Books Index  ~  Accomplisht Cook or The Art & Mystery of Cookery by Robert May

Section XV.

OR, The Third Section for dressing of FISH.

The most excellent ways of Dressing Salmon, Bace, or Mullet.

To Calver Salmon to be eaten hot or cold.

Chine it, and cut each side into two or three peices according to the bigness, wipe it clean from the blood and not wash it; then have as much wine and water as you imagine will cover it, make the liquor boil, and put in a good handful of salt; when the liquor boils put in the salmon, and boil it up quick with a quart of white-wine vinegar, keep up the fire stiff to the last, and being througly boil’d, which will be in the space of half an hour or less, then take it off the fire and let it cool, take it up into broad bottomed earthen pans, and being quite cold, which will be in a day, a night, or twelve hours, then put in the liquor to it, and so keep it.

Some will boil in the liquor some rosemary bound up in a bundle hard, two or three cloves, two races of slic’t ginger, three or four blades of large mace, and a lemon peel. Others will boil it in beer only.

Or you may serve it being hot, and dish it on sippets in a clean scowred dish; dish it round the dish or in pieces  and garnish it with slic’t ginger, large mace, a clove or two, gooseberries, grapes, barberries, slic’t lemon, fryed parsley, ellicksaders, sage, or spinage fried.

To make sauce for the foresaid salmon, beat some butter up thick with a little fair water, put 2 or three yolks of eggs dissolved into it, with a little of the liquor, grated nutmeg, and some slic’t lemon, pour it on the salmon, and garnish the dish with fine searsed manchet, barberries, slic’t lemon, and some spices, and fryed greens as aforesaid.

To stew a small Salmon, Salmon Peal, or Trout.

Take a salmon, draw it, scotch the back, and boil it whole in a stew-pan with white-wine, (or in pieces) put to it also some whole cloves, large mace, slic’t ginger, a bay-leaf or two, a bundle of sweet herbs well and hard bound up, some whole pepper, salt, some butter, and vinegar, and an orange in halves; stew all together, and being well stewed, dish them in a clean scowred dish with carved sippets, lay on the spices and slic’t lemon, and run it over with beaten butter, and some of the gravy it was stewed in; garnish the dish with some fine searsed manchet or searsed ginger.

Otherways a most excellent way to stew Salmon.

Take a rand or jole of salmon, fry it whole raw, and being fryed, stew it in a dish on a chaffing dish of coals, with some claret-wine, large mace, slic’t nutmeg, salt, wine-vinegar, slic’t orange, and some sweet butter; being stewed and the sauce thick, dish it on sippets, lay the spices on it, and some slices of oranges, garnish the dish with some stale manchet finely searsed and strewed over all.

To pickle Salmon to keep all the year.

Take a Salmon, cut it in six round pieces, then broil it in white-wine, vinegar, and a little water, three parts wine and vinegar, and one of water; let the liquor boil before you put in the salmon, and boil it a quarter of an hour; then take it out of the liquor, drain it very well, and take rosemary sprigs, bay-leaves, cloves, mace, and gross pepper, a good quantity of each, boil them in two quarts of white-wine, and two quarts of white-wine vinegar, boil it well, then take the salmon being quite cold, and rub it with pepper, and salt, pack it in a vessel that will but just contain it, lay a layer of salmon and a layer of spice that is boil’d in the liquor; but let the liquor and spice be very cold before you put it to it; the salmon being close packed put in the liquor, and once in half a year, or as it grows dry, put some white-wine or sack to it, it will keep above a year; put some lemon-peel into the pickle, let the salmon be new taken if possible.

An excellent way to dress Salmon, or other Fish.

Take a piece of fresh salmon, wash it clean in a little wine-vinegar, and let it lye a little in it in a broad pipkin with a cover, put to it six spoonfuls of water, four of vinegar, as much of white-wine, some salt, a bundle of sweet herbs, a few whole cloves, a little large mace, and a little stick of cinamon, close up the pipkin with paste, and set it in a kettle of seething water, there let it stew three hours; thus you may do carps, trouts, or eels, and alter the taste at your pleasure.

To hash Salmon.

Take salmon and set it in warm water, take off the skin, and mince a jole, rand, or tail with some fresh eel;  being finely minced season it with beaten cloves, mace, salt, pepper, and some sweet herbs; stew it in a broad mouthed pipkin with some claret wine, gooseberries, barberries, or grapes, and some blanched chesnuts; being finely stewed serve it on sippets about it, and run it over with beaten butter, garnish the dish with stale grated manchet searsed, some fryed oysters in batter, cockles, or prawns; sometimes for variety use pistaches, asparagus boil’d and cut an inch long, or boil’d artichocks, and cut as big as a chesnut, some stewed oysters, or oyster-liquor, and some horse-raddish scraped, or some of the juyce; and rub the bottom of the dish wherein you serve it with a clove of garlick.

