 CHAPTER VI. PART IV. Ingredients Two pheasants, one quarter pound of butter, two slices of ham, two large onions sliced, one half head of celery, the crumb of two French rolls, the yolks of two eggs boiled hard, salt and cayenne to taste, a little pounded mace, if liked, three quarts of stock number 105. Mode. Cut up the pheasants, flour and braise them in the butter and ham till they are of a nice brown but not burnt. Put them in a stew pan with the onions, celery and seasoning and simmer for two hours. Strain the soup, pound the breasts with the crumb of the roll previously soaked and the yolks of the eggs, put it to the soup, give one boil and serve. Time, two and a half hours, average cost, two shillings, ten pence per quart, or if made with fragments of gold game, one shilling, seasonable from October to February, sufficient for ten persons. Note, fragments, pieces and bones of cold game may be used to great advantage in this soup and then one pheasant will suffice. Portable soup, ingredients, two knuckles of veal, three shins of beef, one large faggative herbs, two bay leaves, two heads of celery, three onions, three carrots, two blades of mace, six cloves, a teaspoonful of salt, sufficient water to cover all the ingredients. Mode, take the marrow from the bones, put all the ingredients in a stockpot and simmer slowly for twelve hours or more if the meat be not done to rags. Strain it off and put it in a very cool place. Take off all the fat, reduce the liquor in a shallow pan by setting it over a sharp fire but be particular that it does not burn. Boil it fast and uncovered for eight hours and keep it stirred. Put it into a deep dish and set it by for a day. Have ready a stew pan of boiling water, place the dish in it and keep it boiling. Stir occasionally and when the soup is thick and ropey it is done. Form it into little cakes by pouring a small quantity onto the bottom of cups or basins. When cold, turn them out on a flannel to dry. Keep them from the air in tin canisters. Average cost of this quantity sixteen shillings. Note, soup can be made in five minutes with this by dissolving a small piece about the size of a walnut in a pint of warm water and simmering for two minutes. Vermicelli, macaroni or other Italian pastas may be added. The laurel or bay. The leaves of this tree frequently enter into the recipes of cookery but they ought not to be used without the greatest caution and not at all unless the cook is perfectly aware of their effects. It ought to be known that there are two kinds of bay trees. The classic laurel, whose leaves are comparatively harmless and the cherry laurel, which is the one whose leaves are employed in cookery. They have a kernel-like flavor and are used in blachmans, pudding, custards, etc. But when acted upon by water they develop a prusic acid and therefore but a small number of the leaves should be used at a time. Rabbit soup. Ingredients. Two large rabbits or three small ones. A faggot of savory herbs. One half head of celery. Two carrots. One onion. One blade of mace. Salt and white pepper to taste. A little pounded mace. One half pint of cream. The yolks of two eggs boiled hard. The crumb of a French roll. Nearly three quarts of water. Mode. Make the soup with the legs and shoulders of the rabbit and keep the nice pieces for a dish or entree. Put them into warm water and draw the blood. When quite clean, put them in a stew pan with a faggot of herbs and a tea cup full or rather more of veal stock or water. Simmer slowly till done through and add the three quarts of water and boil for an hour. Take out the rabbit. Pick the meat from the bones covering it up to keep it white. Put the bones back in the liquor. Add the vegetables and simmer for two hours. Skim and strain and let it cool. Now pound the meat in a mortar with the yolks of the eggs and the crumb of the roll previously soaked. Rub it through a tammy and gradually add it to the strained liquor and simmer for 15 minutes. Mix arrowroot or rice flour with the cream. Say two dessert spoon bowls and stir in the soup. Bring it to a boil and serve. This soup must be very white and instead of thickening it with arrowroot or rice flour, vermicelli or pearl barley can be boiled in a little stock and put in five minutes before serving. Time nearly four hours. Average cost one shilling per quart. Seasonable from September to March. Sufficient for ten persons. Regency soup. Ingredients. Any bones and remains of any cold game such as a pheasants, partridges, etc. Two carrots, two small onions, one head of celery, one turnip, one quarter pound of pearl barley, the yolks of three eggs boiled hard, one quarter pint of cream, salt to taste, two quarts of stock number 105 or common stock number 106. Mode. Place the bones or remains of game in the stew pan with the vegetables sliced. Pour over the stock and simmer for two hours. Skim off all the fat and strain it. Wash the barley and boil it in two or three waters before putting it to the soup. Finish simmering in the soup and when the barley is done, take out half and pound the other half with the yolks of the eggs. When you have finished pounding, rub it through a clean tammy, add the cream and salt if necessary. Give one boil and serve very hot, putting in the barley that was taken out first. Time two and a half hours. Average cost one shilling per quart if made with medium stock or six pence per quart with common stock. Seasonable from September to March. Sufficient for eight persons. Soup a la Reine. One. Ingredients. One large fowl, one ounce of sweet almonds, the crumb of one French roll, one half pint of cream, salt to taste, one small lump of sugar, two quarts of good white veal stock number 107. Mold. Boil the fowl gently in the stock till quite tender, which will be in about an hour or rather more. Take out the fowl, pull the meat from the bones and put it into a mortar with the almonds and pound very fine. When beaten enough, put the meat back in the stock with the crumb of the rolls and let it simmer for an hour. Rub it through a tammy, add the sugar, one half pint of cream that has boiled and, if you prefer, cut the crust of the roll into small round pieces. And pour the soup over it when you serve. Time, two hours or rather more. Average cost two shillings seven pence per quart. Seasonable all the year. Sufficient for eight persons. Note, all white soup should be warmed in a vessel placed in another of boiling water. C. Ben-Marie number 87. Two. Economical. Ingredients. Any remains of roast chickens, one half teacup full of rice, salt and pepper to taste, one quart of stock number 106. Mold. Take all the white meat and pound it with the rice, which has been slightly cooked, but not much. When it is all well pounded, dilute with the stock and pass through a sieve. This soup should neither be too clear nor too thick. Time, one hour. Average cost four pence per quart. Seasonable all the year. Sufficient for four persons. Note, if stock is not at hand, put the chicken bones in water with an onion, carrot, a few sweet herbs, a blade of mace, pepper and salt and stew for three hours. Stew soup of salt meat. Ingredients. Any pieces of salt, beef or pork, say two pounds, four carrots, four parsnips, four turnips, four potatoes, one cabbage, two ounces