A Handbook of Fish Cookery: How to buy, dress, cook, and eat fish

of an hour, stirring well about. Heat a quart of clear stock, take a thick slice of white bread and cut it into dice, leaving out the crust, let it boil in the liquor, then add the vegetables with the butter, and a tablespoonful of salt. Boil all together. Take fifty prawns, pick out the tails, and stew the bodies in a glass of wine, press them through a colander and mix with the soup. Add then a pinch of cayenne pepper, a teaspoonful of anchovy butter, and a dessert-spoonful of lemon juice. Allow all to boil five minutes longer, and pour over fried croutons into a tureen. =Ray, or Maids.=--This fish is the young skate, and, like the latter, it is improved by being hung for a day. It is nicest if cut into fillets and fried. It may be boiled for a few minutes in "court-bouillon," or, after being par-boiled, it may be cut into slices, dipped in oil, dredged with flour, and laid on a gridiron to broil for a few moments longer. Minced parsley and shallots simmered in butter, with a tablespoonful of vinegar, and seasoning of pepper and salt, should form a gravy to accompany the fillets. =Roach.=--The roach is a small fresh-water fish of a firm compact flesh. It is best fried. Wash and empty the fish, dredge flour over them when dry, fry them in hot fat for about five minutes. Send anchovy or some very tasty sauce to table with them. =Salmon.=--For boiling purposes choose salmon with small heads and thick shoulders, or if buying only a portion of a fish, choose a piece of the middle or the head and shoulders. After cleaning the fish, cut off the fins and gills and scrape the scales carefully. Lay it in _nearly_ boiling water with plenty of salt in it; let the water well cover the fish. Allow the water to come to boiling point, then boil gently until a silver fork will pass through the thickest part. As a general rule allow eight minutes to the pound if the fish is a