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

Section XVIII.

OR, The Sixth Section of FISH.

The A-la-mode ways of Dressing and Ordering of Sturgeon.

To boil Sturgeon to serve hot.

Take a rand, wash off the blood, and lay it in vinegar and salt, with the slice of a lemon, some large mace, slic’t ginger, and two or three cloves, then set on a pan of fair water, put in some salt, and when it boils put in the fish, with a pint of white-wine, a pint of wine vinegar, and the foresaid spices, but not the lemon; being finely boil’d, dish it on sippets, and sauce it with beaten butter, and juyce of orange beaten together, or juyce of lemon, large mace, slic’t ginger, and barberries, and garnish the dish with the same.

Otherways.

Take a rand and cut it in square pieces as big as a hens egg, stew them in a broad mouthed pipkin with two or three good big onions, fome large mace, two or three cloves, pepper, salt, some slic’t nutmeg, a bay-leaf or two some white-wine and water, butter, and a race of slic’t ginger, stew them well together, and serve them on sippets  of French bread, run them over with beaten butter, slic’t lemon and barberries, and garnish the dish with the same.

Sturgeon buttered.

Boil a rand, tail, or jole in water and salt, boil it tender, and serve it with beaten butter and slic’t lemon.

To make a hot Hash of Sturgeon.

Take a rand, wash it out of the blood, and take off the scales, and skin, mince the meat very small, and season it with beaten mace, pepper, salt, and some sweet herbs minced small, stew all in an earthen pipkin with two or three big whole onions, butter, and white-wine; being finely stewed, serve it on sippets with beaten butter, minced lemon, and boil’d chesnuts.

To make a cold Hash of Sturgeon.

Take a rand of sturgeon being fresh and new, bake it whole in an earthen pan dry, and close it up with a piece of course paste; being baked and cold slice it into little slices as small as a three pence, and dish them in a fine clean dish, lay them round the bottom of it, and strow on them pepper, salt, a minced onion, a minced lemon, oyl, vinegar, and barberries. 

To marinate a whole Sturgeon in rands and joles.

Take a sturgeon fresh taken, cut it in joles and rands, wash off the blood, and wipe the pieces dry from the blood and slime, flour them, & fry them in a large kettle in four gallons of rape oyl clarified, being fryed fine and crisp, put it into great chargers, frayes, or bowls; then have 2 firkins, and being cold, pack it in them as you do   boil’d sturgeon that is kept in pickle, then make the sauce or pickle of 2 gallons of white-wine, and three gallons of white-wine vinegar; put to them six good handfuls of salt, 3 in each vessel, a quarter of a pound large mace, six ounces of whole pepper, and three ounces of slic’t ginger, close it up in good sound vessels, and when you serve it, serve it in some of its own pickle, the spices on it, and slic’t lemon.

To make a farc’t meat of Sturgeon.

Mince it raw with a good fat eel, and being fine minced, season it with cloves, mace, pepper, and salt, mince some sweet herbs and put to it, and make your farcings in the forms of balls, pears, stars, or dolphins; if you please stuff carrots or turnips with it.

To dress a whole Sturgeon in Stoffado cut into Rands and Joles to eat hot or cold.

Take a sturgeon, draw it, and part it in two halves from the tail to the head, cut it into rands and joles a foot long or more, then wash off the blood and slime, and steep it in wine-vinegar, and white-wine, as much as will cover it, or less, put to it eight ounces of slic’t ginger, six ounces of large mace, four ounces of whole cloves, half a pound of whole pepper, salt, and a pound of slic’t nutmegs, let these steep in the foresaid liquor six hours, then put them into broad earthen pans flat bottom’d, and bake them with this liquor and spices, cover them with paper, it will ask four or five hours baking; being baked serve them in a large dish in joles or rands, with large slices of French bread in the bottom of the dish, steep them well with the foresaid broth they were baked in, some of the spices on them, some slic’t lemon, barberries, grapes, or gooseberries, and lemon  peel, with some of the same broth, beaten butter, juyce of lemons and oranges, and the yolks of eggs beat up thick.