of oatmeal or ground rice, seasoning of salt and pepper, two quarts of water. Mold. Cut up the meat small, add the water and let it simmer for two and three-quarter hours. Now add the vegetables cut in thin small slices. Season and boil for one hour. Thicken with the oatmeal and serve. Time, two hours. Average cost three pence per quart without the meat. Seasonable in winter. Sufficient for six persons. Note, if rice is used instead of oatmeal, put it in with the vegetables. Stew soup. Ingredients. Two pounds of beef, five onions, five turnips, three-quarter pound of rice, a large bunch of parsley, a few sweet herbs, pepper and salt, two quarts of water. Mold. Cut the beef up in small pieces, add the other ingredients and boil gently for two and a half hours. Oatmeal or potatoes would be a great improvement. Time. Two and a half hours. Average cost six pence per quart. Seasonable in winter. Sufficient for six persons. Two. Ingredients. One-half pound of beef, mutton or pork, one-half pound of slit peas, four turnips, eight potatoes, two onions, two ounces of oatmeal or three ounces of rice, two quarts of water. Mold. Cut the meat in small pieces, as also the vegetables, and add them with the peas to the water. Boil gently for three hours. Thicken with the oatmeal. Boil for another one-quarter hour, stirring all the time in season with pepper and salt. Time. Three and a quarter hours. Average cost four pence per quart. Seasonable in winter. Sufficient for eight persons. Note, this soup may be made of the liquor in which tripe has been boiled by adding vegetables, seasoning, rice, etc. Turkey soup. A seasonable dish at Christmas. Ingredients. Two quarts of medium stock, number 105, the remains of a cold roast turkey, two ounces of rice flour or arrowroot, salt and pepper to taste, one tablespoon full of Harvey's sauce or mushroom ketchup. Mold. Cut up the turkey in small pieces and put it in the stock. Let it simmer slowly until the bones are quite clean. Take the bones out and work the soup through a sieve. When cool, skim well. Mix the rice flour or arrowroot to a batter with a little of the soup. Add it with the seasoning and sauce or ketchup. Give one boil and serve. Time. Four hours. Average cost ten pence per quart. Seasonable at Christmas. Sufficient for eight persons. Note, instead of thickening this soup, vermicelli or macaroni may be served in it. The turkey. The common turkey is a native of North America and was then introduced to England in the reign of Henry VIII. According to Tessar's 500 Points of Good Husbandry, about the year 1585, it begun to form a dish at our rural Christmas feasts. Beef, mutton and pork, shred pies of the best, pig, veal, goose and capon, and turkey well dressed. Cheese, apples and nuts, jolly carols to hear, and then in the country is counted good cheer. It is one of the most difficult birds to rear of any that we have. Yet in its wild state is found in great abundance in the forests of Canada, where it might have been imagined that the severity of the climate would be unfavorable to its ever becoming plentiful. They are very fond of the seeds of nettles and the seeds of the foxglove poison them. Turtle soup founded on M. Yud's recipe. Ingredients. A turtle, six slices of ham, two knuckles of veal, one large bunch of sweet herbs, three bay leaves, parsley, green onions, one onion, six cloves, four blades of mace, one quarter pound of fresh butter, one bottle of madera, one lump of sugar. For the canel au tortue, one pound of veal, one pound of breadcrumbs, milk, seven eggs, cayenne, salt, spices, chopped parsley, the juice of two lemons. Mode. To make this soup with less difficulty, cut off the head of the turtle the preceding day. In the morning open the turtle by leaning heavily with a knife on the shell of the animal's back. We'll stew cut this off all round. Turn it upright on its end that all the water, etc., may run out when the flesh should be cut off along the spine with the knife sloping toward the bones for fear of touching the gall, which sometimes might escape the eye. When all the flesh about the members is obtained, wash these clean and let them drain. Have ready on the fire a large vessel full of boiling water into which put the shells. And when you perceive that they come easily off, take them out of the water and prick them all with those at the back, belly, fins, head, etc. Boil the back and belly till the bones can be taken off without, however, allowing the softer parts to be sufficiently done as they will be boiled again in the soup. When these latter come off easily lay them on earthen dishes singly for fear they should stick together and put them to cool. Keep the liquor in which you have blanched the softer parts and let the bones stew thoroughly in it as this liquor must be used to moisten all the sauces. All the flesh of the interior parts, the four legs and head, must be drawn down in the following manner. Lay the slices of ham on the bottom of a very large stew pan. Over them the knuckles of veal, according to the size of the turtle, then the inside flesh of the turtle and over the whole the members. Now moisten with the water in which you are boiling the shell and draw it down thoroughly. It may now be out-sertained if it be thoroughly done by thrusting a knife into the fleshy part of the meat. If no blood appears it is time to moisten it again with the liquor in which the bones etc. have been boiling. Put in a large bunch of all such sweet herbs as are used in the cooking of a turtle. Sweet basil, sweet marjoram, lemon thyme, winter savoury, two or three bay leaves, common thyme, a handful of parsley and green onions and a large onion stuck with six cloves. Let the whole be thoroughly done. With respect to the members, probe them to see whether they are done and if so, drain and send them to the larder as they are to make their appearance only when the soup is absolutely completed. When the flesh is also completely done, strain it through a silk sieve and make a very thin white roux. For turtle soup must not be much thickened. When the flour is sufficiently done on a slow fire and has a good colour, moisten it with the liquor, keeping it over the fire till it boils. Ascertain that the sauce is neither too thick nor too thin. Then draw the stew pan on the side of the stove to skim off the white scum and all the fat and oil that rise to the surface of the sauce. By this time all the softer parts will be sufficiently cold when they must be cut to about the size of one or two inches square and thrown into the soup, which must now be left to simmer gently. When done, skim off all the fat and froth. Take all the leaves of the herbs from the stock, sweet basil, sweet marjoram, lemon thyme, winter savoury, two or three bay leaves, common thyme, a handful of parsley and green onions and a large onion cut in four pieces with a few blades of mace. Put these in a stew pan with about one quarter pound of fresh butter and let it simmer on a slow fire till quite melted. When pour in one bottle of Good Madeira, adding a small bit of sugar and let it boil gently for one hour. When done rub it through a tammy and add it to the soup. Let this boil till no white scum rises, then take with a skimmer all the bits of turtle out of the sauce and