Truffles Au Naturel

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoonfuls of cream
• a tablespoonful of white of egg beaten to a stiff froth
• 1 middling-sized turbot
• 8 persons
• one side of the dish
• one green
• salt
• cayenne
• mace
• parsley
• nutmeg

Directions

1. _Ingredients._—Truffles, buttered paper. _Mode._—Select some fine truffles; cleanse them, by washing them in several waters with a brush, until not a particle of sand or grit remains on them; wrap each truffle in buttered paper, and bake in a hot oven for quite an hour; take off the paper, wipe the truffles, and serve them in a hot napkin. _Time._—1 hour. _Average cost._—Not often bought in this country. _Seasonable_ from November to March.

2. In choosing turbot see that it is thick, and of a yellowish white; for if of a bluish tint, it is not good. The turbot-kettle, as will be seen by our cut, is made differently from ordinary fish kettles, it being less deep, whilst it is wider, and more pointed at the sides; thus exactly answering to the shape of the fish which it is intended should be boiled in it.

3. TURBOT, Boiled.

4. _Ingredients._—6 oz. of salt to each gallon of water. _Mode._—Choose a middling-sized turbot; for they are invariably the most valuable: if very large, the meat will be tough and thready. Three or four hours before dressing, soak the fish in salt and water to take off the slime; then thoroughly cleanse it, and with a knife make an incision down the middle of the back, to prevent the skin of the belly from cracking. Rub it over with lemon, and be particular not to cut off the fins. Lay the fish in a very clean turbot-kettle, with sufficient cold water to cover it, and salt in the above proportion. Let it gradually come to a boil, and skim very carefully; keep it gently simmering, and on no account let it boil fast, as the fish would have a very unsightly appearance. When the meat separates easily from the bone, it is done; then take it out, let it drain well, and dish it on a hot napkin. Rub a little lobster spawn through a sieve, sprinkle it over the fish, and garnish with tufts of parsley and cut lemon. Lobster or shrimp sauce, and plain melted butter, should be sent to table with it. _Time._—After the water boils, about ½ hour for a large turbot; middling size, about 20 minutes. _Average cost_,—large turbot, from 10_s._ to 12_s._; middling size, from 12_s._ to 15_s._ _Seasonable_ at any time. _Sufficient_, 1 middling-sized turbot for 8 persons.

5. TURBOT, to Help.

6. First run the fish-slice down the thickest part of the fish lengthwise, quite through to the bone, and then cut handsome and regular slices across the fish until all the meat on the upper side is helped. When the carver has removed all the meat from the upper side of the fish, the backbone should be raised, put on one side of the dish, and the under side helped as the upper.

7. TURBOT À LA CREME.

8. _Ingredients._—The remains of cold turbot. For sauce, 2 oz. of butter, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream; salt, cayenne, and pounded mace to taste. _Mode._—Clear away all skin and bone from the flesh of the turbot, which should be done when it comes from table, as it causes less waste when trimmed hot. Cut the flesh into nice square pieces, as equally as possible; put into a stewpan the butter, let it melt, and add the cream and seasoning; let it just simmer for one minute, but not boil. Lay in the fish to warm, and serve it garnished with croûtons or a paste border. _Time._—10 minutes. _Seasonable_ at any time.

9. _Note._—The remains of cold salmon may be dressed in this way, and the above mixture may be served in a _vol-au-vent_.

10. TURBOT, Baked Fillets of.

11. _Ingredients._—The remains of cold turbot, lobster sauce left from the preceding day, egg, and bread-crumbs; cayenne and salt to taste; minced parsley, nutmeg, lemon-juice. _Mode._—After having cleared the fish from all skin and bone, divide it into square pieces of an equal size; brush them over with egg, sprinkle with bread-crumbs mixed with a little minced parsley and seasoning. Lay the fillets in a baking-dish, with sufficient butter to baste with. Bake for ¼ hour, and do not forget to keep them well moistened with the butter. Put a little lemon-juice and grated nutmeg to the cold lobster sauce; make it hot, and pour over the fish, which must be well drained from the butter. Garnish with parsley and cut lemon. _Time._—Altogether, ½ hour. _Seasonable_ at any time.

12. _Note._—Cold turbot thus warmed in the remains of lobster sauce will be found much nicer than putting the fish again in water.

13. TURBOT A L’ITALIENNE, Fillets of.

14. _Ingredients._—The remains of cold turbot, Italian sauce. _Mode._—Clear the fish carefully from the bone, and take away all skin, which gives an unpleasant flavour to the sauce. Make the sauce hot, lay in the fish to warm through, but do not let it boil. Garnish with croûtons. _Time._—5 minutes. _Seasonable_ all the year.

15. TURBOT, or other Large Fish, Garnish for.

16. Take the crumb of a stale loaf, cut it into small pyramids with flat tops, and on the top of each pyramid put rather more than a tablespoonful of white of egg beaten to a stiff froth. Over this, sprinkle finely-chopped parsley and fine raspings of a dark colour. Arrange these on the napkin round the fish, one green and one brown alternately.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Turbot	not in our table	0
Mace	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.