RECIPE FOR POTTING FISH. 109 



first seasoned them highly with a portion of the 

 mixture I will mention presently, and bake them 

 in a " cool" oven, with as much fresh butter as, 

 when melted, will cover them ; allowiiiQ: them 

 to remain in the oven till all the bones are dis- 

 solved. The time this part of the operation takes 

 depends on the heat of the oven. The butter 

 is then to be drained off, and the fish carefully 

 removed into proper potting-pots, and well 

 pressed down, so as to leave no spaces of air 

 between them. Fresh buiter, melted and clari- 

 fied, is then poured over the top, as we usually 

 see potted meats, shrimps, &c. done ; and when 

 cold, it is fit for table. Should the fish be large, 

 say above a quarter or half-pound, it is better to 

 scale them and take out the back bones. The 

 following is the mixture, which will suffice for 

 thirty or forty pounds of fish, and if kept corked 

 in a glass bottle, may be used as occasion 

 requires : — 



Six Tea spoonfuls of ground black Pepper 

 Six ditto ditto Allspice 



Four ditto ditto Mace 



Two ditto ditto Cloves 



Two ditto ditto Nutmeg 



One ditto ditto Cayenne. 



And to every spoonful of this mixture used, add, 

 at the time of using, but not before, one spoonful of 

 salt. But to resume the subject of my discourse, 

 namely " throwing the fly !" 