If to eat cold, barrel it up close with this liquor and spices, fill it up with white-wine or sack; and head it up close, it will keep a year very well, when you serve it, serve it with slic’t lemon, and bay-leaves about it.

To souce Sturgeon to keep all the year.

Take a Sturgeon, draw it, and part it down the back in equal sides and rands, put it in a tub into water and salt, and wash it from the blood and slime, bind it up with tape or packthred, and boil it in a vessel that will contain it, in water, vinegar, and salt, boil it not too tender; being finely boil’d take it up, and being pretty cold, lay it on a clean flasket or tray till it be through cold, then pack it up close.

To souce Sturgeon in two good strong sweet Firkins.

If the Sturgeon be nine foot in length, 2 firkins will serve it, the vessels being very well filled and packed close, put into it eight handfuls of salt, six gallons of white wine, and four gallons of white wine vinegar, close on the heads strong and sure, and once a month turn it on the other end.

To broil Sturgeon, or toast it against the fire.

Broil or toast a rand or jole of sturgeon that comes new out of the sea or river, (or any piece) and either broil it in a whole rand, or slices an inch thick, salt them, and steep them in oyl-olive and wine vinegar, broil them on a soft fire, and baste them with the sauce it was steeped in, with branches of rosemary, tyme, and parsley; being finely broiled, serve it in a clean dish with some of the sauce it was basted with, and some of the branches of   rosemary; or baste it with butter, and serve it with butter and vinegar, being either beaten with slic’t lemon, or juyce of oranges.

Otherways.

Broil it on white paper, either with butter or sallet oyl, if you broil it in oyl, being broil’d, put to it on the paper some oyl, vinegar, pepper, and branches or slices of orange. If broil’d in butter, some beaten butter, with lemon, claret, and nutmeg.

To fry Sturgeon.

Take a rand of fresh sturgeon, and cut it into slices of half an inch thick, hack it, and being fried, it will look as if it were ribbed, fry it brown with clarified butter; then take it up, make the pan clean, and put it in again with some claret wine, an anchove, salt, and beaten saffron; fry it till half be consumed, and then put in a piece of butter, some grated nutmeg, grated ginger, and some minced lemon; garnish the dish with lemon, dish it, and run jelly first rubbed with a clove of garlick.

To jelly Sturgeon.

Season a whole rand with pepper, nutmeg, and salt, bake it dry in an earthen pan, and being baked and cold, slice it into thin slices, dish it in a clean dish, the dish being on it.

To roast Sturgeon.

Take a rand of fresh sturgeon, wipe it very dry, and cut it in pieces as big as a goose-egg, season them with nutmeg, pepper, and salt, and stick each piece with two or 3 cloves, draw them with rosemary, & spit them thorow the skin, and put some bay-leaves or sage-leaves between every piece; baste them with butter, and being  roasted serve them on the gravy that droppeth from them, beaten butter, juyce of orange or vinegar, and grated nutmeg, serve also with it venison sauce in saucers.

To make Olines of Sturgeon stewed or roasted.

Take spinage, red sage, parsley, tyme, rosemary, sweet marjoram, and winter-savory, wash and chop them very small, and mingle them with some currans, grated bread, yolks of hard eggs chopped small, some beaten mace, nutmeg, cinamon and salt; then have a rand of fresh sturgeon, cut in thin broad pieces, & hackt with the back of a chopping knife laid on a smooth pie-plate, strow on the minced herbs with the other materials, and roul them up in a roul, stew them in a dish in the oven, with a little white-wine or wine-vinegar, some of the farcing under them, and some sugar; being baked, make a lear with some of the gravy, and slices of oranges and lemons.

To make Olines of Sturgeon otherways.

Take a rand of sturgeon being new, cut it in fine thin slices, & hack them with the back of a knife, then make a compound of minced herbs, as tyme, savory, sweet marjoram, violet-leaves, strawberry leaves, spinage, mints, sorrel, endive and sage;

mince these herbs very fine with a few scallions, some yolks of hard eggs, currans, cinamon, nutmegs, sugar, rosewater, and salt, mingle all together, and strow on the compound herbs on the hacked olines, roul them up, and make pies according to these forms, put butter in the bottom of them, and lay the olines on it; being full, lay on some raisins, prunes, large mace, dates, slic’t lemon, some gooseberries, grapes,   or barberries, and butter, close them up and bake them, being baked, liquor them with butter, white-wine, and sugar, ice them, and serve them up hot.

