American Cookery | Page 2

period of smoaking.
_Fish, how to choose the best in market_.
_Salmon_, the noblest and richest fish taken in fresh water--the largest
are the best. They are unlike almost every other fish, are ameliorated by
being 3 or 4 days out of water, if kept from heat and the moon, which
has much more injurious effect than the sun.
In all great fish-markets, great fish-mongers strictly examine the
gills--if the bright redness is exchanged for a low brown, they are stale;
but when live fish are bro't flouncing into market, you have only to
elect the kind most agreeable to your palate and the season.
_Shad_, contrary to the generally received opinion are not so much
richer flavored, as they are harder when first taken out of the water;
opinions vary respecting them. I have tasted Shad thirty or forty miles
from the place where caught, and really conceived that they had a
richness of flavor, which did not appertain to those taken fresh and
cooked immediately, and have proved both at the same table, and the
truth may rest here, that a Shad 36 or 48 hours out of water, may not
cook so hard and solid, and be esteemed so elegant, yet give a higher
relished flavor to the taste.
Every species generally of _salt water Fish_, are best fresh from the
water, tho' the _Hannah Hill, Black Fish, Lobster, Oyster, Flounder,
Bass, Cod, Haddock_, and _Eel_, with many others, may be
transported by land many miles, find a good market, and retain a good

relish; but as generally, live ones are bought first, deceits are used to
give them a freshness of appearance, such as peppering the gills,
wetting the fins and tails, and even painting the gills, or wetting with
animal blood. Experience and attention will dictate the choice of the
best. Fresh gills, full bright eyes, moist fins and tails, are denotements
of their being fresh caught; if they are soft, its certain they are stale, but
if deceits are used, your smell must approve or denounce them, and be
your safest guide.
Of all fresh water fish, there are none that require, or so well afford
haste in cookery, as the _Salmon Trout_, they are best when caught
under a fall or cateract--from what philosophical circumstance is yet
unsettled, yet true it is, that at the foot of a fall the waters are much
colder than at the head; Trout choose those waters; if taken from them
and hurried into dress, they are genuinely good; and take rank in point
of superiority of flavor, of most other fish.
_Perch and Roach_, are noble pan fish, the deeper the water from
whence taken, the finer are their flavors; if taken from shallow water,
with muddy bottoms, they are impregnated therewith, and are
unsavory.
_Eels_, though taken from muddy bottoms, are best to jump in the pan.
Most white or soft fish are best bloated, which is done by salting,
peppering, and drying in the sun, and in a chimney; after 30 or 40 hours
drying, are best broiled, and moistened with butter, &c.
_Poultry--how to choose_.
Having before stated that the female in almost every instance, is
preferable to the male, and peculiarly so in the _Peacock_, which, tho'
beautifully plumaged, is tough, hard, stringy, and untasted, and even
indelicious--while the Pea Hen is exactly otherwise, and the queen of
all birds.
So also in a degree, Turkey.

_Hen Turkey_, is higher and richer flavor'd, easier fattened and
plumper--they are no odds in market.
_Dunghill Fowls_, are from their frequent use, a tolerable proof of the
former birds.
_Chickens_, of either kind are good, and the yellow leg'd the best, and
their taste the sweetest.
_Capons_, if young are good, are known by short spurs and smooth
legs.
All birds are known, whether fresh killed or stale, by a tight vent in the
former, and a loose open vent if old or stale; their smell denotes their
goodness; speckled rough legs denote age, while smooth legs and
combs prove them young.
_A Goose_, if young, the bill will be yellow, and will have but few
hairs, the bones will crack easily; but if old, the contrary, the bill will
be red, and the pads still redder; the joints stiff and difficultly disjointed;
if young, otherwise; choose one not very fleshy on the breast, but fat in
the rump.
_Ducks_, are similar to geese.
_Wild Ducks_, have redder pads, and smaller than the tame ones,
otherwise are like the goose or tame duck, or to be chosen by the same
rules.
_Wood Cocks_, ought to be thick, fat and flesh firm, the nose dry, and
throat clear.
_Snipes_, if young and fat, have full veins under the wing, and are
small in the veins, otherwise like the Woodcock.