5 i6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



is another no less important principle, viz., that the fish itself often 

 furnishes a sauce from its own juices, more appropriate than some of 

 the complicated and not very digestible mixtures prepared by the 

 cook. Thus " melted butter " which is regarded as essentially an 

 English sauce when intended to accompany fish, should not be, as it 

 almost invariably is, a carelessly made compound of butter, flour, and 

 water; but in place of the last-named ingredient there should be a 

 concentrated liquor made from the trimmings of the fish itself, with 

 the addition of a few drops of lemon-juice, and strengthened if neces- 

 sary from other sources, as from shell-fish of some kind. Thus an 

 every-day sauce of wholesome and agreeable quality is easily made; 

 it finds its highest expression in that admirable dish, the sole with 

 sauce au vin blanc of the French, or, as associated with shell-fish, in the 

 sole d la normande. Some fish furnish their own sauce in a still sim- 

 pler manner, of which an illustration no less striking is at hand in the 

 easiest but best mode of cooking a red mullet, viz., baking it, and se- 

 curing the gravy of delicious flavor which issues abundantly from the 

 fish, chiefly from the liver, as its only sauce. 



Passing rapidly on without naming the ordinary and well-known 

 service of cold meats, fresh and preserved, poultry and game, open 

 or under paste in some form, to be found in profusion on table or side- 

 board, and in which this country is unrivaled, a hint or two relating 

 to some lighter cold entrees may be suggested. It is scarcely possible 

 to treat these apart from the salad which, admirable by itself, also 

 forms the natural garnish for cold dishes. A simple aspic jelly, little 

 more than the consomme of yesterday flavored with a little lemon-peel 

 and tarragon vinegar, furnishes another form of garnish, or a basis for 

 presenting choice morsels in tempting forms, such as poultry-livers, 

 ox-palates, quenelles, fillets of game, chicken, wild fowl, fish, prawns, 

 etc., associated with a well-made salad. On this system an enterpris- 

 ing cook can furnish many changes of light but excellent nutritious 

 dishes. 



On salad so much has been written, that one might suppose, as of 

 many other culinary productions, that to make a good one was the 

 result of some difficult and complicated process, instead of being- 

 simple and easy to a degree. The materials must be secured fresh, 

 are not to be too numerous and diverse, must be well cleansed and 

 washed without handling, and all water removed as far as possible. 

 It should be made by the hostess, or by some member of the family, 

 immediately before the meal, and be kept cool until wanted. Very 

 few servants can be trusted to execute the simple details involved in 

 cross-cutting the lettuce, endive, or what not, but two or three times in 

 a roomy salad-bowl ; in placing one saltspoonful of salt and half that 

 quantity of pepper in a tablespoon, which is to be filled three times 

 consecutively with the best fresh olive-oil, stirring each briskly until 

 the condiments have been thoroughly mixed, and at the same time 



