The French cook.: Prescribing the way of making ready of all sorts of meats, fish and flesh, with the proper sauces, either to procure appetite, or to advance the power of digestion. Also the preparation of all herbs and fruits, so as their naturall crudities are by art opposed; with the whole skil of pastry-work. Together with a treatise of conserves, both dry and liquid, a la mode de France. With an alphabeticall table explaining the hard words, and other usefull tables. / Written in French by Monsieur De La Varenne, clerk of the kitchin to the Lord Marquesse of Uxelles, and now Englished by I.D.G.

Table of the second of Fish.

• TƲrbot with short broth 1
• Dabs with short broth 2
• Wivers rosted on the gridiron 3
• Soales fried 4
• Salmon with short broth 5
• Sturgeon with short broth 6
• Grenosts in castrolle 7
• Bescard with short broth 8
• Purpose with short broth 9
• Purpose with ragoust 10
• Flounders fryed with ragoust 11
• Sea Otter with short broth 12
• Sea Otter on the gridiron 13
• Raye fryed 14
• Tenches with short broth 15
• Allose with short broth 16
• Allose rosted 17
• Fresh cod 18
• Breame rosted 19
• Pike in blew 20
• Pike with sauce 21
• Trouts with short broth 22

• Troute salmoned 23
• Perches with short broth 24
• Lotts 25
• Lotts in castrolle 26
• Carpe in blew 27
• Carpe farced 28
• Smelts 29
• Plice 30
• Macreuse 31
• Macreuse with ragoust 32
• Dabs in castrolle 33
• Pike farced and rosted 34
• Salmon with a sweet sauce 35
• Lotts with ragoust 36
• Carpe with half short broth 37
• Tenches fryed with ragoust 38
• Barbels with ragoust 39
• Barbels in castrolle 40
• Soales with ragoust 41
• Vilain with ragoust 42
• Vilain with short broth 43
• Joale of salmon 44
• Gammon of fish 45
• Gournet 46
• Fresh mackerels 47
• Allose rosted 48
• Fresh herrings 49
• Filchers 50
• Lamprels of all sorts 51
• Eeles of all sorts 52
• Lobsters of all sorts 53
• Langoust with short broth 54

• Oisters rosted 55
• Fried carpe 56
• Barbels with sauce 57
• Plice rosted with ragoust 58
• Plice in castrolle. 59

10. Discourses & Method how to serve the second fish.

1. Turbot in Castrolle.

DRess it and emptie it under the bellie, slit∣ting it there very neatly, or otherwise at the gills; put it into a panne with white wine, untill it steeps, and season it well with salt, peper, cloves, fine hearbs, as rosemarie, thime and onion, and let it seeth leasurely, least the flesh should break off from the bones; after it is sod, let it rest a very little, least it should take the taste of brasle; serve it garnished with flowers and parsly.

You may cut it before you seeth it thus.

2. Dab with short broath.

It is made ready the same way as the tur∣bot, but that the short broath must not be of so quicke a taste, because it taketh salt sooner, being thinner; after it is sod, serve it with parsley upon it.

3. Wivers rosted on the gridiron.

They are dangerous, by reason of three

prickles, which they have about the head, therefore when you dress them, remember to scrape them, and to cut off these thornes, and the head at the gills, whereat you shall also emptie them when they are thus dressed, and emptied, slit them on the top, and melt some butter, and frie some into the slits, with salt and clove, then see them on the gridiron; when they are rosted, make a brown sauce with fresh butter, salt, and peper, minced parsley, gooseborrids, or verjuice of grapes, and a drop of vinegar, stove them with your sauce, and serve.

4. Soales fried.

After they are dressed, drie them, and if they are big, slit them along the back, flowre them, and frie them in salat oile, or refined butter, when they are fried, powder them with salt upon them, and serve with orenge.

5. Salmon with short broth.

Emptie it at the gills, and slit it along the back, and put it in your short broth well sea∣soned; when it is enough, serve.

