put to boil in three pints of cold water,
with a small carrot, an onion, two sprigs of parsley, and two bay
leaves, and boiled gently until the lentils are soft enough to break
easily between the fingers; every half hour one gill of cold water
should be added, and the lentils again raised to the boiling point,
until they are done; they should then be drained in a colander, and
passed through a sieve with a wooden spoon, using enough of the liquor
to make them pass easy, and mixed with the rest of the soup; it is then
ready to simmer for half an hour, and serve hot; with dice of fried
bread half an inch square, like those used for pea soup. These dice of
fried bread are called _Conde_ crusts.

CHAPTER III.

FISH.

When fish is rather deficient in flavor, a little vinegar rubbed over
the skin; and a few sweet herbs boiled with it will greatly improve it.
For boiling, large fish should be placed on the fire in cold water, and
small ones in hot water; both are done when the fins pull out easily.
Fish soup is the most economical of all fish dishes; baked fish the
second best; broiled fish retains nearly all its nourishment; and boiled
fish is the poorest of all. The following technical terms are used to
denote different methods of cooking fish: to dress fish _a la
Hollandaise_ is to boil it in sea water; _a l'eau de sel_, in salt and
water; _au court bouillon_, with cold water, white wine or vinegar,
sweet herbs, soup vegetables, lemon, and whole spices; _a la bonne eau_,
with sweet herbs and cold water; _au bleu_, in equal quantities of red
wine and cold water, highly flavored with spices and aromatic herbs.

13. =Boiled Cod with Oyster Sauce.=--Lay two pounds of cod in enough cold
water to cover it, with a tablespoonful of salt, for an hour or more
before cooking; then put it to boil in three quarts of cold water, with
two tablespoonfuls of salt; as soon as the fish is done, set the kettle
containing it off the fire, and let the fish stand in it until you are
ready to use it; meantime put a pint of oysters on the fire to boil in
their own liquor; as soon as they boil drain them, and put the liquor
again on the fire to boil; mix together in a sauce-pan over the fire one
ounce of butter and one ounce of flour, as soon as it bubbles, gradually
pour in the boiling oyster liquor, and stir with an egg whip until the
sauce is quite smooth; season with half a teaspoonful of salt, an eighth
of a saltspoonful of pepper,