a little parsley, 2 cloves, 1 blade of mace, 2 bay-leaves, a little
thyme, salt and pepper to taste, 1 pint of medium stock No. 105, 1 glass
of port wine, thickening of butter and flour.
_Mode_.--Wash the fish very clean, and wipe it quite dry. Lay it in a
stewpan, with all the ingredients but the butter and flour, and simmer
gently for 1/2 hour, or rather more, should not the fish be quite done.
Take it out, strain the gravy, add the thickening, and stir it over a
sharp fire for 5 minutes; pour it over the trout, and serve.
_Time_.--According to size, 1/2 hour or more.
_Average cost_.--Seldom bought.
_Seasonable_ from May to September, and fatter from the middle to the
end of August than at any other time.
_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.
Trout may be served with anchovy or caper sauce, baked in buttered
paper, or fried whole like smelts. Trout dressed a la Génévese is
extremely delicate; for this proceed the same as with salmon, No. 307.
[Illustration: THE TROUT.]
THE TROUT.--This fish, though esteemed by the moderns for its
delicacy, was little regarded by the ancients. Although it
abounded in the lakes of the Roman empire, it is generally
mentioned by writers only on account of the beauty of its
colours. About the end of September, they quit the deep water to
which they had retired during the hot weather, for the purpose
of spawning. This they always do on a gravelly bottom, or where
gravel and sand are mixed among stones, towards the end or by
the sides of streams. At this period they become black about the
head and body, and become soft and unwholesome. They are never
good when they are large with roe; but there are in all trout
rivers some barren female fish, which continue good throughout
the winter. In the common trout, the stomach is uncommonly
strong and muscular, shell-fish forming a portion of the food of
the animal; and it takes into its stomach gravel or small stones
in order to assist in comminuting it.
BOILED TURBOT.