Take them out of the sh.e.l.ls, mince them small, and put them in a pipkin with some claret wine, salt, sweet b.u.t.ter, grated nutmeg, slic't oranges, & some pistaches; being finely stewed, serve them on sippets, dish them, and run them over with beaten b.u.t.ter, slic't oranges, some cuts of paste, or lozenges of puff-paste.

_To boil Lobsters to eat cold the common way._

Take them alive or dead, lay them in cold water to make the claws tuff, and keep them from breaking off; then have a kettle over the fire with fair water, put in it as much bay-salt, as will make it a good strong brine, when it boils sc.u.m it, and put in the Lobsters, let them boil leisurely the s.p.a.ce of half an hour or more according to the bigness of them, being well boil'd take them up, wash them, and then wipe them with beer and b.u.t.ter; and keep them for your use.

_To keep Lobsters a quarter of a year very good._

Take them being boil'd as aforesaid, wrap them in course rags having been steeped in brine, and bury them in a cellar in some sea-sand pretty deep.

_To farce a Lobster._

Take a lobster being half boil'd, take the meat out of the sh.e.l.ls, and mince it small with a good fresh eel, season it with cloves & mace beaten, some sweet herbs minced small and mingled amongst the meat, yolks of eggs, gooseberries, grapes, or barberries, and sometimes boil'd artichocks cut into dice-work, or boil'd aspragus, and some almond-paste mingled with the rest, fill the lobster sh.e.l.ls, claws, tail, and body, and bake it in a blote oven, make sauce with the gravy and whitewine, and beat up the sauce or lear with good sweet b.u.t.ter, a grated nutmeg, juyce of oranges, and an anchove, and rub the dish with a clove of garlick.

To this farcing you may sometime add almond paste currans, sugar, gooseberries, and make b.a.l.l.s to lay about the lobsters, or serve it with venison sauce.

_To marinate Lobsters._

Take lobsters out of the sh.e.l.ls being half boil'd, then take the tails and lard them with a salt eel (or not lard them) part the tails into two halves the longest way, and fry them in sweet sallet oyl, or clarified b.u.t.ter; being finely fryed, put them into a dish or pipkin, and set them by; then make sauce with white wine, and white wine vinegar, four or five blades of large mace, three or four slic't nutmegs, two races of ginger slic't, some ten or twelve cloves twice as much of whole pepper, and salt, boil them altogether with rosemary, tyme, winter-savory, sweet marjoram, bay-leaves, sage, and parsley, the tops of all these herbs about an inch long; then take three or four lemons and slice them, dish up the lobsters on a clean dish, and pour the broth, herbs and spices on the fish, lay on the lemons, run it over with some of the oyl or b.u.t.ter they were fryed in, and serve them up hot.

_To broil Lobsters._

Being boil'd lay them on a gridiron, or toast them against the fire, and baste them with vinegar and b.u.t.ter, or b.u.t.ter only, broil them leisurely, and being broil'd serve them with b.u.t.ter and vinegar beat up thick with slic't lemon and nutmeg.

_Otherways._

Broil them, the tail being parted in two halves long ways, also the claws cracked and broil'd; broil the barrel whole being salted, baste it with sweet herbs, as tyme, rosemary, parsley, and savory, being broil'd dish it, and serve it with b.u.t.ter and vinegar.

_To broil Lobsters on paper._

Slice the tails round, and also the claws in long slices, then b.u.t.ter a dripping-pan made of the paper, lay it on a gridiron, and put some slices of lobster seasoned with nutmeg and salt, and slices of a fresh eel, some sageleaves, tops of rosemary, two or three cloves, and sometimes some bay-leaves or sweet herbs chopped; broil them on the embers, and being finely broil'd serve them on a dish and a plate in the same dripping-pan, put to them beaten b.u.t.ter, juyce of oranges, and slices of lemon.

_To roast Lobsters._

Take a lobster and spit it raw on a small spit, bind the claws and tail with packthred, baste it with b.u.t.ter, vinegar, and sprigs of rosemary, and salt it in the roasting.

_Otherways._

Half boil them, take them out of the sh.e.l.ls, and lard them with small lard made of a salt eel, lard the claws and tails, and spit the meat on a small spit, with some slices of the eel, and sage or bay leaves between, stick in the fish here and there a clove or two, and some sprigs of rosemary; roast the barrel of the lobsters whole, and baste them with sweet b.u.t.ter, make sauce with claret wine, the gravy of the lobsters, juyce of oranges, an anchove or two, and sweet b.u.t.ter beat up thick with the core of a lemon, and grated nutmeg.