put them in a clean stew pan. When you have all out, pour the soup over the bits of turtle through a tammy and proceed as follows. Canal au tortue. Make some canal au tortue, which being substitutes for eggs, do not require to be very delicate. Take out the fleshy part of a leg of veal, about one pound, scrape off all the meat without leaving any sinews or fat, and soak in milk about the same quantity of crumbs of bread. When the bread is well soaked, squeeze it and put it into a mortar with a veal, a small quantity of calf's udder, a little butter, the yolks of four eggs, boiled hard, a little cayenne pepper, salt and spices, and pound the whole very fine. Then thicken the mixture with two whole eggs and the yolk of another. Next try this farce or stuffing in boiling hot water to ascertain its consistency. If it is too thin, add the yolk of an egg. When the farce is perfected, take half of it and put into it some chopped parsley. Let the whole cool in order to roll it of the size of the yolk of an egg. Poach it in salt and boiling water and when very hard, drain on a sieve and put into the turtle. Before you send up, squeeze the juice of two or three lemons with a little cayenne pepper and pour that into the soup. The fins may be served as a platon tray with a little turtle sauce. If not, on the following day you may warm the turtle, obon Marie, and serve the members entire with a matalote sauce garnished with mushrooms, coxcombs, canal, etc. When either lemon juice or cayenne pepper has been introduced, no boiling must take place. Note, it is necessary to observe that the turtle prepared a day before it is used is generally preferable, the flavor being more uniform. Be particular when you dress a very large turtle to preserve the green fat. Be cautious not to study a very brown color, the natural green of the fish is preferred by every epicure and true connoisseur. In a separate stew pan, and likewise when the turtle is entirely done, to have as many terrenes as you mean to serve each time. You cannot put the whole in a large vessel for many reasons. First, it will be long in cooling. Secondly, when you take some out, it will break all the rest into rags. If you warm in a bain-marie, the turtle will always retain the same taste, but if you boil it often, it becomes strong and loses the delicacy of its flavor. The cost of turtle soup. This is the most expensive soup brought to table. It is sold by the court, one guinea being the standard price for that quantity. The price of live turtle ranges from eight pence to two shillings per pound, according to supply and demand. When live turtle is dear, many cooks use the tinned turtle, which is killed when caught and preserved by being put in hermetically sealed canisters, and so sent over to England. The cost of a tin containing two quarts or four pounds is about two pounds, and for a small one containing the green fat, seven shillings six pence. From these about six quarts of good soup may be made. The green turtle. This reptile is found in large numbers on the coasts of all the islands and continents within the tropics, in both the old and new worlds. Their length is often five feet and upwards, and they range in weight from fifty to five hundred or six hundred pounds. As turtles find a constant supply of food on the coasts, which they frequent, they are not of a quarrelsome disposition, as the submarine meadows in which they pasture yield plenty for them all. Like other species of amphibia, too, they have the power of living many months without food, so that they live harmlessly and peaceably together, notwithstanding that they seem to have no common bond of association, but merely assemble in the same places as if entirely by accident. England is mostly supplied with them from the West Indies, once they are brought alive and intolerable health. The green turtle is highly prized on account of the delicious quality of its flesh, the fat of the upper and lower shields of the animal being esteemed the richest and most delicate parts. The soup, however, is apt to disagree with weak stomachs. As an article of luxury, the turtle has only come into fashion within the last one hundred years, and some hundreds of terrines of turtle soup are served annually at the Lord Mayor's dinner in Guildhall. A good family soup, ingredients, remains of a cold tongue, two pounds of shin of beef, any cold pieces of meat or beef bones, two turnips, two carrots, two onions, one parsnip, one head of celery, four quarts of water, one half tea cup full of rice, salt and pepper to taste, mode, put all the ingredients in a stew pan and simmer gently for four hours or until all the goodness is drawn from the meat. Strain off the soup and let it stand to get cold. The kernels and soft parts of the tongue must be saved. When the soup is wanted for use, skim off all the fat, put in the kernels and soft parts of the tongue, slice in a small quantity of fresh carrot, turnip and onion, stew till the vegetables are tender and serve with toasted bread. Time, five hours, average cost, three pence per quart, seasonable at any time, sufficient for twelve persons. Hodgepodge, ingredients, two pounds of shin of beef, three quarts of water, one pint of table beer, two onions, two carrots, two turnips, one head of celery, pepper and salt to taste, thickening of butter and flour. Mode, put the meat, beer and water in a stew pan, simmer for a few minutes and skim carefully. Add the vegetables and seasoning, stew gently till the meat is tender, thicken with the butter and flour and serve with turnips and carrots or spinach and celery. Time, three hours or rather more, average cost, three pence per quart, seasonable at any time, sufficient for twelve persons. Table beer, this is nothing more than a weak ale and is not made so much with a view to strength as to transparency of color and an agreeable bitterness of taste. It is, or ought to be, manufactured by the London professional brewers from the best pale malt or amber and malt. Six barrels are usually drawn from one quarter of malt, with which are mixed four or five pounds of hops. As a beverage it is agreeable when fresh, but it is not adapted to keep long. End of section eleven, recording by Katie Gibbany, Arkansas. Section twelve of the Book of Household Management. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Belinda Brown in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Book of Household Management by Isabella Beaton. Recipes. Chapter Six, Part Five. Fish Soups. Fish Stock. 