114 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XIII, 



In packing these fish it is advisable to use rectangular or oval 

 tins, both of which can be packed much more closely than 

 cylindrical cans and therefore require less packing oil which 

 would be very expensive in a can not closely packed with fish- 

 This mode of packing in oil has not yet been used at Beypore, but 

 may now be adopted as soon as good oil is procurable and cheap. 



172. Marinated mackerel. — This product, well known in Europe 

 and imitated in Cornwall with pilchards, is excellent but requires 

 several precautions. Marination is simply the packing of the fish 

 in a spiced vinegar ; the recipes are very varied according to the 

 taste of the canner and his market. A spiced vinegar may consist 

 of vinegar I gallon, mace % oz., nutmeg II/16 oz., black pepper I oz. 

 salt 2 oz., cinnamon I oz., cloves ^ oz. ; these should be mixed 

 and left for 24 hours and then boiled for five minutes and strained 

 the spices may be put in a muslin bag. Water should be 

 added when used. A 'Court Bouillon* which is a milder prepar- 

 ation, may consist of water with vinegar (about one-fourth of the 

 water), onions, cloves, garlic, pepper, salt, parsley, and thyme, all 

 boiled together for an hour and strained. Or the fish may be 

 canned with a slice of lime or lemon, a slice or two of onion, a 

 clove and a little parsley, and the can filled with vinegar and 

 water in equal proportions. Another recipe is water 100 lb., strong 

 vinegar TO lb., cloves 1/2 lb., bay leaves I '2 oz., sliced onions 2 lb., 

 salt 3 lb., black pepper 12 lb. Soak the spices in the vinegar for 

 48 hours ; then boil the water, salt and onion together, add the 

 vinegar and spices and boil together for a minute and strain. A 

 recipe for marinated herring which maybe followed for mackerel 

 is as follows. Behead, gut and wash the fish, brine for 30 or 40 

 minutes, dry off the external moisture and pack in convenient (oblong 

 or oval) boxes with onion, garlic, lemon or lime, thyme, bay leaf, 

 pepper, pimento (allspice), cloves, etc., according to taste; solder, 

 and then through a hole left for the purpose, add vinegar diluted 

 with water, tip, exhaust and process. The reason for introducing 

 vinegar and water after soldering is that is almost impossible to 

 solder the tops or caps on to a can which is full of any watery fluid 

 or fluid other than oil, owing to the formation by the hot soldering 

 tool of steam which forces its way through the melted solder and 

 prevents hermetical seaming. There is however no difficulty in 

 mere tipping. Of course no difficulty exists in hermetically clos- 

 ing solderless cans by double seaming. 



