THE PERCH. 237 



best perch I have ever had served to me were skinned 

 and broiled very delicately in buttered paper. For this 

 excellent cookery I was indebted to an old lady in whose 

 cottage I was lodging near Maidenhead Bridge, when on 

 a fishing " outing ;" but it is not every hand that can 

 thus deal with a perch. Medium-sized perch are the best 

 eating ; and at home I invariably have them broiled in the 

 jackets — i. e. with the scales on — and the body not laid 

 open. And here I will halt, merely adding that I con- 

 sider a Thames perch a most edible fish, especially if 

 cooked by a Thames fisherman's wife. I always leave 

 it to her to decide on the special method of cooking it, 

 as long as she has dried the fish before cooking it, 

 and rubbed a little lemon or salt along the back-bone 

 to eliminate the muddy flavour that will attach to most 

 fresh-water fish unless overcome by some artificial means. 



