54. INTRODUCTORY 



with three tablespoonfuls of salad oil. Cook until 

 tender, turning over now and then. Serve with 

 mustard sauce. 



Fried Herrings d la Hoveton, — Soak, clean, and 

 dry as before. Dip in butter and a little salt. Cook 

 in a frying-pan for ten minutes, then add a cup of 

 stock mixed with a large tablespoonful of tomato 

 sauce. Cook for ten minutes longer. Remove from 

 the fire. Arrange the fish in a dish. Pour the sauce 

 over them and serve hot. 



Grilled Herrings. — Remove the head and tail. Soak 

 in water as before. Dry the fish, and then soak in 

 milk for two hours. Beat one egg with pepper and 

 salt (good quantity of salt) and a dessertspoonful of 

 chopped parsley ; add an ounce of melted butter. 

 Mix well, dip the herrings in the mixture, and roll 

 them in maize or oatmeal flour. Now grill, turning over 

 once or twice. Time for cooking ten to twelve minutes. 



The foul, empty, or shotten herring, the last 

 a term familiar from Shakespeare, is also 

 known among the Dutch as " yjdel " — empty, 

 i.e., shotten, or have lately spawned. The word 

 "ylen" is also often used, and is derived from 

 the Dutch word " yele (haring) "—lean (herring). 

 But the Dutch poorer classes dislike the fish in 

 this state, though it is wholesome food when it 

 is kippered, and I have heard in the lower 

 quarters of Yarmouth the expression, used by 

 an adult to a child : " I'll give you mokus and 

 foul fish, if you don't behave yourself." The 

 word " mokus " is used by a section of the people 

 of Amsterdam, and on inquiring its meaning 

 there I was told it was a corruption of the 

 Levantine word " markoot," meaning "blows." 