6. Sturgeon with short broth.

You may serve it rosted on the gridiron, but in the second, you must put it with short broth, and serve it as the salmon, except that when it is sod you take two or three napkins plated, and put them over it bespread with parsley, and thus, you serve.

7. Grenost in Castrolle.

Although it is commonly served with short

broth, yet for the second, it may be served in castrolle, which to doe, you must put it into a pipkin, season it well and garnish it with mushrums and troufles; have a speciall care that when it is sod, the flesh doe not break off from the bones.

8 Bescard with short broth.

Make it ready and serve it as the sturgeon, above.

9. Purpose with short broth.

It is served and made ready the same way, as the sturgeon and Beccard above, but that the seething of it is much longer; when it is enough, serve.

10. Purpose with ragoust.

Cut it in peeces, and rost it on the spit, as it rosteth, baste it with butter, salt, vinegar, and peper; after it is well rosted, baste it with another sauce made with butter and minced onion, then mixe all together, and stove it, mixe a little flower with it, and serve.

11. Flounders with ragoust.

They are made ready the same way, as in the discourse of the first courses of fish.

12. Sea Otter, with short broath.

Dress and prepare it for to put it with short broth, which you shall make ready the same way as that of the barbells; when it is sod, serve it dry with parsley in a napkin over it.

13. Sea Otter on the gridiron.

Dress and rost it; when it rosted make such

a sauce to it as you will, so that it be of a quicke taste, and because those great lumps take hardly a taste, slit them or slice them on the top, stove it with it's sauce, so that it be almost imbibed, or soaked into it, then serve it, and garnish with what you have.

14. Ray fried.

After it is well dressed and cleansed, pickle it with vinegar well seasoned, and a little be∣fore you serve, frie it with refined butter, or with salat oile; when it is well fried and crispe, set it a draining, and bespread it with small salt, then serve it whole, or the two sides set together again, with orenge.

15. Tenches with short broth.

After they are well scalded, you may put them with short broth, as above said, and serve them with parsley.

16. Allose with short broth.

You may also put the Allose with short broth, serving it with the scailes, well sea∣soned with parsley in a napkin over it.

17. Allose rosted.

As it comes out of the short broth, put it on the gridiron; when it is rosted make a sauce like sauce Robert, and stove all toge∣ther, but a very little, then serve, and if you will, put some capers to it.

Another way.

After it is scailed and dressed at the gills, well cleansed and dried, frie it in fresh but∣ter, and rost it well, then slit it all along the

backe, take out all the bones, and close it up againe, take the melt, and with store of good hearbs make a sauce something sharp because this fish is sweet of it self; put into it capers, anchovis, mushrums, and thicken your sauce with a few chippings of bread passed in the panne.

Or otherwise make a farce with sorrell well seasoned, and after it hath boiled a very little, serve.

18. Fresh cod.

Put it after the way of short broth, and let it boile but a very little, and take it out a∣gaine; then let it rest, and cover it with a table-cloath or napkin, and when you will serve, draine it, make a sauce thickned, and serve with parsley.

19. Breame rosted.

After it is dressed, rost it on the gridiron, and butter it on the top; when it is rosted, make a sauce with fresh butter, parsley, and chibols; vinegar, salt, and peper, stove all together, and serve.

Another way.

You may put it with short broath, and then rost it, and after, a sauce with very fresh but∣ter, parsley and chibols minced, passe all in the panne; and when you will serve, mixe with it some sorrel juice, and serve.

20. Pike with blew.

Dress it as it comes out of the water, and cut it, or let it whole, and in this last water,

slit it all along the back, then put it in a ba∣son, and take salt, vinegar, onion, peper, and lemon, or orenge peele good store, boile all together a very little, powre it on your pike, and presently it becomes blew; for to seeth it, boile your white wine well seasoned with salt, put your pike into it, and let it seeth; taste your short broth, if it be strong enough, and let the pike rest into it, untill it hath taken a taste, have a care that it doe not remaine too long in it, and in this case, take it out untill you be ready to serve; which you shall doe warme, with parsley, in a napkin.