To dress Salmon in Stoffado.

Take a whole rand or jole, scale it, and put it in an earthen stew-pan, put to it some claret, or white-wine, some wine-vinegar, a few whole cloves, large mace, gross pepper, a little slic’t ginger, salt, and four or five cloves of garlick, then have three or four streight sprigs of rosemary as much of time, and sweet marjoram, two or 3 bay leaves and parsley bound up into a bundle hard, and a quarter of a pound of good sweet butter, close up the earthen pot with course paste, bake it in an oven, & serve it on sippets of French bread, with some of the liquor and spices on it, run it over with beaten butter and barberries, lay some of the herbs on it, slic’t lemon and lemon-peel.

To marinate Salmon to be eaten hot or cold.

Take a Salmon, cut it into joles and rands, & fry them in good sweet sallet oyl or clarified butter, then set them by in a charger, and have some white or claret-wine, & wine vinegar as much as will cover it, put the wine & vinegar into a pipkin with all maner of sweet herbs bound up in a bundle as rosemary, time, sweet marjoram, parsly  winter-savory, bay-leaves, sorrel, and sage, as much of one as the other, large mace, slic’t ginger, gross pepper, slic’t nutmeg, whole cloves, and salt; being well boil’d together, pour it on the fish, spices and all, being cold, then lay on slic’t lemons, and lemon-peel, and cover it up close; so keep it for present spending, and serve it hot or cold with the same liquor it is soust in, with the spices, herbs, and lemons on it.

If to keep long, pack it up in a vessel that will but just hold it, put to it no lemons nor herbs, only bay-leaves; if it be well packed, it will keep as long as sturgeon, but then it must not be splatted, but cut round ways through chine and all.

To boil Salmon in stewed Broth.

Take a jole, chine, or rand, put it in a stew-pan or large pipkin with as much claret wine and water as will cover it, some raisins of the sun, prunes, currans, large mace, cloves, whole cinamon, slic’t ginger, and salt, set it a stewing over a soft fire, and when it boils put in some thickning of strain’d bread, or flour, strain’d with some prunes being finely stewed, dish it up on sippets in a clean scowred dish, put a little sugar in the broth, the fruit on and some slic’t lemon.

To fry Salmon.

Take a jole, rand, or chine, or cut it round through chine and all half an inch thick, or in square pieces fry it in clarified butter; being stiff & crisp fryed, make sauce with two or three spoonfuls of claret-wine, some sweet butter, grated nutmeg, some slices of orange, wine-vinegar, and some oyster-liquor; stew them all together, and dish the salmon, pour on the sauce, and lay on some fresh slices of oranges and fryed parsley, ellicksander, sage-leaves  fryed in batter, pippins sliced and fryed, or clary fryed in butter, or yolks of eggs, and quarters of oranges and lemons round the dish sides, with some fryed greens in halves or quarters.

To roast a Salmon according to this Form.

Take a salmon, draw it at the gills, and put in some sweet herbs in his belly whole; the salmon being scalded and the slime wip’t off, lard it with pickled herrings, or a fat salt eel, fill his belly with some great oysters stewed, and some nutmeg; let the herbs be tyme, rosemary, winter savory, sweet marjoram, a little onion and garlick, put them in the belly of the salmon, baste it with butter, and set it in an oven in a latten dripping-pan, lay it on sticks and baste it with butter, draw it, turn it, and put some claret wine in the pan under it, let the gravy drip into it, baste it out of the pan with rosemary and bayes, and put some anchoves into the wine also, with some pepper and nutmeg; then take the gravy and clear off the fat, boil it up, and beat it thick with butter; then put the fish in a large dish, pour the sauce on it, and rip up his belly, take out some of the oysters, and put them in the sauce, and take away the herbs.

Otherways.

Take a rand or jole, cut it into four pieces, and season it with a little nutmeg and salt, stick a few cloves, and put it on a small spit, put between it some bay-leaves, and stick it with little sprigs of rosemary, roast it and baste it with butter, save the gravy, with some wine-vinegar, sweet butter, and some slices of orange; the meat being rosted, dish it, and pour on the sauce.

To broil or toast Salmon.

Take a whole salmon, a jole, rand, chine, or slices cut round it the thickness of an inch, steep these in wine-vinegar, good sweet sallet oyl and salt, broil them on a soft fire, and baste them with the same sauce they were steeped in, with some streight sprigs of rosemary, sweet marjoram, tyme, and parsley: the fish being broil’d, boil up the gravy and oyster-liquor, dish up the fish, pour on the sauce, and lay the herbs about it.

