Modern cookery for private families

the scum begins to form upon the surface. Mackerel, whiting, and other small fish, 4 ounces of salt to a gallon of water. Cod fish, lobsters, crabs, prawns, shrimps, 5 to 6 oz. Salmon, 8 ozs. TO RENDER BOILED FISH FIRM. Put a small bit of saltpetre with the salt into the water in which it is boiled: a quarter of an ounce will be sufficient for a gallon. TO KNOW WHEN FISH IS SUFFICIENTLY BOILED, OR OTHERWISE COOKED. If the _thickest_ part of the flesh separates easily from the back-bone, it is quite ready to serve, and should be withdrawn from the pan without delay, as further cooking would be injurious to it. This test can easily be applied to a fish which has been divided, but when it is entire it should be lifted from the water when the flesh of the tail breaks from the bone, and the eyes loosen from the head. TO BAKE FISH. A gentle oven may be used with advantage, for cooking almost every kind of fish, as we have ascertained from our own observation; but it must be subjected to a mild degree of heat only. This penetrates the flesh gradually, and converts it into wholesome succulent food; whereas, a _hot oven_ evaporates all the juices rapidly, and renders the fish hard and dry. When small, they should be wrapped in oiled or buttered paper before they are baked; and when filleted, or left in any other form, and placed in a deep dish with or without any liquid before they are put into the oven, a buttered paper should still be laid closely upon them to keep the surface moist. Large pieces of salmon, conger eel, and other fish of considerable size are sometimes in common cookery baked like meat over potatoes pared and halved. FAT FOR FRYING FISH. This, whether it be butter, lard, or oil should always be excellent in quality, for the finest fish will be rendered unfit for eating if it be fried in fat that is rancid. When good, and used in sufficient quantity, it will