192. Ingredients. Two pounds of beef or veal. These can be omitted. Any kind of white fish trimmings of fish which are to be dressed for table. Two onions. The rind of one half a lemon. A bunch of sweet herbs. Two carrots. Two quarts of water. Mode. Cut up the fish and put it with the other ingredients into the water. Simmer for two hours. Skim the liquor carefully and strain it. When a richer stock is wanted, fry the vegetables and fish before adding the water. Time. Two hours. Average cost with meat. Ten pence per quart without three pence. Note. Do not make fish stock long before it is wanted as it soon turns sour. Crayfish soup. 193. Ingredients. Fifty crayfish. One quarter pound of butter. Six anchovies. The crumb of a French roll. A little lobster spun. Seasoning to taste. Two quarts of medium stock. Number 105 or fish stock. Number 192. Mode. Shell the crayfish and put the fish between two plates until they are wanted. Pound the shells in a mortar with the butter and anchovies. When well beaten, add a pint of stock and simmer for three quarters of an hour. Strain it through a hair sieve. Put the remainder of the stock to it with the crumb of the roll. Give it one boil and rub it through a tammy with the lobster spawn. Put in the fish but do not let the soup boil after it has been rubbed through the tammy. If necessary, add seasoning. Time. One and one half hour. Average cost. Two shelling three pence or one shelling nine pence per quart. Seasonable from January to July. Sufficient for eight persons. The crayfish. This is one of those fishes that were highly esteemed by the ancients. The Greeks preferred it when brought from Alexandria and the Romans ate it boiled with cumin. And seasoned with pepper and other condiments. A recipe tells us that crayfish can be preserved several days in baskets with fresh grass such as the nettle or in a bucket with about three-eighths of an inch of water. More water would kill them because the large quantity of air they require necessitates the water in which they are kept to be continually renewed. Eel soup. 194. Ingredients. Three pounds of eels. One onion. Two ounces of butter. Three blades of mace. One bunch of sweet herbs. One quarter ounce of peppercorns. Salt to taste. Two tablespoons of flour. One quarter pint of cream. Two quarts of water. Mode. Wash the eels. Cut them into thin slices and then put them in the stew pan with the butter. Let them simmer for a few minutes. Then pour the water to them and add the onion. Cut into thin slices the herbs, mace and seasonings. Simmer till the eels are tender but do not break the fish. Take them out carefully. Mix the flour smoothly to a batter with the cream. Bring it to a boil. Pour over the eels and serve. Time. One hour or rather more. Average cost. Ten shelling per quart. Seasonable from June to March. Sufficient for eight persons. Note, this soup may be flavored differently by omitting the cream and adding a little ketchup or Harvey sauce. Lobster soup. 195. Ingredients. Three large lobsters or six small ones. The crumb of a French roll. Two anchovies. One onion. One small bunch of sweet herbs. One strip of lemon peel. Two ounces of butter. A little nutmeg. One teaspoon full of flour. One pint of cream. One pint of milk. Four meat balls. Mace. Salt and pepper to taste. Bread crumbs. One egg. Two quarts of water. Mode. Pick the meat from the lobsters and beat the fins, chine and small claws in a mortar. Previously taking away the brown fins and the bag in the head. Put it in a stew pan with the crumb of the roll. Anchovies, onion, herbs, lemon peel and the water. Simmer gently till all the goodness is extracted and strain it off. Pound the spawn in a mortar with the butter, nutmeg and flour and mix it with the cream and milk. Give one boil up. At the same time adding the tails cut in pieces. Make the four meat balls with the remainder of the lobster. Season with mace, pepper and salt. Adding a little flour and a few bread crumbs. Moisten them with the egg. Heat them in the soup and serve. Time. Two hours or rather more. Average cost. Three shelling six pence per quart. Seasonable from April to October. Sufficient for eight persons. Oyster soup. One. 196 ingredients. Six dozen of oysters. Two quarts of white stock. One half pint of cream. Two ounces of butter. One and one half ounces of flour. Salt, cayenne and mace to taste. Mowed. Scald the oysters in their own liquor. Take them out. Beard them and put them in a terrine. Take a pint of the stock. Put in the beards and the liquor. Which must be carefully strained. And simmer for one half an hour. Take it off the fire. Strain it again. And add the remainder of the stock with the seasoning and mace. Bring it to a boil. Add the thickening of the butter and flour. Simmer for five minutes. Stir in the boiling cream. Pour it over the oysters. And serve. Time. One hour. Average cost. Two shelling. Eight pence per quart. Seasonable from September to April. Sufficient for eight persons. Note, this soup can be made less rich by using milk instead of cream. And thickening with arrow root instead of butter and flour. Two. One ninety seven. Ingredients. Two quarts of good mutton broth. Six dozen oysters. Two ounces of butter. One ounce of flour. Mowed. Beard the oysters. And scald them in their own liquor. Then add it well strained to the broth. Thicken with the butter and flour. And simmer for one quarter of an hour. Put in the oysters. Stir well. But do not let it boil. And serve very hot. Time. Three quarters hour. Average cost. Two shelling per quart. Seasonable from September to April. Sufficient for eight persons. Season of oysters. From April and May to the end of July oysters are said to be sick. But by the end of August they become healthy having recovered from the effects of spawning. When they are not in season the males have a black and the females a milky substance in the gills. From some lines of opium it would appear that the ancients were ignorant that the oyster is generally found adhering to rocks. The starfish is one of the most deadly enemies of these bivalves. The poets say. The prickly star creeps on with full deceit to force the oyster from his close retreat. When gaping lids their widened void display the watchful star thrust in a pointed ray. Of all its treasures spoils the rifled case and empty shells the sandy hillcocks grace. Prawn soup. 198. Ingredients. Two quarts of fish stock or water. Two pints of prawns. The crumbs of a French roll. Anchovy sauce or mushroom ketchup to taste. One blade of mace. One pint of vinegar. A little lemon juice. Mode. Pick out the tails of the prawns. Put the bodies in a stew pan with one blade of mace. One half pint of vinegar. And the same quantity of water. Stew them for one quarter hour and strain off the liquor. Put the fish stock or water into a stew pan. Add the strained liquor. Pound the prawns with the crumb of a roll moistened with a little of the soup. Rub them through a tammy and mix them by degrees with the soup. Add ketchup or anchovy sauce to taste with a little lemon juice. When it is well cooked put in a few picked prawns. Let them get thoroughly hot and serve. If not thick enough put in a little butter and flour. Time. One hour. Average cost. One shelling. One pence per quart. If made with water. Seasonable at any time. Sufficient for eight persons. Note this can be thickened with tomatoes and vermicelli served in it. Which makes a very tasteful soup. The prawn. This little fish bears a striking resemblance to the shrimp but is neither so common nor so small. It is to be found on most of the sandy shores of Europe. The Isle of Wight is famous for shrimps where they are potted. But both the prawns and the shrimps vended in London are too much salted for the excellence of their natural flavor to be preserved. They are extremely lively little animals as seen in their native retreats. End of Section 12. Recording by Belinda Brown, Indianapolis, Indiana. Section 13 of the Book of Household Management. