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Fish Pies and Puddings

HS Cornish Fish Pie. (Mrs. Juliet Backhouse, Trebah. 1881.) A good bass makes the best pie (bass is also called "sea-perch"), but grey mullet is also excellent, and even mackerel is used sometimes. The fish is of course cleaned as for dressing, and then cut across in pieces about 3 or 4 inches square. Boil the bones for stock, and strain.

Pack the pieces closely in the dish, season with pepper and salt, and sprinkle in a little chopped parsley leaf here and there.

Add a tablespoonful of the fish stock for a small pie (2 for a larger one). Cover with a crust which must not be too rich. Bake till nearly ready - then, through the ornamental "rose" hole at top of pie, pour in a teacupful of warmed cream and finish baking. It is usual also to add a little "scalded cream" just as the pie is going to table thus the cream would lie at the top of the fish. It is best to lift the crust to put in the scalded cream, but should this be done, less "raw cream" would be required at first start. "Crab Pie." (Mrs. Young.) See Appendix as to boiling Crabs.

Boil it in boiling water, pick out all the flesh of claws and body, and clean the shell nicely. Take half a teacupful of bread - crumbs, a little salt, pepper, and fresh butter; add the crab-meat, and mix all well together and replace in shell; cover with more bread-crumbs and put tiny specks of butter here and there on the top. Brown before the fire - about 20 minutes will do it. Fish Pudding. No. 1. For Luncheon.

This pudding is made from the fish that has been dressed for dinner day before such as codfish, turbot or salmon - white fish makes the prettiest dish. Boil 1½ teacupful of rice in milk till very tender and very stiff. Mix with the rice ¼ lb. of butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of essence of shrimp, or of anchovy if essence of shrimp cannot be procured, a little salt, white pepper and cayenne. Pull the fish in pieces and mix what proportion you please with the rice. Have a plain mould ready, well buttered, put a few browned bread - crumbs round the inside of the mould before you put the pudding in. This pudding will take 1 hour to boil - turn it out on a dish. Send it to table quite hot. Serve with Shrimp Sauce. See Sauces for Fish.

Another copy says: "We make it with ½ cupful of cream, 2 yolks of egg, and 1 white, previously beaten, and 1 teaspoonful of essence of shrimps." Fish Pudding. No. 2 - Findon Haddock. (Isa. Emslie. 1889.) A luncheon "make out."

Soak the fish 1 hour in cold water, drain them, then put them on again in cold water to come to the boil, and boil for 10 minutes; then drain them again.