To bake Sturgeon in Joles and Rands dry in Earthen Pans, and being baked and cold, pickled and barreld up, to serve hot or cold.

Take a sturgeon fresh and new, part him down from head to tail, and cut it into rands and joles, cast it into fair water and salt, wash off the slime and blood, and put it into broad earthen pans, being first stuffed with penniroyal, or other sweet herbs; stick it with cloves and rosemary, and bake it in pans dry, (or a little white-wine to save the pans from breaking) then take white or claret wine and make a pickle, half as much wine vinegar, some whole pepper, large mace, slic’t nutmegs, and six or seven handfuls of salt; being baked and cold, pack and barrel it up close, and fill it up with this pickle raw, head it up close, and when you serve it, serve it with some of the liquor and slic’t lemon.

To bake Sturgeon Pies to eat cold.

Take a fresh jole of sturgeon, scale it, and wash off the slime, wipe it dry, and lard it with a good salt eel, seasoned with nutmeg, and pepper, cut the lard as big as your finger, and being well larded, season the jole or rand with the foresaid spices and salt, lay it in a square pie in fine or course paste, and put some whole cloves on it, some slic’t nutmeg, slic’t ginger, and good store of butter, close it up, and bake it, being baked fill it up with clarified butter.

To bake Sturgeon otherways with Salmon.

Take a rand of sturgeon, cut it into large thick slices, & 2 rands of fresh salmon in thick slices as broad as the  sturgeon, season it with the same seasoning as the former, with spices and butter, close it up and bake it; being baked, fill it up with clarified butter. Make your sturgeon pyes or pasties according to these forms.

To make a Sturgeon Pye to eat cold otherways.

Take a rand of sturgeon, flay it and wipe it with a dry cloth, and not wash it, cut it into large slices; then have carps, tenches, or a good large eel flayed and boned, your tenches and carps scaled, boned, and wiped dry, season your sturgeon and the other fishes with pepper, nutmeg, and salt, put butter in the bottom of the pie, and lay a lay   of sturgeon, and on that a lay of carps, then a lay of sturgeon, and a lay of eels, next a lay of sturgeon, and a lay of tench, and a lay of sturgeon above that; lay on it some slic’t ginger, slic’t nutmeg, and some whole cloves, put on butter, close it up, and bake it, being baked liquor it with clarified butter. Or bake it in pots as you do venison, and it will keep long.

Otherways.

Take a rand of sturgeon, flay it, and mince it very fine, season it with pepper, cloves, mace, and salt; then have a good fresh fat eel or 2 flayed and boned, cut it into lard as big as your finger, and lay some in the bottom of the pye, some butter on it, and some of the minced meat or sturgeon, and so lard and meat till you have filled the pye, lay over all some slices of sturgeon, sliced nutmeg, sliced ginger, and butter, close it up and bake it, being baked fill it up with clarified butter. If to eat hot, give it but half the seasoning, and make your pyes according to these forms.

To bake sturgeon Pies to be eaten hot.

Flay off the scales and skin of a rand, cut it in pieces as big as a walnut, & season it lightly with pepper, nutmeg, and salt; lay butter in the bottom of the pye, put in the sturgeon, and put to it a good big onion or two whole, some large mace, whole cloves, slic’t ginger, some large oysters, slic’t lemon, gooseberries, grapes, or barberries, and butter, close it up and bake it, being bak’d, fill it up  with beaten butter, beaten with white-wine or claret, and juyce or slices of lemon or orange.

To this pye in Winter, you may use prunes, raisins, or currans, and liquor it with butter, verjuyce, and sugar, and in Summer, pease boil’d and put in the pye, being baked, and leave out fruit.

Otherways.

Cut a rand of sturgeon into pieces as big as a hens egg, cleanse it, and season them with pepper, salt, ginger, and nutmeg, then make a pye and lay some butter in the bottom of it, then the pieces of sturgeon, and two or three bay-leaves, some large mace, three or four whole cloves, some blanched chesnuts, gooseberries, grapes, or barberries, and butter, close it up and bake it, and being baked, liquor it with beaten butter, and the blood of the sturgeon boil’d together with a little claret-wine.

