When you buy live fish, take the lively ones, not those that swim on their side or back. The bought fish are best killed in the market. The quickest way of killing a fish is to stun it with a blow on the head or neck, then cutting its throat and its tail. You scale the fish by taking hold of its tail and with a sharp knife or fish scaler scraping off the scales from there towards the head. To retain the nourishing qualities of the fish, it is not soaked in water, only washed and boiled immediately. Whole fish are put on the fire with cold or hot water. Pieces of fish are put on with boiling water or prepared in hot butter or lard to retain the nutriment in the fish, since the hot water or fat contracts the cells at the cuts. The skin of a whole fish retains the nutriment, therefore it may be put on the fire in cold water. Fish must not be covered up while cooking or frying so that the temperature will not get too high. Frozen fish must be thawed completely before using; if this is not done, the inside of the fish is mostly rare when serving it. No dish will be good when the fish or meat used is prepared in a frozen state. Fish are dressed by making a slight cut along the whole under side and taking out all intestines. The inner darker membrane must be entirely removed and the fish washed well. No. 1—TO BOIL. Whitefish, shellfish, pike, codfish, pickerel, bass, black bass, white bass, flounders, plaice or sole, carp, salmon, trout, brook trout, cabeljou, river trout. Quantity for 6 Persons. 3½–4 lbs. of fish 4 qts. of water Salt 10 pepper-corns 4 cloves 1 large onion 2 bay-leaves ½ lemon, sliced Preparation: The fish is dressed and washed. Into a fish kettle pour 4 qts. of water, all the spices and enough salt to make it quite salty. Place the fish on the tray of the kettle in a swimming position and bring slowly to boil 5 minutes in cold or hot water, then set back to draw ½ hour. When the meat near the gills is not bloody any more, the fish is done. Before serving, rinse it with hot water to remove the scum and place on the platter in a swimming position. It is then garnished with lemon slices, parsley, lettuce and potatoes. With the fish is served a fish gravy, mustard gravy, Bearnaise gravy or fresh creamed butter, browned butter, mustard butter, parsley butter, etc. No. 2—BAKED FISH. Any of the varieties named in No. 1. Quantity for 6 Persons. 3½—4 lbs. of fish ¼ lb. of fresh butter Salt 3 pepper-corns Some flour 1½ cups of sour or sweet cream ¼ tsp. of meat extract Juice of ½ lemon 1 tbsp. of capers 1 tbsp. of Parmesan cheese