21. Pike with sauce.

After it is sod as above said, take off the skin, and take a drop of your short broth, put it in a dish with half the yolk of an egge well allayed, some very fresh butter, and nutmegs let the sauce be well thickned, and well sea∣soned with salt, chibols and peele, and if you will, put in it anchovis; but take heed it be∣come not oilie, and serve your pike her.

22. Troutes with short broth.

Slit them proportionably to their higness, and give some strength to your short broth; before you seeth them, dress them at the gills, and pickle them; after which let them seeth leasurely, least the flesh leave the bones; af∣ter they are enough, serve them with parsley in a napkin plated, which you shall cover with flowers in the season.

23. Troutes salmon'd.

Make them ready, and serve them as the common troutes above written.

24. Perches with short broth.

As they come out of the water, dress them at the gills, and put them in a short broath of white wine, well seasoned with all kinds, as peper, salt, cloves, lemon, or orenge peeles, chibols and onion; after they are sod, take them out, and take off the skin; make a sauce with a drop of your short broath, allayed with vinegar, the yolk of an egge, an onion in quarters, fresh butter, salt, and a very little of white peper, mixe all together readi∣ly over the fire, powre it on your perches, and serve.

25. Lottes.

Make some water lukewarme, put them in it, take them out a while after, take off the slime with a knife, and thus you shall make them all white; then dress them, wash them, put them between two linnen cloathes, and drie them; set a side them which are bigge, and slit them on the top, for to serve to the oile or refined butter, with salt and orenge, serve.

26. Lottes in Castrolle.

Put your lottes in castrolle, and season them with butter, salt, beaten cloves, peper, peeles; a bundle of hearbs, verjuice, a drop of vinegar, and a very little broth; when they are ready, serve, and garnish, if you will, with

anchovis, capers, mushrums, and any other garnish you have.

27. Carpe with blew.

The best sort of carpe is that with melt; take it alive, and season it for to put it with short broath, in the same manner as the pike above written in the 20^th article. If it is big, ye•• may cut it into foure, or slit it along the backe, and put it in a bason into blew; if you will, seeth it in a fish kettle, put a leafe in the bottome, take your carpe with a clout, season it well with onion, peper, salt, cloves, peele, and all well wrapped in your linnen cloath, set it a boiling, the leaf under it, least it doe burne with much boiling, or that the linnen cloath sticke to the kettle; let not your short broth be altered with any thing, but let it be well seasoned with all what is fitting. When it is boiled leasurely, serve it with pars∣ley in a napkin.

28. Carpe farcde.

Take up the skin over the back as far as the bellie, take out all the small bones, the tripes and melts, and take out of the head the gills and the tongue, then make a farce with a little flesh of carpe well minced, and sea∣soned with as much butter as flesh, a little parsley, chibols, and a twig of fine hearbs; al∣lay all with an egge, or mixe with it mush∣rums, melts, or mussles, capers, and bottoms of hartichocks, chibols, and tongues of carps; put your farce into your carpe all along, and

leave a hollow, for to put what you have fried; season all well, and close it up, seeth it in a bason, or in a castrolle, (which is a kettle made in the forme of a great tourte panne, or as a kind of dripping panne) or into a dish before the fire, with a drop of verjuice and a little broth, butter, and what you have remain∣ing of your mushrums, troufles, or melts; stove all together leasurely, and, least it sticks, put some chibols under it with a little verjuice, and some yolks of eggs, allay the sauce, and serve.

The carpe thus farced may be put into fine, or puft paste, and garnish with what you have.

29. Smelts.

Take them very new, file them, and drie them well; when you are ready to serve, flowre and frie them, with oile, or butter, take off the rod, and powder them a little with small salt, and serve with orenge.

30. Plice.

This article is in the discourse of the En∣trees, or first courses of fish.

Thus you are put in mind of what may be served, out of which you may choose what you like best, and intermingle pies or tourtes, proportionably to the dishes you have, obser∣ving to serve a pie or tourte after six dishes of service.