To bake Sturgeon Pyes in dice work to be eaten hot.

Take a pound of sturgeon, a pound of a fresh fat eel, a pound of carp, a pound of turbut, a pound of mullet, scaled, cleans’d, and bon’d, a tench, and a lobster, cut all the fishes into the form of dice, and mingle with them a quart of prawns, season them all together with pepper, nutmeg & salt, mingle some cockles among them, boil’d artichocks, fresh salmon, and asparagus all cut into dice-work.  Then make pyes according to these forms, lay butter in the bottom of them, then the meat being well mingled together, next lay on some gooseberries, grapes, or barberries, slic’t oranges or lemons, and put butter on it, with yolks of hard eggs and pistaches, close it up and bake it, and being baked liquor it with good sweet butter, white-wine, or juyce of oranges.

To make minced Pyes of Sturgeon.

Flay a rand of it, and mince it with a good fresh water eel, being flay’d and bon’d, then mince some sweet herbs with an onion, season it with cloves, mace, pepper, nutmeg and salt, mingle amongst it some grapes, gooseberries, or barberries, and fill the pye, having first put some butter in the bottom of it, lay on the meat, and more butter on the top, close it up, bake it, and serve it up hot.

Otherways.

Mince a rand of fresh sturgeon, or the fattest part of it very small, then mince a little spinage, violet leaves, strawberry leaves, sorrel, parsley, sage, savory, marjoram, and time, mingle them with the meat, some grated manchet, currans, nutmeg, salt, cinamon, cream, eggs, sugar, and butter, fill the pye, close it up, and bake it, being baked ice it.

Minced Pyes of Sturgeon otherways.

Flay a rand of sturgeon, and lard it with a good fat salt eel, roast it in pieces, and save the gravy, being roasted mince it small, but save some to cut into dice-work, also some of the eels in the same form, mingle it amongst the rest with some beaten pepper, salt, nutmeg, some gooseberries, grapes, or barberries, put butter in the bottom of the pye, close it up and bake it, being baked liquor it with gravy, juyce of orange, nutmeg, and butter.

Sometimes add to it currans, sweet herbs, and saffron, and liquor it with verjuyce, sugar, butter, and yolks of eggs.

To make Chewits of Sturgeon, according to these Forms.

Mince a rand of sturgeon the fattest part, and season it with pepper, salt, nutmeg, cinamon, ginger, caraway-seed, rose-water, butter, sugar, and orange peel minced, mingle all together with some slic’t dates, and currans, and fill your pyes.

To make a Lumber Pye of Sturgeon.

Mince a rand of sturgeon with some of the fattest of the belly, or a good fat fresh eel, being minced, season it with pepper, nutmeg, salt, cinamon, ginger, caraways, slic’t dates, four or eight raw eggs, and the yolks of six hard eggs in quarters, mingle all together, and make them into balls or rolls, fill the pye, and lay on them some slic’t dates, large mace, slic’t lemon, grapes, gooseberries, or barberries, and butter, close it up, and bake it, being bak’d liquor it with butter, white-wine, and sugar.

Or only add some grated bread, some of the meat cut into dice-work, & some rose-water, bak’d in all points as the former, being baked cut up the cover, and stick it  with balls, with fryed sage-leaves in batter; liquor it as aforesaid, and lay on it a cut cover, scrape on sugar.

To make an Olive Pye of Sturgeon in the Italian fashion.

Make slices of sturgeon, hack them, and lard them with salt salmon, or salt eel, then make a composition of some of the sturgeon cut into dice-work, some fresh eel, dry’d cherries, prunes taken from the stones, grapes, some mushrooms & oysters; season the foresaid things all together in a dish or tray, with some pepper, nutmeg, and salt, roul them in the slices of the hacked sturgeon with the larded side outmost, lay them in the pye with the butter under them; being filled lay on it some oysters, blanched chesnuts, mushrooms, cockles, pine-apple-seeds, grapes, gooseberries, and more butter, close it up, bake it, and then liquor it with butter, verjuyce, and sugar, serve it up hot.