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Dennis Sayers. The Book of Household Management. By Isabella Beaton. Fish. Chapter 7. The Natural History of Fishes. 199. In natural history fishes form the fourth class in the system of Linnaeus and are described as having long under jaws, eggs without white, organs of scents, fins for supporters, bodies covered with concave scales, gills to supply the place of lungs for respiration, and water for the natural element of their existence. Had mankind no other knowledge of animals than of such as inhabit the land and breathe their own atmosphere, they would listen with incredulous wonder if told that there were other kinds of beings which existed only in the waters and which would die almost as soon as they were taken from them. However, strongly these facts might be attested, they would hardly believe them without the operation of their own senses as they would recollect the effect produced on their own bodies when immersed in water and the impossibility of their sustaining life in it for any lengthened period of time. Experience, however, has taught them that the great deep is crowded with inhabitants of various sizes and of vastly different constructions with modes of life entirely distinct from those which belong to the animals of the land and with peculiarities of design, equally wonderful with those of any other works which have come from the hand of the Creator. The history of these races, however, must remain forever more or less in a state of darkness since the depths in which they live are beyond the power of human exploration and since the limitable expansion of their domain places them almost entirely out of the reach of human accessibility. In studying the conformation of fishes, we naturally conclude that they are, in every respect, well adapted to the element in which they have their existence. Their shape has a striking resemblance to the lower part of a ship and there is no doubt that the form of the fish originally suggested the form of the ship. The body is, in general, slender, gradually diminishing toward each of its extremities and flattened on each of its sides. This is precisely the form of the lower part of the hull of a ship and it enables both the animal and the vessel, with comparative ease, to penetrate and divide the resisting medium for which they have been adapted. The velocity of a ship, however, in sailing before the wind, is by no means to be compared to that of a fish. It is well known that the largest fishes will, with the greatest ease, overtake a ship in full sail, play round it without effort, and shoot ahead of it at pleasure. This arises from their great flexibility, which to compete with mocks the labors of art and enables them to migrate thousands of miles in a season without the slightest indications of langer or fatigue. 201. The principal instruments employed by fishes to accelerate their motion are their air bladder, fins, and tail. By means of the air bladder, they enlarge or diminish the specific gravity of their bodies. When they wish to sink, they compress the muscles of the abdomen and eject the air contained in it, by which their weight, compared with that of the water, is increased and they consequently descend. On the other hand, when they wish to rise, they relax the compression of the abdominal muscles. When the air bladder fills and distends, and the body immediately ascends to the surface. How simply yet how wonderfully has the supreme being adapted certain means to the attainment of certain ends. Those fishes which are destitute of the air bladder are heavy in the water and have no great alacrity in rising. The larger proportion of them remain at the bottom. Unless they are so formed as to be able to strike their native element downwards with sufficient force to enable them to ascend. When the air bladder of a fish is burst, its power of ascending to the surface has forever passed away. From a knowledge of this fact, the fishermen of cod are enabled to preserve them alive for a considerable time in their well-boats. The means they adopt to accomplish this is to perforate the sound or air bladder with a needle which disengages the air, when the fish immediately descend to the bottom of the well into which they are thrown. Without this operation, it would be impossible to keep the cod underwater whilst they had life. In swimming, the fins enable fishes to preserve their upright position, especially those of the belly which act like two feet. Without those, they would swim with their bellies upward as it is in their backs that the center of gravity lies. In ascending and descending, these are likewise of great assistance as they contract and expand accordingly. The tail is an instrument of great muscular force and largely assists the fish in all its motions. In some instances, it acts like the rudder of a ship and enables it to turn sideways. And when moved from side to side with a quick vibratory motion, fishes are made in the same manner as the screw propeller makes a steamship to dart forward with a celerity proportioned to the muscular force with which it is employed. 202. The bodies of fishes are mostly covered with a kind of horny scales, but some are almost entirely without them or have them so minute as to be almost invisible as is the case with the eel. The object of these is to preserve them from injury by the pressure of the water or the sudden contact with pebbles, rocks, or seaweeds. Others, again, are enveloped in a fatty oligeneous substance, also intended as a defense against the friction of the water, and those in which the scales are small are supplied with a larger quantity of slimy matter. 203. The respiration of fishes is affected by means of those comb-like organs which are placed on each side of the neck and which are called gills. It is curious to watch the process of breathing as it is performed by the Finney tribes. It seems to be so continuous that it might almost pass for an illustration of the vexed problem which conceals the secret of perpetual motion. In performing it, they fill their mouths with water, which they drive backwards with a force so great as to open the large flap to allow it to escape behind. In this operation all, or a great portion, of the air contained in the water is left among the feather-like processes of the gills and is carried into the body, there to perform its part in the animal economy. In proof of this, it has been ascertained that if the water in which fishes are put is by any means denuded of its air, they immediately seek the surface and begin to gasp for it. Hence distilled water is to them what a vacuum made by an air-pump is to most other animals. For this reason, when a fish pond, or other aqueous receptacle in which fishes are kept, is entirely frozen over, it is necessary to make holes in the ice, not so especially for the purpose of feeding them as for that of giving them air to breathe. 