168 FISH. 



dead. Fish, however, is almost invariably presented in the 

 United States in a fresh and wholesome state. 



The male lobster has the tail narrower, the upper fins stiffer, 

 and the whole body smaller, than the hen-lobster ; its meat is 

 considered the richer, but the female is sometimes preferred 

 for ornamental dishes, on account of the spawn and coral. 

 They are generally bought already boiled, being thrown by 

 fishermen, as soon as caught, into boiling water, and boiled 

 from thirty to fifty minutes, according to their size ; boiled 

 too long, they become tough ; if not long enough, the spawn 

 will not have an agreeable color. On being taken from the 

 water, they are wiped with a damp cloth rubbed over with 

 butter or sweet olive-oil, which is wiped off afterward. 



Lobster and Crab served Cold. 



Take off the claws and crack them at the joints, lay the 

 body and tail open neatly with a sharp knife, removing the 

 dark vein, and what is vulgarly known as the lady, and then 

 dispose the eatable portions neatly on the dish. Serve in a 

 salad bowl the following sauce. Rub the hard-boiled yolks 

 of three eggs and the spawn of the lobster together to a 

 paste, add a salt-spoonful of salt, a little cayenne, two large 

 spoonfuls of sweet olive-oil, a teaspoonful of made mustard, 

 three table-spoonfuls of good cider vinegar, and a teaspoon- 

 ful of anchovy-sauce. The same sauce will serve for plain 

 boiled crabs. 



Crabs in the Shell. 



Take the meat from the claws and body, mince it very 

 fine, and season it with salt, white pepper, and a little pounded 

 mace. Have the shell nicely cleaned, and sprinkle bread- 

 crumbs into it with pieces of butter, put the meat of two 

 crabs into the shell, and bake in a moderate oven. 



Lobster and crab, as also shrimps and prawns, may have 