To broil or roast a Salmon in Stoffado.

Take a jole, rand, or chine, and steep it in claret-wine, wine-vinegar, white-wine, large mace, whole cloves, two or three cloves of garlick, slic’t ginger, gross pepper and salt; being steeped about two hours, broil it on a soft fire, and baste it with butter, or very good sallet oyl, sprigs of rosemary, tyme, parsley, sweet marjoram, and some two or three bay-leaves, being broiled, serve it with the sauce it was steeped in, with a little oyster-liquor put to it, dish the fish, warm the sauce it was stewed in, and pour it on the fish either in butter or oyl, lay the spices and herbs about it; and in this way you may roast it, cut the jole, or rand in six pieces if it be large, and spit it with bayes and rosemary between, and save the gravy for sauce.

Sauces for roast or boil’d Salmon.

Take the gravy of the salmon, or oyster liquor, beat it up thick with beaten butter, claret wine, nutmeg, and some slices of orange.

Otherways, with gravy of the salmon, butter, juyce of orange or lemon, sugar, and cinamon, beat up the sauce with the butter pretty thick, dish up the salmon, pour on the sauce, and lay it on slices of lemon.

Or beaten butter, with slices of orange or lemon, or the juyce of them, or grape verjuyce and nutmeg.

Otherways, the gravy of the salmon, two or three anchoves dissolved in it, grated nutmeg, and grated bread beat up thick with butter, the yolk of an egg and slices of oranges, or the juyce of it.

To bake Salmon.

Take a salmon being new, scale it, draw it, and wipe it dry, scrape out the blood from the back-bone, scotch it on the back and side, then season it with pepper, nutmeg, and salt; the pie being made, put butter in the bottom of it, a few whole cloves, and some of the seasoning, lay on the salmon, and put some whole cloves on it, some slic’t nutmeg, and butter, close it up and baste it over with eggs, or saffron water, being baked fill it up with clarified butter.

Or you may flay the salmon, and season as aforesaid with the same spices, and not scotch it but lay on the skin again, and lard it with Eels.

For the past only boiling liquor, with three gallons of fine or course flour made up very stiff.

To make minced Pies of Salmon.

Mince a rand of fresh salmon very small, with a good fresh water eel being flayed and boned; then mince, some violet leaves, sorrel, strawberry-leaves, parsley, sage, savory, marjoram, and time, mingle all together with the meat currans, cinamon, nutmeg, pepper, salt, sugar, caraways; rose-water, white-wine, and some minced orangado, put some butter in the bottom of the pies, fill them, and being baked ice them, and scrape on sugar; Make them according to these forms.

To make Chewits of Salmon.

Mince a rand of salmon with a good fresh water eel, being boned, flayed, and seasoned with pepper, salt, nutmeg cinamon, beaten ginger, caraway-seed, rose-water, butter, verjuyce, sugar, and orange-peel minced mingle all together with some slic’t dates, and currans, put butter in the bottom, fill the pies, close them up, bake them, and ice them.

To make a Lumber Pye of Salmon.

Mince a rand, jole, or tail with a good fat fresh eel seasoned in all points as beforesaid, put five or six yolks of eggs to it with one or two whites, make it into balls or rouls, with some hard eggs in quarters, put some butter in the pye, lay on the rouls, and on them large mace, dates in halves, slic’t lemon, grapes, or barberries, & butter, close it up, bake it, and ice it; being baked, cut up the cover, fry some sage-leaves in batter, in clarified butter, and stick them in the rouls, cut the cover, and lay it on the plate about the pie, or mingle it with an eel cut into dice work, liquor it with verjuyce, sugar, and butter.

To boil Bace, Mullet, Gurnet, Rochet, Wivers, &c.

Take a mullet, draw it, wash it, and boil it in fair water and salt, with the scales on, either splatted or whole, but first let the liquor boil, being finely boiled, dish it upon a clean scowred dish, put carved sippets round about it, and lay the white side uppermost, garnish it with slic’t lemon, large mace, lemon-peel, and barberries, then make a lear or sauce with beaten butter, a little water, slices of lemon, juyce of grapes or orange, strained with the yolks of two or three eggs.

To souce Mullets or Bace.

Draw them & boil them with the scales, but first wash them clean, & lay them in a dish with some salt, cast upon them some slic’t ginger, & large mace, put some wine vinegar to them, and two or three cloves; then set on the fire a kettle with as much wine as water, when the pan boils put in the fish and some salt; boil it with a soft fire, & being finely boiled and whole, take them up with a false bottom and 2 wires all together. If you will jelly   them, boil down the liquor to a jelly with a piece of ising-glass; being boil’d to a jelly, pour it on the fish, spices and all into an earthen flat bottomed pan, cover it up close, and when you dish the fish, serve it with some of the jelly on it, garnish the dish with slic’t ginger and mace, and serve with it in saucers wine vinegar, minc’t fennil and slic’t ginger; garnish the dish with green fennil and flowers, and parsley on the fish.

