rs. It also is greatly prized
on account of the delicacy of its flesh.

ROAST STURGEON.

333. INGREDIENTS.--Veal stuffing, buttered paper, the tail-end of a
sturgeon.

_Mode_.--Cleanse the fish, bone and skin it; make a nice veal stuffing
(see Forcemeats), and fill it with the part where the bones came from;
roll it in buttered paper, bind it up firmly with tape, like a fillet of
veal, and roast it in a Dutch oven before a clear fire. Serve with good
brown gravy, or plain melted butter.

_Time_.--About 1 hour. _Average cost_, 1s. to 1s. 6d. per lb.

_Seasonable_ from August to March.

_Note_.--Sturgeon may be plain-boiled, and served with Dutch sauce. The
fish is very firm, and requires long boiling.

ESTIMATE OF THE STURGEON BY THE ANCIENTS.--By the ancients, the
flesh of this fish was compared to the ambrosia of the
immortals. The poet Martial passes a high eulogium upon it, and
assigns it a place on the luxurious tables of the Palatine
Mount. If we may credit a modern traveller in China, the people
of that country generally entirely abstain from it, and the
sovereign of the Celestial Empire confines it to his own
kitchen, or dispenses it to only a few of his greatest
favourites.

MATELOT OF TENCH.

334. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 pint of stock No. 105, 1/2 pint of port wine, 1
dozen button onions, a few mushrooms, a faggot of herbs, 2 blades of
mace, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, thyme, 1 shalot,
2 anchovies, 1 teacupful of stock No. 105, flour, 1 dozen oysters, the
juice of 1/2 lemon; the number of tench, according to size.

_Mode_.--Scale and clean the tench, cut them into pieces, and lay them
in a stewpan; add the stock, wine, onions, mushrooms, herbs, and mace,
and simmer gently for 1/2 hour. Put into another stewpan all the
remaining ingredients but the oysters and lemon-juice, and boil slowly
for 10 minutes, when add the strained liquor from the tench, and keep
stirring it over the fire until somewhat reduced. Rub it through a
sieve, pour it over the tench with the oysters, which must be previously
scalded in their own liquor, squeeze in the lemon-juice, and serve.
Garnish with croutons.

_Time_. 3/4 hour.

_Seasonable_ from October to June.

[Illustration: THE TENCH.]

THE TENCH.--This fish is generally found in foul and weedy
waters, and in such places as are well supplied with rushes.
They thrive best in standing waters, and a