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Classic
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page 198
continues so only for a few hours; and it bears therefore* a much higher price
in the market then, than when mellowed by having been kept a day or two.
The flesh of the codfish should be white and clear before it is boiled, whiter
still after it is boiled, and firm though tender, sweet and mild in flavor, and
separated easily in flakes. . Many persons consider it rather improved than
otherwise by having a little salt rubbed along the inside of the backbone ami
letting it lie from; twenty-four to twenty-eight hours before it is dressed. It
is sometimes served, crimp like salmon, and must then be sliced as soon as dead,
or within the shortest time possible afterwards.
Herrings, mackerel and whitings lose their freshness so rapidly that unless
newly caught they are quite uneatable. The herring; may, it is said, be deprived
of the strong smell which it emits when broiled or fried, by stripping off the
skin, under which lies the oil that causes the disagreeable odor. The whiting is
a peculiarly pure flavored and delicate fish, and acceptable generally to
invalids from being very light of digestion.
Eels should be alive and brisk in movement when they are purchased; they are
easily killed by piercing the spinal marrow close to the back part of the skull
with a sharp pointed knife, or skewer. If this be done in the right place all
motion will instantly cease. Boiling water will also immediately cause vitality
to cease, and is perhaps the most humane and ready method of destroying the
fish.
Lobsters, prawns, and shrimps are very stiff when freshly boiled, and the tails
turn strongly inwards; when these relax, and the fish are soft and watery, they
are stale; and the smell will detect their being so instantly even if no other
symptoms of it be remarked. It bought alive, lobsters should be chosen by their
weight and "liveliness". The hen lobster is preferred for sauce and soups, on
account of the coral; but the flesh of the male is severally considered of finer
flavor tor eating. The vivacity of their leaps will show when prawns and shrimps
are fresh from the sea.
Oysters should close forcibly on the knife when they are opened; if the shells
are apart ever so little they are losing their condition and when they remain
far
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