The CWI Cookbook

Archive for the ‘Seafood’ Category

 Cod skull, sole, carp, trout, perch, eel or flounder
1/2 pint claret or port wine
1 qt beef broth, stock or consommé
1 large onion
12 black peppercorns
12 allspice, whole
Whole cloves or blades of mace

Flour
Pepper
Salt
Essence of anchovy
Mushroom catchup
Chili vinegar

When the fish has been properly washed, lay it in a stew-pan, with half a pint of claret or port wine, and a quart of good gravy; a large onion, a dozen berries of black pepper, the same of all spice, and a few cloves, or a bit of mace; cover the fish-kettle close, and let it stew gently for ten or twenty minutes, according to the thickness of the fish; take the fish up, lay it on a hot dish, cover it up, and thicken the liquor it was stewed in with a little flour, and season it with pepper, salt, essence of anchovy, mushroom catchup, and a little Chili vinegar; when it has boiled ten minutes, strain it through a tamis, and pour it over the fish; if there is more sauce than the dish will hold, send the rest up in a boat. .

From The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner, MD, New York, 1829

Comment: This is a straightforward fish soup, and misses being a chowder only for lack of a thickening/stretching ingredient like potatoes or crushed crackers. The complication comes in the flavoring agents: “essence of anchovy” is rather complicated but one can substitute anchovy paste, often available in convenient squeeze tubes in better supermarkets or gourmet shops. Chili vinegar is easily made by depositing a whole or split chili pepper in a bottle of cheap vinegar and letting it soak for hours, days or such time as needed to extract the desired level of chili-ness.

Mushroom catchup is the tricky one of the lot, virtually unobtainable today unless you make your own which is a lengthy job indeed. As Dr. Kitchiner gives us no indication as to how much to use, the modern cook may substitute as seems proper or omit the item altogether.

A tamis is a very fine strainer. If one is not available a doubled piece of cheesecloth or muslin should serve the purpose admirably.

We should probably point out that this was originally titled by Dr. Kitchiner as “To stew a Cod’s Skull, Sole, Carp, Trout, Perch, Eel or Flounder” but that was both a tad lengthy and also seemed likely to put off potential readers due to the “ick” factor involved.

 Haddock, cleaned
Egg sauce (optional)
Pudding for stuffing (optional)

Wash it well, and put it on to boil, as directed for Boiled Cod. A haddock of three pounds will take about ten minutes after the kettle boils.
Haddocks, salted a day or two, are eaten with egg sauce. Or, if small, very well broiled, or baked, with a pudding in their belly, and some good gravy.
Obs.–A piscivorous epicure protests that “Haddock is the poorest fish that swims, and has neither the delicacy of the whiting, nor the juiciness of the cod.” Our experience goes to substantiate the same point.

The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner, MD, New York, 1829

Comment: Haddock nowadays is more the subject of slapstick comedy routines and rude jokes than it is an article of food. The “Obs.” suggests that it might in fact have been just as disfavored in the early 19th century. One wonders if they may have been eaten primarily by the poor, or by residents of fishing communities where the higher-quality fish were sent off to markets where they brought a better rate of return.

 3 young hen lobsters, boiled
Mace or nutmeg
Lemon peel, grated
Anchovies
Cayenne pepper
1 egg yolk
3 quarts veal broth
Butter and flour for thickening
Lemon juice
Essence of anchovy

You must have three fine lively young hen lobsters, and boil them; when cold, split the tails; take out the fish, crack the claws, and cut the meat into mouthfuls: take out the coral, and soft part of the body; bruise part of the coral in a mortar; pick out the fish from the chines; beat part of it with the coral, and with this make forcemeat balls, finely-flavored with mace or nutmeg, a little grated lemon-peel, and Cayenne; pound these with the yelk of an egg.
Have three quarts of veal broth; bruise the small legs and the chine, and put them into it, to boil for twenty minutes, then strain it; and then to thicken it, take the live spawn and bruise it in a mortar with a little butter and flour; rub it through a sieve, and add it to the soup with the meat of the lobsters, and the remaining coral; let it simmer very gently for ten minutes; do not let it boil, or its fine red color will immediately fade; turn it into a tureen; add the juice of a good lemon, and a little essence of anchovy.

The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner, MD, New York, 1829

Lobsters, they say, were once so common in Atlantic waters that they were considered junk food and fed to prisoners in jail. It is unlikely that those unfortunates were given access to mace, nutmeg, lemon peel or Cayenne, so there are at least some advantages to the present day. “Chines” is a rather unusual term for the exoskeleton of a crustacean, as it usually refers to the neck bones of something like a sheep rather than the shell of a lobster. We must allow Dr. Kitchiner his little quirks. If you search your lobster innards for “coral” and don’t find a little red object, you have been given male lobsters rather than the female (hen) ones called for here.

