To Dress a Cod's Head and Shoulders
A historical recipe from The Virginia Housewife, by Mary Randolph (1860).
A historical recipe
The Virginia Housewife; Or, Methodical Cook, by Mary Randolph (1860). Project Gutenberg eBook #12519.
From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.
United States
Known as an American recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.
Ingredients 1 ingredient
Cook safely
Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.
- Hot oil. Never put water on an oil fire: turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid or a damp tea towel. Pat food dry before it goes into hot oil, and lower it in gently, away from you.
- Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
- Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.
Method
Chef Wood
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- Take out the gills and the blood from the bone, wash the head very clean, rub over it a little salt, then lay it on your fish plate;
- throw in the water a good handful of salt, with a glass of vinegar, then put in the fish, and let it boil gently half an hour;
- if it is a large one, three quarters;
- take it up very carefully, strip the skin nicely off, set it before a brisk fire, dredge it all over with flour, and baste it well with butter;
- when the froth begins to rise, throw over it some very fine white bread crumbs;
- you must keep basting it all the time to make it froth well;
- when it is a fine light brown, dish it up, and garnish it with a lemon cut in slices, scraped horse-radish, barberries, a few small fish fried and laid around it, or fried oysters--cut the roe and liver in slices, and lay over it a little of the lobster out of the sauce in lumps, and then serve it up.
Plating
Cookware for this recipe
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Frying pan
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Saucepan
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Chef's knife
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Pastry brush