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Classic
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Whitings.--The firmness of the body and fins is to be looked to, as in herrings;
their high season is during the first three months of the year, but they may be
had a great part of it.
Mackerel.--Choose as whitings. Their season is May, June, and July. They are so
tender a fish that they carry and keep worse than any other.
Pike.--For freshness observe the above marks. The best are taken in rivers: they
are a very dry fish, and are much indebted to stuffing and sauce.
Carp live some time out of water, and may therefore get wasted; it is best to
kill them as soon as caught, to prevent this. The same signs of freshness attend
them as other fish.
Tench.--They are a fine-flavoured fresh-water fish, and should be killed and
dressed as soon as caught.--When they are to be bought, examine whether the
gills are red and hard to open, the eyes bright, and the body stiff. The tench
has a slimy matter about it, the clearness and brightness of which shew
freshness. The season is July, August, and September.
Perch.--Take the general rules given to distinguish the freshness of other fish.
They are not so delicate as carp and tench.
Smelts, if good, have a fine silvery hue, are very firm, and have a refreshing
smell like cucumbers newly cut.--They are caught in the Thames and some other
large rivers.
Mullets.--The sea are preferred to the river mullets, and the red to the grey.
They should be very firm. Their season is August.
Gudgeons.--They are chosen by the same rules as other fish. They are taken in
running streams; come in about midsummer, and are to be had for five or six
months.
Eels.--There is a greater difference in the goodness of eels than of any other
fish. The true silver-eel (so called from the bright colour of the belly) is
caught in the Thames. The Dutch eels sold at Billingsgate are very bad; those
taken in great floods are generally
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