Perch, Tench, and Carp

A bare-bones method that assumes the cook already knows how to handle a whole freshwater fish. The essentials are a cold-water start, gentle heat, and stopping the moment the flesh leaves the bone.

• Cold water, and barely a boilStarting in cold water lets the fish heat evenly and keeps the skin from splitting. Once it reaches a bare tremble, hold it there; a rolling boil will break up perch in particular.
• Salt the waterThe instruction is silent on seasoning. Use about a tablespoon of salt per litre, with a splash of vinegar if you want the flesh firmer and whiter.
• The timing is by size, not by speciesFive to fifteen minutes covers everything from a hand-sized perch to a good-sized carp, so judge by the fish rather than by a fixed rate per pound; the book's upper limit is short. Check at the thickest part of the shoulder: the flesh should part cleanly from the backbone.
• "Soy"In a British book of this period this means soy sauce, imported and used as a dark, salty seasoning much as we would use it now. Whether it was stirred into the melted butter or offered alongside, the recipe does not say.
• Melted butter is a sauceVictorian "melted butter" is butter thickened with a little flour and water into a pouring sauce, not plain drawn butter. A modern beurre blanc or a simple butter-and-lemon sauce does the same job.
• Prepare the fish firstPerch have sharp dorsal spines and cling to their scales; a brief dip in boiling water loosens them. Tench are heavily slimed and want scalding and scraping, and carp benefit from a few days in clean water or a thorough rinse to reduce muddiness.
• Serve immediatelyBoiled freshwater fish goes cottony as it cools. Lift it out on a cloth or a slotted trivet, drain well, and send it straight to the table.
• YieldA whole perch or tench of about a pound serves one generously; a 3-4 lb carp will feed four.