Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: [Modern cookery, in all its branches / By Eliza Acton]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.
116/716 (page 58)
![TO BOIL A JOHN DORY. [Ia best season from Michaelmas to Christmas, but good all the year.] The John Dory, though of uninvit- ing appearance, is considered by some persons as the most delicious fish that appears at table ; in the general esti- mation, however, it ranks next to the turbot, but it is far less abundant in our markets, and is not commonly to be procured of sufficient size for a handsome dish, except in some few parts of our coast which are cele- brated for it. It may easily he known by its yellow gray colour, its one large dark spot on either side, the long filaments on the back, a general thickness of form, and its very ugly head. It is dressed in the same manner, and served usually with the same sauces as a turbot, but requires less time to boil it. The fins should be cut off before it is cooked. SMALL JOHN DORIES BAKED. (Author’s Receipt—good.) IVe have found these fish when they were too small to be worth cooking in the usual way, excellent when quite simply baked in the following manner, the flesh being remarkably sweet and tender, much more so than it becomes by frying or broiling. After they have been cleaned, dry them in a cloth, season the insides slightly with fine salt, dredge a little flour on the fish, and stick a few very small bits of butter on them, hut only just sufficient to prevent their becoming dry in the oven; lay them singly on a flat dish, and bake them very gently from fourteen to sixteen minutes. Serve them with the same sauce as baked soles. When extremely fresh, as it usually is in the markets of the coast, fish thus simply dressed au four is preferable to that more elaborately prepared by adding various condiments to it after it is placed in a deep dish, and covering it with a thick layer of bread crumbs, mois- tened with clarified butter. The appearance of the John Dories is improved by taking off the heads, and cutting away not only the fins but the filaments of the back. TO BOIL A BRILL. A fresh and full-sized brill always ranks high in the list of fish, as it is of good appearance, and the flesh is sweet and delicate. It re- quires less cooking than the turbot, even when it is of equal size; but otherwise may be dressed and served in a similar manner. It has not the same rich glutinous skin as that fish, nor are the fins esteemed.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21534081_0116.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