To marinate Mullets or Bace.

Scale the mullets, draw them, and scrape off the slime, wash & dry them with a clean cloth, flour them and fry them in the best sallet oyl you can get, fry them in a frying pan or in a preserving pan, but first before you put in the fish to fry, make the oyl very hot, fry them not too much, but crisp and stiff; being clear, white, and fine fryed, lay them by in an earthen pan or charger till they be all fry’d, lay them in a large flat bottom’d pan that they may lie by one another, and upon one another at length, and pack them close; then make pickle for them with as much wine vinegar as will cover them the breadth of a finger, boil in it a pipkin with salt, bay-leaves, sprigs or tops of rosemary, sweet marjoram, time, savory, and parsley, a quarter of a handful of each, and whole pepper; give these things a warm or two on the fire, pour it on the fish, and cover it close hot; then slice 3 or 4 lemons being par’d, save the peels, and put them to the fish, strow the slices of lemon over the fish with the peels, and keep them close covered for your use. If this fish were barrel’d up, it would keep as long as sturgeon, put half wine vinegar, and half white-wine, the liquor not boil’d, nor no herbs in the liquor, but fry’d bay-leaves, slic’t nutmegs, whole cloves, large mace, whole pepper, and slic’t ginger; pack the fishes close, and once a month turn the head of the vessel  downward; will keep half a year without barrelling.

Marinate these fishes following as the mullet; viz, Bace, Soals, Plaice, Flounders, Dabs, Pike, Carp, Bream, Pearch, Tench, Wivers, Trouts, Smelts, Gudgeons, Mackarel, Turbut, Holly-bur, Gurnet, Roachet, Conger, Oysters, Scollops, Cockles, Lobsters, Prawns, Crawfish, Muscles, Snails, Mushrooms, Welks, Frogs.

To marinate Bace, Mullet, Gurnet, or Rochet otherways.

Take a gallon of vinegar, a quart of fair water, a good handful of bay-leaves, as much of rosemary, and a quarter of a pound of pepper beaten, put these together, and let them boil softly, season it with a little salt, then fry your fish in special good sallet oyl, being well clarifi’d, the fish being fryed put them in an earthen vessel or barrel, lay the bay-leaves, and rosemary between every layer of the fish, and pour the broth upon it, when it is cold close up the vessel; thus you may use it to serve hot or cold, and when you dish it to serve, garnish it with slic’t lemon, the peel and barberries.

To broil Mullet, Bace, or Bream.

Take a mullet; draw it, and wash it clean, broil it with the scales on, or without scales, and lay it in a dish with some good sallet oyl, wine vinegar, salt, some sprigs of rosemary, time, and parsley, then heat the gridiron, and lay on the fish, broil it on a soft fire, on the embers, and baste it with the sauce it was steep’d in, being broiled serve it in a clean warm dish with the sauce it was steeped in, the herbs on it, and about the dish, cast on salt, and so serve it with slices of orange, lemon, or barberries.

Or broil it in butter and vinegar with herbs as above-said, and make sauce with beaten butter and vinegar.

Or beaten butter and juyce of lemon and orange.

Sometimes for change, with grape verjuyce, juyce of sorrel, beaten butter and the herbs.

To fry Mullets.

Scale, draw, and scotch them, wash them clean, wipe them dry and flour them, fry them in clarified butter, and being fried, put them in a dish, put to them some claret wine, slic’t ginger, grated nutmeg, an anchove, salt, and some sweet butter beat up thick, give the fish a warm with a minced lemon, and dish it, but first rub the dish with a clove of garlick.

The least Mullets are the best to fry.

To bake a Mullet or Bace.

Scale, garbidge, wash and dry the Mullet very well, then lard it with a salt eel, season it, and make a pudding for it with grated bread, sweet herbs, and some fresh eel minced, put also the yolks of hard eggs, an anchove wash’d & minc’d very small, some nutmeg, & salt, fill the belly or not fill it at all, but cut it into quarters or three of a side, and season them with nutmeg, ginger, and pepper, lay them in your pie, and make balls and lay them upon the pieces of Mullet, then put on some capers, prawns, or cockles, yolks of eggs minced, butter, large mace, and barberries, close it up, and being bak’d cut up the lid, and stick it full of cuts of paste, lozenges, or other pretty garnish, fill it up with beaten butter, and garnish it with slic’t lemon.

Or you may bake it in a patty pan with better paste than that which is made for pyes.

This is a very good way for tench or bream.