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Pike, Baked

Take a fresh pike weighing not less than four, nor more than eight, pounds. Wash it thoroughly, and scale it. The best way to do this is to pour boiling water over it until the scales look dull, then plunge it at once in cold water, and immediately remove the scales with the back of a knife. Wipe the fish dry in every part, fill it with a good veal stuffing, or oyster stuffing, or with forcemeat (see PIKE, STUFFING FOR). Truss it in a circle by tying the head and tail together, passing the tail between the jaws. Put it into a shallow circular dish, lay half a pound of butter broken into small pieces here and there upon it, and put with it a pint of broth or water, or flour and water, a minced shallot, and a little chopped parsley. Put it into a moderate oven, and bake until done enough. Baste frequently with the gravy, and be careful that the pike is gently cooked, or it will be dry and unpalatable. When it is done, lift the fish out very carefully, and put it on a hot dish; then strain the gravy, thicken it with two ounces of butter mixed with two ounces of flour, add a table-spoonful of mushroom ketchup, or a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy, a little salt and cayenne, a glass of sherry, and two or three chopped gherkins. Boil the sauce for ten minutes, pour part of it over the pike, and send the rest to table in a tureen. If preferred, the pike may be baked without being stuffed. Less time will then be required to cook it. Time to bake a moderate-sized fish, thirty to forty minutes; for a large fish allow one hour to one hour and a quarter. Sufficient for eight or nine persons. Probable cost, uncertain. It is, of course, impossible to give the exact time required for baking and roasting pike, as it varies with the size of the fish. It may be known, however, that when the flesh leaves the bone easily in the thickest part it is done enough. As pike is naturally a very dry fish, it is important that it should be taken out of the oven as soon as, though not before, it is done.