COOKERY OF THE PIKE AND PERCH 271 



of laths which prevented his falling off the spit, he 

 is to be allowed to subside into the dish he is to 

 be eaten out of, and by this means the pike will be 

 kept unbroken and complete ; then to the sauce 

 that is self-contained in the belly and the sauce 

 in the pan you are to add a fit quantity of the best 

 butter and to squeeze the juice of three or four 

 oranges, with cloves of garlic a discretion. We have 

 greatly abbreviated, because the recipe strikes one 

 rather as a curiosity than as a counsel of perfection. 

 The fish is bathed in butter to counteract a process 

 of gratuitous shrivelling, and is so bedevilled with 

 strong condiments and savoury herbs that all traces 

 of genuine flavour must have vanished. We may 

 criticise the more freely that Walton clashes with his 

 own principles : he expatiates on roasting a pike more 

 than a yard in length, yet, as we have seen, he very 

 sensibly remarks elsewhere that great fish have more 

 of state than goodness. If you have a great fish and 

 mean to make the best of him, Mr. Cholmondeley- 

 Pennell's experience makes an excellent suggestion in 

 his volume on Fishing in the ' Badminton Library : ' 

 ' Another good way of treating large pike is to boil 

 them and let them get cold, when the flesh, or rather 

 fish, will break up easily into flakes, which when fried 

 with a little fresh butter, plenty of pepper and salt 



