CHAPTER I.
LARGE FISH, WHOLE RECIPES.
Fish, fried, à la russe.—The finest and most flat
slices cut from a large fish prepared thus, and this
method has the further merit of being applicable to
almost every kind of fish, will be seen presently. To
have halibut, salmon, etc., are particularly suitable
for this treatment. After cleaning the fish, cut the fish
across in slices from three-quarters to nearly an inch
thick, and fry these for ten minutes or so in butter
and slightly acidulated water; then fry each slice
carefully and separately in a clean pan, dredging
each lightly when dry with fine, dry, sifted flour, and
brushing them over evenly with beaten egg. Set a
pan on the fire with some good oil (only the very best
should be used for this purpose, as inferior oil is dis-
tinctly and unpleasantly reminiscent of the “always
savoury sweet” invariably connected with the fried
fish shop of fifth-rate streets), and as soon as this is
really hot and has ceased to hiss, lay in the slices two or
three at a time (at the utmost), according to size, and
fry them a nice golden brown on each side (this takes
from fifteen to twenty minutes for each slice); then
drain them well on kitchen paper, and when cold
till perfectly cold, when they may be