d
insides. Open the back, and put in a little pepper, salt, and oil; broil
it over a clear fire, turn it over on both sides, and also on the back.
When sufficiently cooked, the flesh can be detached from the bone, which
will be in about 15 minutes for a small mackerel. Chop a little parsley,
work it up in the butter, with pepper and salt to taste, and a squeeze
of lemon-juice, and put it in the back. Serve before the butter is quite
melted, with a _maitre d'hotel_ sauce in a tureen.

_Time_.--Small mackerel 15 minutes. _Average cost_, from 4d.

_Seasonable_ from April to July.

[Illustration: THE MACKEREL.]

THE MACKEREL.--This is not only one of the most
elegantly-formed, but one of the most beautifully-coloured
fishes, when taken out of the sea, that we have. Death, in some
degree, impairs the vivid splendour of its colours; but it does
not entirely obliterate them. It visits the shores of Great
Britain in countless shoals, appearing about March, off the
Land's End; in the bays of Devonshire, about April; off Brighton
in the beginning of May; and on the coast of Suffolk about the
beginning of June. In the Orkneys they are seen till August; but
the greatest fishery is on the west coasts of England.

TO CHOOSE MACKEREL.--In choosing this fish, purchasers should, to a
great extent, be regulated by the brightness of its appearance. If it
have a transparent, silvery hue, the flesh is good; but if it be red
about the head, it is stale.

FILLETS OF MACKEREL.

282. INGREDIENTS.--2 large mackerel, 1 oz. butter, 1 small bunch of
chopped herbs, 3 tablespoonfuls of medium stock, No. 105, 3
tablespoonfuls of bechamel (_see_ Sauces); salt, cayenne, and
lemon-juice to taste.

_Mode_.--Clean the fish, and fillet it; scald the herbs, chop them fine,
and put them with the butter and stock into a stewpan. Lay in the
mackerel, and simmer very gently for 10 minutes; take them out, and put
them on a hot dish. Dredge in a little flour, add the other ingredients,
give one boil, and pour it over the mackerel.

_Time_.--20 minutes. _Average cost_ for this quantity, 1s. 6d.

_Seasonable_ from April to July.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

_Note_.--Fillets of mackerel may be covered with egg and bread crumbs,
and fried of a nice brown. Serve with _maitre d'hotel_ sauce and plain
melted butter.

THE VORACITY OF THE MACKEREL.--The voracity of this fish is very
great, and, from their