From:
The Thorough Good Cook
Fish: 41. Cod's Head and Shoulders.
Wash the
head and
shoulders well; cut off' the
fins; lay it on a
dish; pour some boiling water over part of the
fish, and instantly scrape off all the black
scales, taking care not to break the
skin; repeat this till every part of the fish looks white, and then wash it in cold water. Put it on in boiling
salt and water, and boil it for a quarter of an hour; then lay it on a dish, rub it all over with the
yolks of two or three beaten
eggs, and strew it thickly with grated
breadcrumbs mixed with
pepper and minced
parsley; stick it all over with little bits of
butter, and put it in an oven to brown. Mix a
tablespoonful of
flour with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quart of
gravy, a teacupful of
white wine, some
pepper,
salt, and a little grated
nutmeg: Mince the white meat of a
lobster; slightly brown three dozen
oysters in a frying-pan, and put them with half the
liquor and the lobster to the gravy and the other things; heat it up, and pour it round the fish. Garnish with cut
lemon. It is not necessary to have oysters and lobsters, but the dish is the
better for both.
To dress the same dish with a
white sauce, the stock should be made of
veal, or of an old
fowl, and seasoned with
white pepper and
mace.