To Stew Carp
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 2 ingredients
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.
Method
Chef Wood
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- Gut and scale your fish, wash and dry them well with a clean cloth, dredge them with flour, fry them in lard until they are a light brown, and then put them in a stew pan with half a pint of water, and half a pint of red wine, a meat spoonful of lemon pickle, the same of walnut catsup, a little mushroom powder and cayenne to your taste, a large onion stuck with cloves, and a slick of horse-radish;
- cover your pan close up to keep in the steam;
- let them stew gently over a stove fire, till the gravy is reduced to just enough to cover your fish in the dish;
- then take the fish out, and put them on the dish you intend for the table, set the gravy on the fire, and thicken it with flour, and a large lump of butter;
- boil it a little, and strain it over your fish;
- garnish them with pickled mushrooms and scraped horse-radish, and send them to the table.
Plating
Cookware for this recipe
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Frying pan
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Saucepan
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Sieve