2004. The positions of the teeth of fishes are well calculated to excite our amazement, for in some cases these are situated in the jaws, sometimes on the tongue or a palate, and sometimes even in the throat. They are, in general, sharp, pointed, and immovable, but in the carp they are obtuse, and in the pike so easily moved as to seem to have no deeper hold than such as the mere skin can afford. In the herring the tongue is set with teeth. To enable it, the better it is supposed to retain its food. 2005. Although naturalists have divided fishes into two great tribes, the Osseus and the cartilaginaeus, yet the distinction is not very precise. For the first have a great deal of cartilage, and the second, at any rate, a portion of calciarius matter in their bones. It may therefore be said that the fishes form a kind of intermediate substance between true bones and cartilages. The backbone extends through the whole length of the body, and consists of vertebrae, strong and thick towards the head, but weaker and more slender as it approaches the tail. Each species has a determinant number of vertebrae, which are increased in size in proportion with the body. The ribs are attached to the processes of the vertebrae, and enclose the breast and abdomen, some kinds as the rays have no ribs, whilst others as the sturgeon and eel have very short ones. Between the pointed processes of the vertebrae are situated the bones which support the dorsal, or back, and the anal, below the tail, fins, which are connected with the processes by a ligament. At the breast are the sternum, or breastbone, clavicles, or collarbones, and the scapulae, or shoulder blades, on which the pectoral or breast fins are placed. The bones which support the ventral or belly fins are called the casapelvis. Besides these principal bones, there are often other smaller ones placed between the muscles to assist their motion. 2006. Some of the organs of scents and fishes are supposed to be possessed by them in a high degree, and others much more imperfectly. Of the latter kind are the senses of touch and taste, which are believed to be very slightly developed. On the other hand, those of hearing, seeing, and smelling are ascertained to be acute, but the first in a lesser degree than both the second and third. Their possession of an auditory organ was long doubted, and even denied by some physiologists, but it has been found placed on the sides of the skull, or in the cavity which contains the brain. It occupies a position entirely distinct and detached from the skull, and, in this respect, differs in the local disposition of the same sense in birds and quadrupeds. In some fishes, as in those of the ray kind, the organ is wholly encompassed by those parts which contain the cavity of the skull. Whilst in the cod, or salmon kind, it is in the part within the skull. Its structure is, in every way, much more simple than that of the same sense in those animals which live entirely in the air. But there is no doubt that they have the adaptation suitable to their condition. In some genera, as in the rays, the external orifice, or ear, is very small and is placed in the upper surface of the head. Whilst in others there is no visible external orifice, whatever. However perfect the sight of fishes may be, experience has shown that this sense is of much less use to them than that of smelling in searching for their food. The optic nerves in fishes have this peculiarity that they are not confounded with one another in their middle progress between their origin and their orbit. The one passes over the other without any communication so that the nerve which comes from the left side of the brain goes distinctly to the right eye, and that which comes from the right goes distinctly to the left. In the greater part of them the eye is covered with the same transparent skin which covers the rest of the head. The object of this arrangement, perhaps, is to defend it from the action of the water as there are no eyelids. The globe in front is somewhat depressed and is furnished behind with a muscle which serves to lengthen or flatten it according to the necessities of the animal. The crystalline humor which in quadrupeds is flattened is in fishes nearly globular. The organ of smelling in fishes is large and is endued at its entry with a dilating and contracting power which is employed as the wants of the animal may require. It is mostly by the acuteness of their smell that fishes are unable to discover their food for their tongue is not designed for nice sensation being of too firm a cartilaginous substance for this purpose. 2007 With respect to the food of fishes this is almost universally found in their own element. They are mostly carnivorous though they seize upon almost anything that comes in their way. They even devour their own offspring and manifest a particular predilection for all living creatures. Those to which nature has meted out mouths of the greatest capacity would seem to pursue everything with life and frequently engage in fierce conflicts with their prey. The animal with the largest mouth is usually the victor and he has no sooner conquered his foe than he devours him. Innumerable shoals of one species pursue those of another with a ferocity which draws them from the pole to the equator through all the varying temperatures and depths of their boundless domain. In these pursuits a scene of universal violence is the result and many species must have become extinct had not nature accurately proportioned the means of escape the production and the numbers to the extent and variety of the danger to which they are exposed. Hence the smaller species are not only more numerous but more productive than the larger. Whilst their instinct leads them in search of food and safety near the shores where from the shallowness of the waters many of their foes are unable to follow them. 2008 The fecundity of fishes has been the wonder of every natural philosopher whose attention has been attracted to the subject. They are in general a viparous or egg producing but there are a few such as the eel and the blenny which are viviparous or produce their young alive. The males have the milk and the females the roe but some individuals as the sturgeon and the cod tribes are said to contain both. The greater number deposit their spawn in the sand or gravel but some of those which dwell in the depths of the ocean attach their eggs to seaweeds. In every instance however their fruitfulness far surpasses that of any other race of animals. According to Leonook the cod annually spawns upwards of nine millions of eggs contained in a single row. The flounder produces one million the mackerel above five hundred thousand a herring of a moderate size at least ten thousand a carp fourteen inches in length according to Pettit contained two hundred and sixty two thousand two hundred and twenty four a perch deposited three hundred and eighty thousand six hundred and forty and a female sturgeon seven millions six hundred and fifty three thousand two hundred. The viviparous species are by no means so prolific yet the blenny brings forth two or three hundred at a time which commenced sporting together around their parent the moment they have come into existence. 