BOILED WHITING.
343. INGREDIENTS.—1/4 lb. of salt to each gallon of water.
Mode.—Cleanse the fish, but do not skin them; lay them in a fish-kettle, with sufficient cold water to cover them, and salt in the above proportion. Bring them gradually to a boil, and simmer gently for about 5 minutes, or rather more should the fish be very large. Dish them on a hot napkin, and garnish with tufts of parsley. Serve with anchovy or caper sauce, and plain melted butter.
Time.—After the water boils, 5 minutes.
Average cost for small whitings, 4d. each.
Seasonable all the year, but best from October to March.
Sufficient, 1 small whiting for each person.
To CHOOSE WHITING.—Choose for the firmness of its flesh and the silvery hue of its appearance.
[Illustration: THE WHITING.]
The Whiting.—This fish forms a light, tender, and delicate food, easy of digestion. It appears in our seas in the spring, within three miles of the shores, where it arrives in large shoals to deposit its spawn. It is caught by line, and is usually between ten and twelve inches long, and seldom exceeding a pound and a half in weight. On the edge of the Dogger Bank, however, it has been caught so heavy as to weigh from three to seven or eight pounds. When less than six inches long, it is not allowed to be caught.