pour over it caper sauce, and send some of the latter
to table in a tureen.

_Time_.--1/2 hour. _Average cost_, 4d. per lb.

_Seasonable_ from August to April.

_Note_.--Skate may also be served with onion sauce, or parsley and
butter.

SMALL SKATE FRIED.

317. INGREDIENTS.--Skate, sufficient vinegar to cover them, salt and
pepper to taste, 1 sliced onion, a small bunch of parsley, the juice of
1/2 lemon, hot dripping.

_Mode_.--Cleanse the skate, lay them in a dish, with sufficient vinegar
to cover them; add the salt, pepper, onion, parsley, and lemon-juice,
and let the fish remain in this pickle for 1-1/2 hour. Then drain them
well, flour them, and fry of a nice brown, in hot dripping. They may be
served either with or without sauce. Skate is not good if dressed too
fresh, unless it is crimped; it should, therefore, be kept for a day,
but not long enough to produce a disagreeable smell.

_Time_.--10 minutes. _Average cost_, 4d. per lb.

_Seasonable_ from August to April.

OTHER SPECIES OF SKATE.--Besides the true skate, there are
several other species found in our seas. These are known as the
_white_ skate, the long-nosed skate, and the Homelyn ray, which
are of inferior quality, though often crimped, and sold for true
skate.

TO BAKE SMELTS.

318. INGREDIENTS.--12 smelts, bread crumbs, 1/4 lb. of fresh butter, 2
blades of pounded mace; salt and cayenne to taste.

_Mode_.--Wash, and dry the fish thoroughly in a cloth, and arrange them
nicely in a flat baking-dish. Cover them with fine bread crumbs, and
place little pieces of butter all over them. Season and bake for 15
minutes. Just before serving, add a squeeze of lemon-juice, and garnish
with fried parsley and cut lemon.

_Time_.--1/4 hour. _Average cost_, 2s. per dozen.

_Seasonable_ from October to May.

_Sufficient_ for 6 persons.

TO CHOOSE SMELTS.--When good, this fish is of a fine silvery appearance,
and when alive, their backs are of a dark brown shade, which, after
death, fades to a light fawn. They ought to have a refreshing fragrance,
resembling that of a cucumber.

THE ODOUR OF THE SMELT.--This peculiarity in the smelt has been
compared, by some, to the fragrance of a cucumber, and by
others, to that of a violet. It is a very elegant fish, and
formerly abounded in the Thames. The _Atharine_, or sand smelt,
is sometimes sold for the true one; but it is an inferior fish,
being drier in t