2009 in reference to the longevity of fishes it is affirmed to surpass that of all other created beings it is supposed they are to a great extent exempted from the diseases to which the flesh of other animals is air in place of suffering from the rigidity of age which is the cause of the natural decay of those that live and move and have their being on the land their bodies continue to grow with each succeeding supply of food and the conduits of life to perform their functions unimpaired the age of fishes has not been properly ascertained although it is believed that the most minute of the species has a longer lease of life than man the mode in which they die has been noted by the reverend Mr. White the imminent naturalist of Salbourne as soon as the fish sickens the head sinks lower and lower till the animal, as it were, stands upon it after this, as it becomes weaker it loses its poise till the tail turns over when it comes to the surface and floats with its belly upwards the reason for its floating in this manner is on account of the body being no longer balanced by the fins of the belly and the broad muscular back preponderating by its own gravity over the belly from this latter being a cavity and consequently lighter 2010 fishes are either solitary or gregarious and some of them migrate to great distances into certain rivers to deposit their spawn of sea fishes, the cod, herring, mackerel, and many others assemble in immense shoals and migrate through different tracks of the ocean but whether considered in their solitary or gregarious capacity they are alike wonderful to all who look through nature up to nature's god and consider with due humility yet exalted admiration the sublime variety, beauty, power, and grandeur of his productions as manifested in the creation fish as an article of human food 2011 as the nutritive properties of fishes are deemed inferior to those of what is called butcher's meat it would appear, from all we can learn that in all ages it has held only a secondary place in the estimation of those who have considered the science of gastronomy as a large element in the happiness of mankind among the Jews of old it was very little used although it seems not to have been entirely interdicted as Moses prohibited only the use of such as had neither scales nor fins the Egyptians, however, made fish an article of diet notwithstanding that it was rejected by their priests Egypt, however, is not a country favorable to the production of fish although we read of the people, when hungry, eating it raw of epicures among them having dried it in the sun and of its being salted and preserved to serve as a repest on days of great solemnity the modern Egyptians are in general extremely temperate in regard to food even the richest among them take little pride and perhaps experience as little delight in the luxuries of the table their dishes mostly consist of pilaus, soups, and stews prepared principally of onions, cucumbers, and other cold vegetables mixed with a little meat cut into small pieces on special occasions, however, a whole sheep is placed on the festive board but during several of the hottest months of the year the richest restrict themselves entirely to a vegetable diet the poor are contented with a little oil or sour milk in which they may dip their bread 212 passing from Africa to Europe we come amongst a people who have, almost from time immemorial occupied a high place in the estimation of every civilized country yet the Greeks in their earlier ages made very little use of fish as an article of diet in the eyes of the heroes of Homer it had little favor for Menelaus complained that hunger pressed their digestive organs and they had been obliged to live upon fish subsequently, however, fish became one of the principal articles of diet among the Helenes and both Aristophanes and Atheneus allude to it and even satirized their countrymen for their excessive partiality to the turbot and mullet so infatuated were many of the Greek gastronomes with the love of fish that some of them would have preferred death from indigestion to the relinquishment of the precious dainties with which a few of the species supplied them Phyloxonies of Scythera was one of these on being informed by his physician that he was going to die of indigestion on account of the quantity he was consuming of a delicious fish be it so, he calmly observed but before I die let me finish the remainder 213 the geographical situation of Greece was highly favorable for the development of a taste for the Piscatory tribes and the skill of the Greek cooks was so great that they could impart every variety of relish to the dish they were called upon to prepare Atheneus has transmitted to posterity some very important precepts upon their ingenuity in seasoning with salt, oil, and aromatics at the present day the food of the Greeks through the combined influence of poverty and the long fasts which their religion imposes upon them is to a large extent composed of fish accompanied with vegetables and fruit caviar prepared from the row of sturgeons is the national ragout which like all other fish dishes they season with aromatic herbs snails dressed in garlic are also a favorite dish 214 as the Romans in a great measure took their taste in the fine arts from the Greeks so did they in some measure their Piscine appetites the eel-pout and the lotus's liver were the favorite fish dishes of the Roman Epicurus whilst the red mullet was esteemed as one of the most delicate fishes that could be brought to the table with all the elegance, taste, and refinement of Roman luxury it was sometimes promoted or accompanied by acts of great barbarity in proof of this the mention of the red mullet suggests the mode in which it was sometimes treated for the to us horrible entertainment of the fashionable in Roman circles it may be premised that as England has Rome in her palmy days had her fobs who had no doubt through the medium of their cooks discovered that when the scales of the red mullet were removed the flesh presented a fine pink color having discovered this it was further observed that at the death of the animal this color passed through a succession of beautiful shades and in order that these might be witnessed and enjoyed in their fullest perfection the poor mullet was served alive in a glass vessel two hundred and fifteen the love of fish among the ancient Romans rose to a real mania Apicius offered a prize to anyone who could invent a new brine compounded of the liver of red mullets and Loculus had a canal cut through a mountain in the neighborhood of Naples that fish might be the more easily transported to the gardens of his villa Hortensius, the orator wept over the death of a turbot which he had fed with his own hands and the daughter of Drusseys adorned one that she had with rings of gold these were surely instances of misplaced affection but there is no accounting for tastes it was but the other day that we read in the times of a wealthy living English hermit who delights in the companionship of rats the modern Romans are merged with the general name of Italians who, with the exception of macaroni have no specially characteristic article of food two hundred and sixteen from Rome to Gaul is considering the means of modern locomotion no great way but the ancient, sumtuary laws of that kingdom give us little information regarding the Ictheophagus propensities of its inhabitants Louis XII engaged six fishmongers to furnish his board with fresh water animals and Francis I had twenty-two whilst Henry the Great extended his requirements a little further and had twenty-four in the time of Louis XIV the cooks had attained to such a