_Otherways._

Half boil them, and take the meat out of the tail, and claws as whole as can be, & stick it with cloves and tops of rosemary; then spit the barrels of the lobsters by themselves, the tails and claws by themselves, and between them a sage or bay-leaf; baste them with sweet b.u.t.ter, and dredg them with grated bread, yolks of eggs, and some grated nutmeg. Then make sauce with claret wine, vinegar, pepper, the gravy of the meat, some salt, slices of oranges, grated nutmeg, and some beaten b.u.t.ter; then dish the barrels of the lobsters round the dish, the claws and tails in the middle, and put to it the sauce.

_Otherways._

Make a farcing in the barrels of the lobsters with the meat in them, some almond-paste, nutmeg, tyme, sweet marjoram, yolks of raw eggs, salt, and some pistaches, and serve them with venison sauce.

_To fry Lobsters._

Being boil'd take the meat out of the sh.e.l.ls, and slice it long ways, flour it, and fry it in clarified b.u.t.ter, fine, white, and crisp; or in place of flouring it in batter, with eggs, flour, salt, and cream, roul them in it and fry them, being fryed make a sauce with the juyce of oranges, claret wine, and grated nutmeg, beaten up thick with some good sweet b.u.t.ter, then warm the dish and rub it with a clove of garlick, dish the lobsters, garnish it with slices of oranges or lemons, and pour on the sauce.

_To bake Lobsters to be eaten hot._

Being boil'd and cold, take the meat out of the sh.e.l.ls, and season it lightly with nutmeg, pepper, salt, cinamon, and ginger; then lay it in a pye made according to the following form, and lay on it some dates in halves, large mace, slic't lemons, barberries, yolks of hard eggs and b.u.t.ter, close it up and bake it, and being baked liquor it with white-wine, b.u.t.ter, and sugar, and ice it. On flesh days put marrow to it.

_Otherways._

Take the meat out of the sh.e.l.ls being boil'd and cold, and lard it with a salt eel or salt salmon, seasoning it with beaten nutmeg, pepper, and salt; then make the pye, put some b.u.t.ter in the bottom, and lay on it some slices of a fresh eel, and on that a layer of lobsters, put to it a few whole cloves, and thus make two or three layers, last of all slices of fresh eel, some whole cloves and b.u.t.ter, close up the pye, and being baked, fill it up with clarified b.u.t.ter.

If you bake it these ways to eat hot, season it lightly, and put in some large mace; liquor it with claret wine, beaten b.u.t.ter, and slices of orange.

_Otherways._

Take four lobsters being boil'd, and some good fat conger raw, cut some of it into square pieces as broad as your hand, then take the meat of the lobsters, and slice the tails in two halves or two pieces long wayes, as also the claws, season both with pepper, nutmeg and salt then make the pie, put b.u.t.ter in the bottom, lay on the slices, of conger, and then a layer of lobsters; thus do three or four times till the pie be full, then lay on a few whole cloves, and some b.u.t.ter; close it up and bake it, being baked liquor it with b.u.t.ter and white-wine, or only clarified b.u.t.ter. Make your pyes according to these forms.

If to eat hot season it lightly, and being baked liquor it with b.u.t.ter, white-wine, slic't lemon, gooseberries, grapes, or barberries.

_To pickle Lobsters._

Boil them in vinegar, white-wine, and salt, being boiled take them up and lay them by, then have some bay-leaves, rosemary tops, winter-savory, tyme, large mace, and whole pepper: boil these foresaid materials all together in the liquor with the lobsters, and some whole cloves; being boil'd, barrel them up in a vessel that will but just contain them, and pack them close, pour the liquor to them, herbs spices, and some lemon peels, close up the head of the kegg or firkin; and keep them for your use; when you serve them, serve them with spices, herbs, peels, and some of the liquor or pickle.

_To jelly Lobsters, Craw-fish, or Prawns._

Take a tench being new, draw out the garnish at the gills, and cut out all the gills, it will boil the whiter, then set on as much clear water aswil conveniently boil it, season it with salt, wine-vinegar, five or six bay-leaves large mace, three or four whole cloves, and a f.a.ggot of sweet herbs bound up hard together: so soon as this preparative boils, put in the tench being clean wiped, do not scale it, being boil'd take it up and wash off all the loose scales, then strain the liquor through a jelly-bag, and put to it a piece of ising-gla.s.s being first washed and steeped for the purpose, boil it very cleanly, and run it through a jelly-bag; then having the fish taken out of the sh.e.l.ls, lay them in a large clean dish, lay the lobsters in slices, and the craw fish and prawns whole, and run this jelly over them. You may make this jelly of divers colours, as you may see in the Section of Jellies, page 202.

Garnish the dish of Jellies with lemon-peels cut in branches, long slices as you fancy, barberries, and fine coloured flowers.

Or lard the lobsters with salt eel, or stick it with candied oranges, green citterns, or preserved barberries, and make the jelly sweet.

_To stew Crabs._