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SALMON (a la Tartare)

Take two slices of salmon out of the middle of a moderate-sized fish, each slice of the thickness of three-quarters of an inch. Wash the salmon lightly in salted water, and dry it thoroughly. Brush it all over with the best salad-oil, season with salt and pepper, and broil it on a gridiron over a gentle fire; taking care to turn and baste it frequently. When it is done enough, which it will be when the flesh leaves the bone on a slight pressure, place it on a cold dish, and pour round it a sauce prepared as follows. Put the yolk of an egg, well freed from white, into a bowl; remove the speck, add a pinch of salt, and very gradually--first by drops and afterwards by tea-spoonfuls--about four table-spoonfuls of good salad-oil. Beat the sauce well between every addition. Afterwards stir in, very gradually, three tea-spoonfuls of good vinegar, a tea-spoonful of chilli vinegar, and a tea-spoonful of tarragon vinegar, and add a table-spoonful of dry mustard, a tea-spoonful of chopped spring onions, and a tea-spoonful of chopped chervil. If liked, three or four gherkins, finely minced, or a tea-spoonful of anchovy, may be added to the sauce, which ought to be of the consistency of thick cream. Garnish the salmon with capers, gherkins, or olives. If more convenient, the salmon can be fried and served in the same way; it is, however, best when broiled. To prepare it for frying, mix a table-spoonful of finely-grated bread-crumbs with the tenth part of a nutmeg, grated, a small pinch of pepper and a tea-spoonful of shredded parsley. Brush the fish with clarified butter, and sprinkle the seasoned crumbs over it. Fry in plenty of hot fat till done enough. Drain it well, and serve with cold lobster, shrimp, or caper sauce. Time to broil the fish, twenty minutes; to fry it, ten minutes. Probable cost, salmon, 1s. per pound when in full season. Sufficient for five or six persons.