ike animals, are fittest for the table when they are just full
grown; and what has been said in Chapter V. respecting vegetables,
applies equally well to fish.

The most convenient utensil to boil fish in, is a turbot-kettle. This
should be 24 inches long, 22 wide, and 9 deep. It is an excellent vessel
to boil a ham in, &c. &c.

The good folks of this metropolis are so often disappointed by having
fish which has been kept too long, that they are apt to run into the
other extreme, and suppose that fish will not dress well unless it is
absolutely alive. This is true of lobsters, &c. (No. 176), and may be of
fresh-water fish, but certainly not of some sea-fish.

Several respectable fishmongers and experienced cooks have assured the
editor, that they are often in danger of losing their credit by fish too
fresh, and especially turbot and cod, which, like meat, require a
certain time before they are in the best condition to be dressed. They
recommend them to be put into cold water, salted in proportion of about
a quarter of a pound of salt to a gallon of water. Sea-water is best to
boil sea-fish in. It not only saves the expense of salt, but the flavour
is better. Let them boil slowly till done; the sign of which is, that
the skin of the fish rises up, and the eyes turn white.

It is the business of the fishmonger to clean them, &c. but the careful
cook will always wash them again.

Garnish with slices of lemon, finely scraped horseradish, fried oysters
(No. 183), smelts (No. 173), whitings (No. 153), or strips of soles, as
directed in No. 145.

The liver, roe, and chitterlings should be placed so that the carver may
observe them, and invite the guests to partake of them.

N.B. FISH, like meat, requires more cooking in cold than in warm
weather. If it becomes FROZEN,[88-*] it must be thawed by the means we
have directed for meat, in the 2d chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery.

[Fish are plenty and good, and in great variety, in all the towns and
cities on the extensive coast of the United States. Some of the interior
towns are also supplied with fish peculiar to the lakes and rivers of
this country. A.]

FISH SAUCES.

The melted butter (No. 256) for fish, should be thick enough to adhere
to the fish, and, therefore, must be of the thickness of light batter,
as it is to be diluted with essence of anchovy (No. 433), soy (No. 436),
mushroom catchup (No. 439). Cayenne (No. 404), or Chili vinegar (No.
405), lemons or