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      BAKED STURGEON.

      332. INGREDIENTS.—1 small sturgeon, salt and pepper to taste, 1 small bunch of herbs, the juice of ½ lemon,¼ lb. of butter, 1 pint of white wine.

      Mode—Cleanse the fish thoroughly, skin it, and split it along the belly without separating it; have ready a large baking-dish, in which lay the fish, sprinkle over the seasoning and herbs very finely minced, and moisten it with the lemon-juice and wine. Place the butter in small pieces over the whole of the fish, put it in the oven, and baste frequently; brown it nicely, and serve with its own gravy.

      Time.—Nearly 1 hour. Average cost, 1s. to 1s. 6d. per lb.

      Seasonable from August to March.

      [Illustration: THE STURGEON.]

      THE STURGEON.—This fish commences the sixth of Linnaean order, and all the species are large, seldom measuring, when full-grown, less than three or four feet in length. Its flesh is reckoned extremely delicious, and, in the time of the emperor Severus, was so highly valued by the ancients, that it was brought to table by servants crowned with coronets, and preceded by a band of music. It is an inhabitant of the Baltic, the Mediterranean, the Caspian, and the Black Sea, and of the Danube, the Volga, the Don, and other large rivers. It is abundant in the rivers of North America, and is occasionally taken in the Thames, as well as in the Eske and the Eden. It is one of those fishes considered as royal property. It is from its roe that caviare, a favourite food of the Russians, is prepared. Its flesh is delicate, firm, and white, but is rare in the London market, where it sells for 1s. or 1s. 6d. per lb.

      THE STERLET is a smaller species of sturgeon, found in the Caspian Sea and some Russian rivers. It also is greatly prized on account of the delicacy of its flesh.

      ROAST STURGEON.

      333. INGREDIENTS.—Veal stuffing, buttered paper, the tail-end of a sturgeon.

      Mode.—Cleanse the fish, bone and skin it; make a nice veal stuffing (see Forcemeats), and fill it with the part where the bones came from; roll it in buttered paper, bind it up firmly with tape, like a fillet of veal, and roast it in a Dutch oven before a clear fire. Serve with good brown gravy, or plain melted butter.

      Time.—About 1 hour. Average cost, 1s. to 1s. 6d. per lb.

      Seasonable from August to March.

      Note.—Sturgeon may be plain-boiled, and served with Dutch sauce. The fish is very firm, and requires long boiling.

      ESTIMATE OF THE STURGEON BY THE ANCIENTS.—By the ancients, the flesh of this fish was compared to the ambrosia of the immortals. The poet Martial passes a high eulogium upon it, and assigns it a place on the luxurious tables of the Palatine Mount. If we may credit a modern traveller in China, the people of that country generally entirely abstain from it, and the sovereign of the Celestial Empire confines it to his own kitchen, or dispenses it to only a few of his greatest favourites.

      MATELOT OF TENCH.

      334. INGREDIENTS.—½ pint of stock No. 105,½ pint of port wine, 1 dozen button onions, a few mushrooms, a faggot of herbs, 2 blades of mace, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, thyme, 1 shalot, 2 anchovies, 1 teacupful of stock No. 105, flour, 1 dozen oysters, the juice of ½ lemon; the number of tench, according to size.

      Mode.—Scale and clean the tench, cut them into pieces, and lay them in a stewpan; add the stock, wine, onions, mushrooms, herbs, and mace, and simmer gently for ½ hour. Put into another stewpan all the remaining ingredients but the oysters and lemon-juice, and boil slowly for 10 minutes, when add the strained liquor from the tench, and keep stirring it over the fire until somewhat reduced. Rub it through a sieve, pour it over the tench with the oysters, which must be previously scalded in their own liquor, squeeze in the lemon-juice, and serve. Garnish with croutons.

      Time. ¾ hour.

      Seasonable from October to June.

      [Illustration: THE TENCH.]

      THE TENCH.—This fish is generally found in foul and weedy waters, and in such places as are well supplied with rushes. They thrive best in standing waters, and are more numerous in pools and ponds than in rivers. Those taken in the latter, however, are preferable for the table. It does not often exceed four or five pounds in weight, and is in England esteemed as a delicious and wholesome food. As, however, they are sometimes found in waters where the mud is excessively fetid, their flavour, if cooked immediately on being caught, is often very unpleasant; but if they are transferred into clear water, they soon recover from the obnoxious taint.

      TENCH STEWED WITH WINE.

      335. INGREDIENTS.—½ pint of stock No. 105,½ pint of Madeira or sherry, salt and pepper to taste, 1 bay-leaf, thickening of butter and flour.

      Mode.—Clean and crimp the tench; carefully lay it in a stewpan with the stock, wine, salt and pepper, and bay-leaf; let it stew gently for ½ hour; then take it out, put it on a dish, and keep hot. Strain the liquor, and thicken it with butter and flour kneaded together, and stew for 5 minutes. If not perfectly smooth, squeeze it through a tammy, add a very little cayenne, and pour over the fish. Garnish with balls of veal forcemeat.

      Time.—Rather more than ½ hour.

      Seasonable from October to June.

      A SINGULAR QUALITY IN THE TENCH.—It is said that the tench is possessed of such healing properties among the finny tribes, that even the voracious pike spares it on this account.

      The pike, fell tyrant of the liquid plain,

       With ravenous waste devours his fellow train;

       Yet howsoe'er with raging famine pined,

       The tench he spares, a medicinal kind;

       For when by wounds distress'd, or sore disease,

       He courts the salutary fish for ease;

       Close to his scales the kind physician glides,

       And sweats a healing balsam from his sides.

      In our estimation, however, this self-denial in the pike may be attributed to a less poetical cause; namely, from the mud-loving disposition of the tench, it is enabled to keep itself so completely concealed at the bottom of its aqueous haunts, that it remains secure from the attacks of its predatory neighbour.

      STEWED TROUT.

      336. INGREDIENTS.—2 middling-sized trout,½ onion cut in thin slices, a little parsley, 2 cloves, 1 blade of mace, 2 bay-leaves, a little thyme, salt and pepper to taste, 1 pint of medium stock No. 105, 1 glass of port wine, thickening of butter and flour.

      Mode.—Wash the fish very clean, and wipe it quite dry. Lay it in a stewpan, with all the ingredients but the butter and flour, and simmer gently for ½ hour, or rather more, should not the fish be quite done. Take it out, strain the gravy, add the thickening, and stir it over a sharp fire for 5 minutes; pour it over the trout, and serve.

      Time.—According to size,½ hour or more.

      Average cost.—Seldom bought.

      Seasonable from May to September, and fatter from the middle to the end of August than at any other time.

      Sufficient for 4 persons.

      Trout may be served with anchovy or caper sauce, baked in buttered paper, or fried whole like smelts. Trout dressed a la Génévese is extremely delicate; for this proceed the same as with salmon, No. 307.

      [Illustration: THE TROUT.]

      THE TROUT.—This fish, though esteemed by the moderns for its delicacy, was little regarded by the ancients. Although it abounded in the lakes of

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