Clean a carp and cover it with salted cold water and vinegar. Soak for an hour, then drain and dry. Stuff with seasoned crumbs, sew up, and put into a deep baking-pan. Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with bread-crumbs and dot with b.u.t.ter. Add two sliced onions and a pinch of sweet herbs, a cupful each of sweet wine and stock, and a teaspoonful of anchovy paste. Bake for an hour, basting as needed.

Take out the fish, strain the liquor, thicken with a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter rolled in flour, and season with salt, pepper, lemon-juice, and a pinch of sugar.

BAKED CARP--II

Let the fish stand in vinegar for fifteen minutes. Stuff with seasoned crumbs and sew up. Brush with beaten egg, cover with crumbs, and dot with b.u.t.ter. Put into a baking-pan with two chopped onions, a bunch of parsley, a cupful [Page 82]

of water, and a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce. Bake in a moderate oven, basting as required. Add enough water to make a cupful of the liquid remaining after taking up the fish. Thicken with a tablespoonful of flour blended with an equal quant.i.ty of b.u.t.ter, strain, add the juice of a lemon, and pepper and salt to season.

STEWED CARP--I

Clean and scale a carp, pouring boiling vinegar over the fish to facilitate the process. Wrap in a cloth and cook it gently in court bouillon. Serve with a sauce made of court bouillon, strained and thickened, with a few capers and a little anchovy sauce added.

STEWED CARP--II

Mix together one tablespoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, and a pinch of powdered mace. Rub a cleaned fish with it, both inside and out. Leave it in a cold place for two hours. Then put into a kettle, cover with boiling water, add a small onion sliced, a sprig of parsley, a bay-leaf, and a teaspoonful of marjoram.

Simmer until done, drain, and serve with Cream Sauce.

BOILED CARP

Put a cleaned carp into a saucepan with [Page 83]

sufficient beef stock to cover. Add an onion, four cloves, a bunch of sweet herbs, and salt to season. Simmer until the fish is done.

Take out the fish and strain the sauce. Add two cupfuls of beef stock and thicken with browned flour. Boil until thick, add a winegla.s.sful of white wine and the juice of half a lemon. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve.

PICKLED CARP

Put a cleaned carp into a fish-kettle and pour over it boiling vinegar and a cupful of Claret. Add two carrots and three onions chopped fine, and sage, thyme, bay-leaves, parsley, cloves, and bruised garlic to season. Simmer for an hour and let cool in the liquid.

CARP a L'ITALIENNE

Clean, scale, and slice the fish. Fry with onion, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper, using plenty of b.u.t.ter. Add white wine to cover and simmer for ten minutes; then put in the oven and bake until tender. Add two lemons sliced and one cupful each of chopped almonds and currants. Cook long enough to soften the currants, adding stock if necessary.

CARP a L'ALLEMANDE

Clean and cut into strips two pounds of [Page 84]

carp. Add one winegla.s.sful of Claret, one cupful of beef stock, one cupful of chopped mushrooms, a carrot and an onion chopped fine, and salt, pepper, thyme, clove and parsley to season. Simmer for an hour, add a tablespoonful of capers, and serve on b.u.t.tered toast.

CARP a LA BORDELAISE

Chop fine an onion, a carrot, and a bunch of parsley. Add two cupfuls of white wine, a clove of garlic, three cloves, and salt and pepper to season. Cook for fifteen minutes, then add two quarts of cold water. Boil the carp in this sauce and drain. Prepare a sauce as follows: Chop fine a small onion and a shallot. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft with a winegla.s.sful of Claret.

Add two cupfuls of beef stock and bring to the boil. Thicken with two tablespoonfuls of browned flour rubbed smooth in a little cold water, season with salt, red pepper, minced parsley, and chives, and add a small piece of cooked chopped marrow. Pour over the fish and serve very hot.

BROILED CARP

Broil as usual and serve with melted b.u.t.ter, lemon-juice, and minced parsley poured over it.

[Page 85]

CARP a LA FRANcAISE

Cut the cleaned fish into square pieces and put it into a saucepan with four tablespoonfuls of olive-oil, one cupful of Claret, and a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter blended with an equal quant.i.ty of flour.

Add a chopped clove of garlic, a shallot, a quarter of a pound of mushrooms, and salt, pepper, and minced parsley to season. Cook for twenty minutes and serve.

FRIED CARP--I

Soak the fish over night in salt water. Drain, rinse in cold water, season with pepper and salt, dredge in flour, and fry in b.u.t.ter.

FRIED CARP--II

Cook the carp in court bouillon, drain, and cut in slices. Cover with a very thick Cream Sauce and let cool. Dip in crumbs, then in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat.

FRIED CARP--III

Clean the fish and cut it into convenient pieces. Dip in milk then in seasoned flour, and fry in hot fat.

CARP a LA COBLENTZ

Boil the fish with one cupful of Rhine wine, two cupfuls of white [Page 86]

stock, two carrots and two onions sliced, half a cupful of sliced mushrooms and minced parsley, salt, pepper, and sweet herbs to season. Add water if the stock is not sufficient to cover. Boil for half an hour, take the fish up, then thicken the sauce with b.u.t.ter and flour, and add the juice of half a lemon with another tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter. Pour over the fish and serve.

BAKED CARP a LA MARINIeRE

Clean the fish and line it with bacon. Boil carefully in court bouillon to which one quarter of the quant.i.ty of white wine has been added. Boil for five minutes, then put the pan into the oven and bake for an hour and a half, basting frequently. Take out the fish, strain the liquid, thicken with browned flour, add a winegla.s.sful of white wine, and boil until thick. Rub through a sieve and add three tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter. Pour over the fish and serve.

STEAMED CARP

Scale and clean the fish and steam until done. Serve with sour cream or with a Drawn-b.u.t.ter Sauce seasoned with lemon-juice.

CARP IN MATELOTE

Cook the cleaned carp in a fish-kettle with [Page 87]

two sliced onions, a bunch of parsley, a little salt, a few pepper-corns, two cloves of garlic, a quart of red wine and a pint of water. Cook slowly for forty minutes and take out the fish.

Strain the sauce and reduce by rapid boiling to one quart. Thicken with b.u.t.ter and browned flour and boil for half an hour. Skim, add three tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, one tablespoonful of anchovy paste, and the juice of a lemon. Pour over the fish and serve.

CARP a LA BOURGUINOTTE

Stew the carp in red wine, drain, and place on a platter. Cook four shallots, two cloves, a blade of mace, a pinch of thyme, a bay-leaf, and a mushroom for five minutes in enough red wine to cover. Add enough beef stock to make the required quant.i.ty of sauce, and thicken with b.u.t.ter and browned flour. Cook until thick, strain, and pour over the fish.

CARP a LA PeRIGUEUX

Cook the carp in wine and drain. Chop six truffles fine, add a tablespoonful of chopped raw ham, a pinch of thyme, and a bay-leaf.

Cook for ten minutes in sufficient white wine to cover. Add a cupful of beef stock and thicken with b.u.t.ter and browned flour.

[Page 88]

Cook until thick, rub through a sieve, add a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and a little anchovy paste and the juice of half a lemon.

CARP a LA LYONS

Clean the fish and cut into thick slices. Soak for an hour in a marinade of oil and vinegar, season with salt, pepper, thyme, bay-leaves, and chopped onion. Drain, dip in flour, then in beaten egg, then in bread-crumbs, mixed with Parmesan cheese. Fry in deep fat and garnish with lemon and parsley.

CARP a LA PROVENcALE