dozen button onions, a few mushrooms, a faggot of herbs, 2 blades of
mace, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, thyme, 1 shalot,
2 anchovies, 1 teacupful of stock No. 105, flour, 1 dozen oysters, the
juice of 1/2 lemon; the number of tench, according to size.
_Mode_.--Scale and clean the tench, cut them into pieces, and lay them
in a stewpan; add the stock, wine, onions, mushrooms, herbs, and mace,
and simmer gently for 1/2 hour. Put into another stewpan all the
remaining ingredients but the oysters and lemon-juice, and boil slowly
for 10 minutes, when add the strained liquor from the tench, and keep
stirring it over the fire until somewhat reduced. Rub it through a
sieve, pour it over the tench with the oysters, which must be previously
scalded in their own liquor, squeeze in the lemon-juice, and serve.
Garnish with croutons.
_Time_. 3/4 hour.
_Seasonable_ from October to June.
[Illustration: THE TENCH.]
THE TENCH.--This fish is generally found in foul and weedy
waters, and in such places as are well supplied with rushes.
They thrive best in standing waters, and are more numerous in
pools and ponds than in rivers. Those taken in the latter,
however, are preferable for the table. It does not often exceed
four or five pounds in weight, and is in England esteemed as a
delicious and wholesome food. As, however, they are sometimes
found in waters where the mud is excessively fetid, their
flavour, if cooked immediately on being caught, is often very
unpleasant; but if they are transferred into clear water, they
soon recover from the obnoxious taint.
TENCH STEWED WITH WINE.