92 BRILL AND PLAICE. 



And it would seem that the ancient cooks, like the 

 modern, fried them : 



"The cook brought forth upon a spacious dish 

 Hot frizzled soles those all-surpassing fish 

 Skilfully browned, and wafting through the room, 

 While sputtering still, their rare and rich perfume." 



They were also served under the name citharus in an 

 appetizing sauce. They figured as one of the side-dishes 

 at Hebe's nuptials; an amateur, "cithari sciens," sings 

 their praises cooked in a compost of cheese and oil, when 

 they are exquisite, etcrtv aKoXacrroL ; and Archestratus, in 

 his poem on " Good Cheer " (Hedypathy), says, to the 

 same purpose, they can hardly be served too elaborately.* 



BRILL (Rhombus vulgaris), which we ought to have 

 mentioned in connection with its cousin-german, turbot, 

 is, like the sole, in season all the year round. It 

 resembles the turbot in appearance, but is not so broad, 

 has a soft dorsal fin, is of a reddish sandy-brown colour 

 on the upper part, and seldom exceeds eight pounds in 

 weight. Though often passed off upon the unwary for 

 turbot, it is far inferior in flavour. 



It is said that in London alone upwards of 35,000,000 

 of plaice are sold every year. PLAICE (Platessa vulgaris), 

 a species of flounder, is a broad flat fish, found on sandy 

 and muddy banks on most parts of the British coasts, as 

 well as on those of continental Europe. It feeds on worms, 

 molluscs, small crustaceans, and young fishes ; attains an 

 average weight of five to seven pounds ; and is taken 

 both by trawl-nets and lines. The upper part of the 



* Badham, "Ancient and Modern Fish-Tattle," p. 366. 



