Home | Cookbooks | Diary | Magic Menu | Surprise! | More ≡

Grayling

Fish

Grayling, a fish of the salmon family (Thymallus thymallus), is most traditionallly cooked with wine or beer and strong herbs. J.Salmon gives beer with horeradish and thyme, Cassell 1883 uses wine.

Grayling poached in beer with grated horseradish and thyme. Served with creamed horseradish.


Original Receipt from Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery. (Cassell 1883)

Grayling. - The grayling is a silverscaled fish, pretty and palatable, found in rivers in the North of England. It often weighs as much as five pounds, though the more usual weight is from two to three pounds. It should be avoided in April and May, but is excellent in July and August, when trout is going out. It may be either baked or fried; and in either case should be scaled before it is cooked.

Grayling, Baked. - Wash, scale, and empty the fish. Dry them; season them with salt and cayenne, and lay them in a shallow baking-dish, with three or four lumps of butter placed on them. Baste them now and then, and put a cover over the pan while they are cooking. Send them to table with sauce made of the gravy which runs from them, mixed with good melted butter. Time, about half an hour. Probable cost, uncertain, as graylings are seldom offered for sale. Sufficient, one moderate-sized fish for two persons.

Grayling, Broiled. - Wash, scale, and empty the fish; season them with pepper and salt, dip them in oil, and place them on the gridiron over a clear fire for a few minutes. Serve on a hot dish, with the head and tail together, and squeeze the juice of a lemon over them. The fish should be small when cooked thus. Probable cost of this fish, uncertain, for the reason stated in the preceding recipe. Sufficient, a moderate-sized fish for two persons.

Grayling, Fried. - Scale and clean the fish, opening it as little as possible. Cut off the fins and gills, but leave the head, and wipe them as dry as possible. Season with pepper and salt, dredge a little flour over them, and fry them in plenty of hot dripping, or lard, until lightly browned. Drain them from the fat, and send them to table with crisped parsley in the dish, and melted butter in a tureen. Time, according to the size, from six to ten minutes.

Grayling, Sauce for.- Put a tablespoonful of sherry, or any white wine, into a saucepan, with one tea-spoonful of anchovy essence, the juice of half a lemon, a tea-spoonful of powdered herbs, of which two parts should be parsley and one thyme, an inch of lemon rind, two cloves, six peppercorns, and a shallot finely minced. Shake the pan over the fire for five or six minutes; strain the gravy, and mix with two ounces of butter, a table-spoonful of flour, and a quarter of a pint of cream, or new milk. Simmer gently, stirring all the time, until the sauce is hot, but it must not boil. Probable cost, 6d., if made with milk. Sufficient for three or four persons.






MORE FROM Foods of England...
Cookbooks Diary Index Magic Menu Random Really English? Timeline Donate English Service Food Map of England Lost Foods Accompaniments Biscuits Breads Cakes and Scones Cheeses Classic Meals Curry Dishes Dairy Drinks Egg Dishes Fish Fruit Fruits & Vegetables Game & Offal Meat & Meat Dishes Pastries and Pies Pot Meals Poultry Preserves & Jams Puddings & Sweets Sauces and Spicery Sausages Scones Soups Sweets and Toffee About ... Bookshop

Email: editor@foodsofengland.co.uk


COPYRIGHT and ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: © Glyn Hughes 2022
BUILT WITH WHIMBERRY