENTS.-1 large thick haddock, 2 bay-leaves, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs, not forgetting parsley, a little butter and pepper; boiling water.

Mode.-Cut up the haddock into square pieces, make a basin hot by means of hot water, which pour out. Lay in the fish, with the bayleaves and herbs; cover with boiling water; put a plate over to keep in the steam, and let it remain for 10 minutes. Take out the slices, put them in a hot dish, rub over with butter and pepper, and serve.

Time.-10 minutes. Seasonable at any time, but best in winter.

THE FINNAN HADDOCK.-This is the common haddock cured and dried, and takes its name from the fishing-village of Findhorn, near Aberdeen, in Scotland, where the art has long attained to perfection. The haddocks are there hung up for a day or two in the smoke of peat, when they are ready for cooking, and are esteemed, by the Scotch, a great delicacy. In London, an imitation of them is made by washing the fish over with pyroligneous acid, and hanging it up in a dry place for a few days.

RED HERRINGS, or YARMOUTH BLOATERS. 267. The best way to cook these is to make incisions in the skin across the fish, because they do not then require to be so long on the fire, and will be far better than when cut open. The hard roe makes a nice relish by pounding it in a mortar, with a little anchovy, and spreading it on toast. If very dry, soak in warm water 1 hour before dressing. THE RED HERRING.-Red herrings lie twenty-four hours in the brine, when they are taken out and hung up in a smoking-house formed to receive them. A brushwood fire is then kindled beneath them, and when they are sufficiently smoked and dried, they are put into barrels for carriage.

BAKED WHITE HERRINGS.

268. INGREDIENTS.-12 herrings, 4 bay-leaves, 12 cloves, 12 allspice, 2 small blades of mace, cayenne pepper and salt to taste, sufficient vinegar to fill up the dish.

Mode. Take the herrings, cut off the heads, and gut them. Put them in a pie-dish, heads and tails alternately, and, between each layer, sprinkle over the above ingredients. Cover the fish with the vinegar, and bake for hour, but do not use it till quite cold. The herrings may be cut down the front, the backbone taken out, and closed again. Sprats done in this way are very delicious.

Time.- an hour. Average cost, 1d. each.

TO CHOOSE THE HERRING.-The more scales this fish has, the surer the sign of its freshness. It should also have a bright and silvery look; but if red about the head, it is a sign that it has been dead for some time.

THE HERRING.-The herring tribe are found in the greatest abundance in the highest northern latitudes, where they find a quiet retreat, and security from their numerous enemies. Here they multiply beyond expression, and, in shoals, come forth from their icy region to visit other portions of the great deep. In June they are found about Shetland, whence they proceed down to the Orkneys, where they divide, and surround the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. The principal British herring-fisheries are off the Scotch and Norfolk coasts; and the fishing is always carried on by means of nets, which are usually laid at night; for, if stretched by day, they are supposed to frighten the fish away. The moment the herring is taken out of the water it dies. Hence the origin of the common saying, "dead as a herring."

KEGEREE.

THE HERRING.

269. INGREDIENTS.-Any cold fish, 1 teacupful of boiled rice, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of mustard, 2 soft-boiled eggs, salt and cayenne to taste.