To bake Sturgeon to be eaten hot with divers farcings or stuffings.

Take a rand and cut it into small pieces as big as a walnut, mince it with fresh eel, some sweet herbs, a few green onions, pennyroyal, grated bread, nutmeg, pepper, and salt, currans, gooseberries, and eggs; mingle all together, and make it into balls, fill the pye with the whole meat and the balls, and lay on them some large mace, barberries, chesnuts, yolks of hard eggs, and butter; fill the pye, and bake it, being baked, liquor it with butter and grape-verjuyce.

Or mince some sturgeon, grated parmisan, or good Holland cheese, mince the sturgeon, and fresh eel together, being fine minced put some currans to it, nutmeg, pepper, and cloves beaten, some sweet herbs minced small, some salt, saffron, and raw yolks of eggs.

Other stuffings or Puddings.

Grated bread, nutmeg, pepper, sweet herbs minced very fine, four or five yolks of hard eggs minced very small, two or three raw eggs, cream, currans, grapes, barberries and sugar, mix them all together, and lay them on the Sturgeon in the pye, close it up and bake it, and liquor it with butter, white-wine, sugar, the yolk of an egg, and then ice it.

To make an Olio of Sturgeon with other Fishes.

Take some sturgeon and mince it with a fresh eel, put to it some sweet herbs minc’t small, some grated bread, yolks of eggs, salt, nutmeg, pepper, some gooseberries, grapes or barberries, and make it into little balls or rolls. Then have fresh fish scal’d, washed, dryed, and parted into equal pieces, season them with pepper, nutmeg, salt, and set them by; then make ready shell-fish, and season them as the other fishes lightly with the same spices. Then make ready roots, as potatoes, skirrets, artichocks and chesnuts, boil them, cleanse them, and season them with the former spices. Next have yolks of hard eggs, large mace, barberries, grapes, or gooseberries, and butter, make your pye, and put butter in the bottom of it, mix them all together, and fill the pye, then put in two or three bay-leaves, and a few whole cloves, mix the minced balls among the other meat and roots; then lay on the top some large mace, potatoes, barberries, grapes, or gooseberries, chesnuts, pistaches and butter, close it up and bake it, fill it up with beaten butter, beaten with the juyce of oranges, dish and cut up the cover, and put all over it slic’t lemons, and sometimes to the lear the yolk of an egg or two.

To make minced Herring Pies.

Take salt herrings being watered, crush them between your hands, and you shall loose the fish from the skin, take off the skin whole, and lay them in a dish; then have a pound of almond paste ready, mince the herrings, and stamp them with the almond paste, two of the milts or rows, five or six dates, some grated manchet, sugar, sack, rose-water, and saffron, make the composition somewhat stiff, and fill the skins, put butter in the bottom of your pye, lay on the herring, and on them dates, gooseberries, currans, barberries, and butter, close it up and bake it, being baked liquor it with butter, verjuyce, and sugar.

Make minced pyes of any meat, as you may see in page 232, in the dishes of minced pyes you may use those forms for any kind of minced pies, either of flesh, fish, or fowl, which I have particularized in some places of my Book.

Otherways.

Bone them, and mince them being finely cleansed with 2 or three pleasant pears, raisins of the sun, some currans, dates, sugar, cinamon, ginger, nutmeg, pepper, and butter, mingle all together, fill your pies, and being baked, liquor them with verjuyce, claret, or white-wine.

To make minced Pies of Ling, Stock-fish, Harberdine, &c.

Being boil’d take it from the skin and bones, and mince it with some pippins, season it with nutmeg, cinamon, ginger, pepper, caraway-seed, currans, minced raisins, rose-water, minced lemon-peel, sugar, slic’t dates, white-wine, verjuyce, and butter, fill your pyes, bake them, and ice them.

Otherways.

Mince them with yolks of hard eggs, mince also all manner of good pot-herbs, mix them together, and season them with the seasoning aforesaid, then liquor it with butter, verjuyce, sugar, and beaten cinamon, and then ice them; making them according to these forms.