2-3 flounders, eels or other fish
Parsley
Flour
Butter
White wine
Lemon juice
Essence of anchovy
Catchup (type not specified; mushroom or walnut probably better than tomato)

Take water used in making “Water Souchy” [or other boiled fish dish] and reserve. Thicken the liquor the fish has been stewing in with flour and butter, and flavor it with white wine, lemon-juice, essence of anchovy, and catchup; boil down two or three flounders to make a fish broth to boil the other fish in. That broth cannot be good without the fish being boiled too much.

The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner, MD, New York, 1829

Comment: This recipe has been modified just a bit to stand on its own as it was originally combined with the delicious-sounding although peculiarly named “Water Souchy.” Flounder, eel and certainly grudgeons are sea creatures better known to the English palate than the American one, but then again Dr. Kitchiner was working from a book originally published in England so this is to be expected.

The basic principles should be applicable to whatever fish one has to work with so long as they originated in salt water. We do not think this would work well with catfish or bullheads for instance.

 2 dozen oysters
1 oz. butter
Flour
3 tbs. milk or cream
white pepper
salt
Catchup (see Comments) (optional)
Parsley, chopped fine (optional)
Grated lemon peel (optional)
Lemon juice (optional)
Thin cut strips of bread

Large oysters will do for stewing, and by some are preferred; but we love the plump, juicy natives. Stew a couple of dozen of these in their own liquor; when they are coming to a boil, skim well, take them up and beard them; strain the liquor through a tamis-sieve, and lay the oysters on a dish. Put an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, put to it as much flour as will dry it up, the liquor of the oysters, and three table-spoonfuls of milk or cream, and a little white pepper and salt; to this some cooks add a little catchup, or finely-chopped parsley, grated lemon-peel, and juice; let it boil up for a couple of minutes, till it is smooth, then take it off the fire, put in the oysters, and let them get warm (they must not themselves be boiled, or they will become hard); line the bottom and sides of a hash-dish with bread-sippets, and pour your oysters and sauce into it.

From The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner MD, New York, 1829

Comment: A tamis-sieve is a fine strainer, in this case of a small enough weave to catch any stray grains of sand which often accompany shellfish. The “catchup” advised here is not the red product sold under that name but a much stronger, more concentrated sauce often based on mushrooms or walnuts rather than tomatoes. Worcestershire sauce would be closer to the item mentioned here than “ketchup” of the ballpark variety. “Sippets” are slices of bread cut into thin rectangular strips, of the same general dimensions as steak fries.

 Fish
Large onion
4 whole cloves
15 whole allspice 15 whole pepper
Flour
Butter
Per pint of sauce:
1 glass wine
1/2 glass mushroom catchup
1 tsp. essence of anchovy
few grains Cayenne pepper
Bread toasted or fried

Put the fish into a stew-pan, with a large onion, four cloves, fifteen berries of allspice, and the same of black pepper; just cover them with boiling water, set it where they will simmer gently for ten or twenty minutes, according to the size of the fish; strain off the liquor in another stew-pan, leaving the fish to keep warm till the sauce is ready.
Rub together on a plate as much flour and butter as will make the sauce as thick as a double cream. Each pint of sauce season with a glass of wine, half as much mushroom catchup, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy, and a few grains of Cayenne; let it boil a few minutes, put the fish on a deep dish, strain the gravy over it; garnish it with sippets of bread toasted or fried.
N.B.-The Editor has paid particular attention to the above receipt which Catholics, and those whose religious tenets do not allow them to eat meat on maigre days, will find a very satisfactory substitute for the meat gravy soup. Mushroom catchup and onions supply the place of meat better than any thing.

From The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner, MD, New York, 1829

Comment: One of the most fascinating aspects of Dr. Kitchiner’s book, especially considering its date of publication, is that it contains recipes specifically designed for Catholics who were obliged to abstain from meat not merely on Fridays but on a great number of other days of religious significance throughout the year. Even the book’s subtitle–as interminably longwinded as such things usually were in the period–includes the line “with A Complete System of Cookery for Catholic Families.” Alas, this in fact consists of just a few recipes like the one above rather than the “complete system” advertised.

It should however be noted that America in this period was still (outside of Maryland and a few other enclaves) overwhelmingly Protestant in religion, with Catholicism regarded as near-heresy, and its adherents looked at with considerable suspicion. The “American Party” (better remembered today as the “Know-Nothing” Party) was growing rapidly at this time. Its platform was based on little more than animosity to immigrants who had the bad taste to be from southern Europe and therefore more likely to be Catholic. Publishing even something as politically neutral as a cookbook therefore required a certain amount of courage when it spoke admiringly of such a group.