The Cook Book by “Oscar” of the Waldorf

Three thousand recipes from the maitre d'hotel of the Waldorf — the hotel kitchen that taught Gilded Age America how to dine, from beef tea to watermelon with champagne.

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Baked Codfish

Take a fresh cod and prepare it by tying up the head with string and filling the inside with maitre d'hotel butter, put the fish belly downward on a buttered drainer in a fish kettle, and pour over it a mixture made as follows: Melt two pounds of butter in a saucepan, add three quarts of chopped mushrooms, two blanched and chopped shallots, four tablespoonfuls of chopped parsley, the juice of two lemons, a crushed clove of garlic, and season to taste; all of these being partly cooked before used. Pour over the fish a pint and a half of white wine, and bring it quickly to a boil, then let cook gently for an hour and a half, basting the fish every ten minutes with the liquor. When the flesh is firm put the fish on a dish and pour over it half the fish stock, putting the rest in a sauce-boat. Any fish sauce may accompany it.

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