degree of perfection in their art that they could convert the form and flesh of the trout, pike or carp into the very shape and flavor of the most delicious game the French long enjoyed a European reputation for their skill in refinement in the preparing of food in place of plain joints French cookery delights in the marvels of what are called made dishes ragout, stews and fricassee in which no trace of the original materials of which they are compounded is to be found two hundred and seventeen from Gaul we cross to Britain where it has been asserted by at least one authority that the ancient inhabitants ate no fish however this may be we know that the British shores particularly those of the North Sea have always been well supplied with the best kinds of fish which we can reasonably infer was not unknown to the inhabitants or likely to be lost upon them for the lack of knowledge as to how they tasted by the time of Edward II fish had in England become a dainty especially the sturgeon which was permitted to appear on no table but that of the king in the fourteenth century a decree of King John informs us that the people ate both seals and porpoises whilst in the days of the troubadours whales were fished for and caught in the Mediterranean sea for the purpose of being used as human food whatever checks the ancient British may have had upon their piscatory appetites there are happily none of any great consequence among the modern who delight in wholesome food of every kind their taste is perhaps too much inclined to that which is accounted solid and substantial but they really eat more moderately even of animal food than either the French or the Germans roast beef or other viands cooked in the plainest manner with them a sufficient luxury yet they delight in living well whilst it is easy to prove how largely their affections are developed by even the prospect of a substantial cheer in proof of this we will just observe that if a great dinner is to be celebrated it is not uncommon for the appointed stewards and committee to meet and have a preliminary dinner among themselves in order to arrange the great one and after that to have another dinner to discharge the bill which the great one cost this enjoyable disposition we take to form a very large item in the aggregate happiness of the nation 218 the general use of fish as an article of human food among civilized nations we have thus sufficiently shown and we'll conclude this portion of our subject with the following hints which ought to be remembered by all those who are fond of occasionally varying their dietary with a piscine dish Roman numeral one fish shortly before they spawn are in general best in condition when the spawning is just over they are out of season and unfit for human food Roman numeral two when fish is out of season it has a transparent blueish tinge however much it may be boiled when it is in season its muscles are firm and boil white and curdy Roman numeral three as food for invalids white fish such as the ling cod, haddock, coalfish and whiting are the best flat fish as souls skate, turbot and flounders are also good Roman numeral four salmon, mackerel, herrings and trout soon spoil or decompose after they are killed for to be in perfection they should be prepared for the table on the day they are caught with flat fish this is not of such consequence as they will keep longer the turbot for example is improved by being kept a day or two general directions for dressing fish 219 in dressing fish of any kind the first point to be attended to is to see that it be perfectly clean it is a common error to wash it too much as by doing so the flavor is diminished if the fish is to be boiled a little salt and vinegar should be put into the water to give it firmness after it is cleaned codfish, whiting and haddock are far better if a little salted and kept a day and if the weather be not very hot they will be good for two days 220 when fish is cheap and plentiful and a larger quantity is purchased than is immediately wanted the over plus of such as will bear it should be potted or pickled or salted and hung up or it may be fried that it may serve for stewing the next day fresh water fish having frequently a muddy smell and taste should be soaked in strong salt and water after it has been well cleaned if of a sufficient size it may be scalded in salt and water and afterwards dried and dressed 220 fish should be put into cold water and set on the fire to do very gently or the outside will break before the inner part is done unless the fishes are small they should never be put into warm water nor should water either hot or cold be poured on to the fish as it is liable to break the skin if it should be necessary to add a little water whilst the fish is cooking it ought to be poured in gently at the side of the vessel the fish plate may be drawn up to see if the fish be ready which may be known by its easily separating from the bone it should then be immediately taken out of the water or it will become woolly the fish plate should be set cross ways over the kettle to keep hot for serving and a clean cloth over the fish to prevent its losing its color 222 in garnishing fish great attention is required and plenty of parsley, horseradish and lemon should be used if fried parsley be used it must be washed and picked and thrown into fresh water when the lard or dripping boils throw the parsley into it immediately from the water and instantly it will be green and crisp and must be taken up with a slice when well done and with very good sauce fish is more appreciated than almost any other dish the liver and roe in some instances should be placed on the dish in order that they may be distributed in the course of serving but to each recipe will be appended the proper mode of serving and garnishing 223 if fish is to be fried or boiled it must be dried in a nice soft cloth after it is well cleansed and washed if for frying brush it over with egg and sprinkle it with some fine crumbs of bread if done a second time with the egg and bread the fish will look so much the better if required to be very nice a sheet of white blotting paper must be placed to receive it that it may be free from all grease it must also be of a beautiful color and all the crumbs appear distinct butter gives a bad color lard and clarified dripping are most frequently used but oil is the best the expense be no objection the fish should be put into the lard when boiling and there should be a sufficiency of this to cover it 224 when fish is broiled it must be seasoned floured and laid on a very clean gridiron which when hot should be rubbed with a bit of suet to prevent the fish from sticking it must be broiled over a very clear fire that it may not taste smoky and not too near that it may not be scorched 225 in choosing fish it is well to remember that it is possible it may be fresh and yet not good under the head of each particular fish in this work are appended rules for its choice and the months when it is in season nothing can be of greater consequence to a cook than to have the fish good as if this important course in a dinner does not give satisfaction it is rarely that the repest goes off well End of Section 13 Read by Dennis Sares in Modesto, California for LibriVox Fall 2007