Part 27 (1/2)

_Time_.--3/4 hour. _Average cost_, with fresh fish, 3s.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

THE FOOD OF THE COD.--This chiefly consists of the smaller species of the scaly tribes, sh.e.l.l-fish, crabs, and worms. Their voracity is very great, and they will bite at any small body they see moved by the water, even stones and pebbles, which are frequently found in their stomachs. They sometimes attain a great size, but their usual weight is from 14 to 40 lbs.

COD A LA CREME.

238. INGREDIENTS.--1 large slice of cod, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1 chopped shalot, a little minced parsley, 1/4 teacupful of white stock, 1/4 pint of milk or cream, flour to thicken, cayenne and lemon-juice to taste, 1/4 teaspoonful of powdered sugar.

_Mode_.--Boil the cod, and while hot, break it into flakes; put the b.u.t.ter, shalot, parsley, and stock into a stewpan, and let them boil for 5 minutes. Stir in sufficient flour to thicken, and pour to it the milk or cream. Simmer for 10 minutes, add the cayenne and sugar, and, when liked, a little lemon-juice. Put the fish in the sauce to warm gradually, but do not let it boil. Serve in a dish garnished with crotons.

_Time_.--Rather more than 1/2 hour. _Average cost_, with cream, 2s.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 3 persons.

_Note_.--The remains of fish from the preceding day answer very well for this dish.

COD A LA BECHAMEL.

239. INGREDIENTS.--Any remains of cold cod, 4 tablespoonfuls of bechamel (_see_ Sauces), 2 oz. b.u.t.ter; seasoning to taste of pepper and salt; fried bread, a few bread crumbs.

_Mode_.--Flake the cod carefully, leaving out all skin and bone; put the bechamel in a stewpan with the b.u.t.ter, and stir it over the fire till the latter is melted; add seasoning, put in the fish, and mix it well with the sauce. Make a border of fried bread round the dish, lay in the fish, sprinkle over with bread crumbs, and baste with b.u.t.ter. Brown either before the fire or with a salamander, and garnish with toasted bread cut in fanciful shapes.

_Time_.--1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the fish, 6d.

THE HABITAT OF THE COD.--This fish is found only in the seas of the northern parts of the world, between the lat.i.tudes of 45 and 66. Its great rendezvous are the sandbanks of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and New England. These places are its favourite resorts; for there it is able to obtain great quant.i.ties of worms, a food peculiarly grateful to it. Another cause of its attachment to these places has been said to be on account of the vicinity to the Polar seas, where it returns to sp.a.w.n. Few are taken north of Iceland, and the shoals never reach so far south as the Straits of Gibraltar. Many are taken on the coasts of Norway, in the Baltic, and off the Orkneys, which, prior to the discovery of Newfoundland, formed one of the princ.i.p.al fisheries. The London market is supplied by those taken between the Dogger Bank, the Well Bank, and Cromer, on the east coast of England.

COD A LA MAITRE D'HOTEL.

240. INGREDIENTS.--2 slices of cod, 1/4 lb. of b.u.t.ter, a little chopped shalot and parsley; pepper to taste, 1/4 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, or rather less, when the flavour is not liked; the juice of 1/4 lemon.

_Mode_.--Boil the cod, and either leave it whole, or, what is still better, flake it from the bone, and take off the skin. Put it into a stewpan with the b.u.t.ter, parsley, shalot, pepper, and nutmeg. Melt the b.u.t.ter gradually, and be very careful that it does not become like oil.

When all is well mixed and thoroughly hot, add the lemon-juice, and serve.

_Time_.--1/2 hour. _Average cost_, 2s. 6d.; with remains of cold fish, 5d.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

_Note_.--Cod that has been left will do for this.

THE SEASON FOR FIs.h.i.+NG COD.--The best season for catching cod is from the beginning of February to the end of April; and although each fisherman engaged in taking them, catches no more than one at a time, an expert hand will sometimes take four hundred in a day. The employment is excessively fatiguing, from the weight of the fish as well as from the coldness of the climate.

COD A L'ITALIENNE.