the middle part, instead of leaving them in their natural place. After you have drained the fish, cover it over with a maître d'hôtel (Steward's sauce, No. 31).

535. Perch plain boiled, with Dutch Sauce.

After having emptied the fish, scale them well, and boil them, with water and salt, for a quarter of an hour. Serve them up on a cloth, with parsley quite green all round, and send up the Dutch sauce (No 72), separately.

TENCH.

Tench is a fish which real epicures think very little of; it is more admissible in a matelot than in any other way. However, it may be dressed either broiled, with courtbouillon, or farcie (stuffed), the same in every respect as a carp. (See Carp, page 237.)

536. Fried Tench.

After having scaled and emptied the tench, split the back of the fish, but take care not to touch the belly, for if you do, it will divide. Let it pickle for three hours in vinegar, salt, pepper, stalks of parsley, and onions. Then drain it and dip it into flour. Fry it of a fine colour, and quite firm. The dripping must be very hot. This you try with a drop of water, which being thrown into the dripping, occasions a noise, if it is in a proper state. Send it up to table on a cloth, with fried parsley all round; if you have a soft roe, fry it likewise, and serve it in the middle.

TROUT, AND SALMON-TROUT.

Trout is never good unless caught in running water; indeed it is seldom to be found elsewhere. It is to be cooked or dressed in the same manner as salmon, and is generally better and more delicate.

537. Trout stewed in Court Bouillon,

Empty the trout without making a large opening in the belly. Wash it well; wrap it up in a cloth, fasten both ends with a bit of packthread, and bind the middle, or body, but not too tight. Then stew it in a court-bouillon. (See Court-bouillon, page 508.) When the trout is done, drain it, unfold the cloth, and send the fish up to table on another clean cloth, with green parsley all round. Send up the Dutch sauce (No. 72), in a boat.

538. Trout with Genévoise Sauce.

After having emptied the trout, fasten the head with packthread, and stew it (without having removed the scales) with marinade. This is to be dressed exactly in the same manner as the pike (see Pike à la Genévoise, No. 520), only put rather more cloves with this sauce, and make it with red wine instead of white. All red fish should be dressed with red wine in preference to white. When the trout is done, take off the scales and skin, and put it again to warm with some of the liquor, and serve with the sauce over it.

539. Fillets of Trout à l'Aurore.

Take up the fillets of three trouts with the skin off. Pare them in the shape of hearts. Put them into a sauté-pan with melted butter, salt, and pepper. Fry them sharply on a clear fire; turn them over, and when they are done, dish them miroton way, and cover them over with the sauce à l'aurore (No. 96). The sauce à l'aurore, with

the fish, is the same sauce as that which you will find before under the name of maréchale (No. 103), only when à l'aurore, you add to it a butter made red with the spawn of lobster, which must be rubbed through a tammy or sieve.

540. Baked Trout.

Having emptied and scaled the trout, put a stuffing well seasoned into the belly, then turn it round, with its tail fixed in its mouth. Put the fish in a small quantity of marinade, so that it may be just covered. Baste it frequently, and let it be made a fine colour. When it is done, reduce one-half of the liquor in which the trout has been stewing, put in a good lump of fresh butter kneaded with flour, with a little essence of anchovies, a few fine capers, salt and pepper, if the sauce is not sufficiently seasoned; but be careful, when you use anchovies, not to use too much salt. Then squeeze the juice of a lemon, drain the fish, send it up to table, with the sauce under it, but without covering the fish.

541. Trout plain Boiled.

After having emptied, scaled, and washed the fish, have some boiling water ready, into which put the trout with a good handful of salt only, but no vinegar, as it spoils the colour of the fish. When it is done, drain it well, and serve it up on a clean cloth, garnished with parsley. Send up lobster sauce separately in a boat, or Dutch sauce (No. 72.) The length of time it should boil is left to the judgment of the cook; the size determines the time. But keep in mind, that when the fish remains long in the water it loses its flavour and quality; for this reason, take care to boil it precisely at the time it is

wanted.

LAMPREY.

Although very few people are partial to this fish, some, however, like it as a matelot; it is then to be cooked in the same manner as the eel. You must notice, however, that the lamprey requires a very long time before it is done. Make a sauce à matelotte (No. 39), in which let the fish simmer for an hour and a half, or two hours if the fish is of a large size.

CRAWFISH.

Crawfish is good only when it does not spawn, for when it does it is most nauseously bitter. Wash it well in several clean waters, till the water remains perfectly limpid and bright. Trim a stewpan with a few slices of carrots, onions, roots and stalks of parsley, thyme, bay-leaves, two cloves, salt, pepper, a glass of vinegar, and some water. Let the whole stew for an hour, drain it through a sieve, and put the live crawfish into the seasoning to boil. Keep stirring them almost without interruption, that they may be done all alike, for twenty minutes. Keep them in the seasoning till you send them up to table, as they take a better flavour.

When the best crawfish have been sent to table plain, take the smaller ones and pick off the lesser claws; cut the large ones in half, beard them, pick the tail; put all these in a cloth, and shake them well, that there may be no water left. Then take two spoonsful of velouté (No. 21), a quarter of a pound of butter, some pepper and salt, chopped parsley, a little cavice, and the juice of a lemon. Put the crawfish in this sauce, which must be thick, and send up to table quite hot.

543. Bisque of Crawfish.

This is a potage (soup) which is sent to table on gala days only, when you are obliged to make a frequent change of soups. Take the best crawfish you can procure, according to the quantity you may want. Five or six dozen at least are generally requisite. If you boil the crawfish expressly for the occasion, do not put vinegar. Lay aside two dozen and a half of the finest tails, that remain whole. Pound the rest, with all the meat, and fleshy parts of the inside, in a mortar with the flesh of the breasts of two roasted fowls or chickens. Have ready the crumb of two French penny loaves soaked or boiled in rich broth. Put it into the mortar, with the yolks of three eggs boiled hard. Pound the whole together. Next put the shells of the crawfish to boil in a little broth; then use some of the liquor to dilute the pounded meat, and rub it through a tammy. Now boil a pint and a half of cream, which keep continually stirring round, in order to prevent a scum from rising. Pour the cream into the soup, and season it well. Have the red spawn of a lobster well pounded, dilute it with some of the broth, and mix it with your soup. Keep it hot, without boiling. Soak a few

rounds of bread, which lay at the bottom of the tureen. Pour your bisque into the tureen, over the bread; place the tails that you have laid aside previously, all round the tureen over the soup, and serve up hot. Mind the soup is not to be too thick; and season it of a good flavour.

The crawfish, in this case, must be dressed as directed in page 255, 1st article. They never serve but for a garnish, and then the small claws must always be taken off. Take care to beard the fish, to take off all the small claws, and that it is of a fine colour. Thus prepared, they may be used for either chambords, godards, (with chambord or godard ragouts, Nos. 76 and 77), matelottes, fricassées pâtés chauds (hot patties), aspics, &c. &c.