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Cod Head, Browned

A cod's head in London is usually sold and served with the shoulders, but in some places it is cut off, and the rest of the fish retailed by the pound. As the head contains one or two of the tit-bits, namely, the tongue, the nape of the neck, and the gelatinous parts about the cheeks, it makes a very good dish. Take two or three heads, remove the eyes, wash the heads, drain them, sprinkle a little salt over them, and let them lie an hour or two; put them into boiling water, and boil them from ten to twenty minutes, according to the size. Take them out, drain them, remove the skin, and dredge a little flour equally over them. Place them before a clear fire, and baste them well with good dripping or butter. When they are lightly browned they are ready. Garnish with parsley and sliced lemon. For sauce, thicken a breakfast-cupful of the liquid in which the heads were boiled with a lump of butter rolled in flour. Boil this, stirring it all the time, till it is quite smooth; add a table-spoonful of lemon-juice, and send the sauce to table in a tureen. Probable cost of cods' heads, 2d. each. Sufficient, two or three for a dish.