The Delmonico Cook Book. Alessandro Filippini
a pound to ten pounds each, are very good during the winter months. Wall-eyed pike [Sticostedium vitreum]. Catfish [Ictalurus punctatus]. Smelts [Osmerus mordax] are received from different parts of the East and North during this month. The choicest come from Maine and Massachusetts. Those coming from Canada are always frozen, and are inferior, and sold at a very low price. Green turtle. Diamond-back terrapin. Prawns, from South Carolina. Scallops. Oysters. The following are the best in this month: Blue Points, Shrewsburys, East Rivers, and Mill Ponds. Hard crabs. Crab-meat, fresh picked. Whitebait. Finnan haddie. Smoked salmon. Smoked halibut. Best boneless dried codfish.
FEBRUARY.
Live codfish. Haddock. Halibut. Striped bass. Eels. Live lobsters. Fresh salmon. Frost-fish. Fresh Spanish-mackerel are found occasionally in market, coming from Pensacola, Florida. Pompano. Sheep’s-head. Red-fish, or channel bass. Grouper. Red-snapper. White perch [Roccus Americanus], from Long Island; one of the best pan-fish that is found in market. Smelts, green, from Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, and frozen smelts from Canada. During the latter part of the month very choice smelts are received from Long Island. These fish are large, and are considered the best of all varieties of smelts received. Shad. During the latter part of the month they begin to come from North Carolina. These fish are oftentimes large, weighing six pounds each, and in flavor are equal to those taken in the Connecticut River. Herring. Skate, or ray-fish. Salmon-trout. Whitefish. Yellow perch [Perca Americana]. Pickerel. Wall-eyed pike. Catfish. Green turtle. Terrapin. Prawns. Scallops. Oysters. Codfish tongues. Soft shell crabs during this month are in excellent condition, and are considered one of the most seasonable shell fish in market at this time. Hard crabs. Whitebait. Crab-meat, fresh picked. Finnan haddie. Smoked salmon. Boneless dried codfish. Smoked halibut.
MARCH.
Live codfish. Haddock. Halibut. Striped bass. Chicken Halibut. Eels. Live lobsters. Salmon, from the Columbia River. During the latter part of the month a few fish are received from Nova Scotia, weighing about eight pounds each, and are called Kennebec salmon by the tradesmen, although no salmon are caught either in the Penobscot or Kennebec rivers, Maine, until about the 1st of May. Large flounders [Pseudopleuronectes Americanus], suitable for making fillet of sole. Spanish-mackerel. Pompano. Sheep’s-head. Red-snapper. Grouper. Shad are abundant this month from North Carolina, and about the 25th or 30th of March they make their first appearance in the North or Hudson River. Herring. Skate, or ray-fish. Sturgeon [Acipencer sturio]. Salmon-trout. Whitefish. Yellow perch. Pickerel. Cisco [Coregonus artedi]. Catfish. Wall-eyed pike. Green turtle. Terrapin. With the month of March closes the terrapin season, as after the 1st of April it seems to be universally conceded that the weather is too warm, and terrapin are not relished, nor does the palate crave them. Soft shell clams are still excellent this month. Prawns. Scallops. Oysters. Those known as East Rivers, caught on the north shore of Long Island, are considered best in this month. Crab-meat, fresh picked. Smoked haddock. Smoked salmon. Smoked halibut. Smoked mackerel.
APRIL.
Live codfish. Haddock. Halibut. Striped bass. Chicken halibut. Eels. Live lobsters. Tomcods. Salmon, fresh from the Columbia River. Salmon, fresh from Nova Scotia. Flounders. White perch. Fresh mackerel. About the first part of April mackerel make their appearance on our coast, oftentimes in enormous numbers, and are sold in the markets at prices so low as to make them the cheapest food of the season. Spanish-mackerel and pompano are occasionally in the market from Pensacola, Florida. Kingfish [Menticirrus nebulosus]; a few come into market from North Carolina. Sheep’s-head, from North Carolina. Smelts; with the close of this month the fish goes out of season. Red-snapper are to be found in market up to the 15th of April. Sea bass [Serranus atrarius]; a few occasionally come into market from Charleston, S. C. Shad increase in abundance from the North and Hudson rivers. Skate, or ray-fish. Bluefish [Pomatomus saltatrix]; a few make their appearance, caught on the Florida coast. Brook-trout [Salvelinus fontinalis]. The open season for this fish commences April 1. Salmon-trout. Whitefish. Pickerel. Cisco. Wall-eyed pike. Catfish. Green turtle. Prawns. Crayfish [Astacus fluviatilus] are found during this month in the markets; they are caught in the Potomac River. Scallops; with the close of this month they are out of season. Oysters are generally better during the month of April than at any other time of the year, but, according to custom, with the close of this month the oyster season ends. Fresh frogs’ legs during the latter part of this month are taken, and begin to make their appearance in market at prices of about sixty to seventy-five cents per pound. Codfish tongues. Hard crabs. Crab-meat. Whitebait. Smoked haddock. Smoked salmon. Smoked halibut.
MAY.
Codfish during this month is apt to be poor, as no live fish are brought to the New York markets. It is mostly fish caught off Nantucket and repacked in Boston, and from there shipped to New York. Haddock; the same applies to this fish as to the cod. Halibut is in excellent condition this month, both large fish for steaks, and small chicken halibut for dinner fish. Striped bass. Eels. Lobsters. Blackfish [Teutogo onitis]. Salmon from Restigouche make their appearance about the 20th of May. Oregon salmon continue to come during this month, although not in as good order as in previous months. Large flounders for fillet of sole are excellent this month. Fresh mackerel. Spanish-mackerel and pompano from Pensacola, Florida. A few come to market from North Carolina during this month. Butter-fish [Stromateus triacanthus] make their appearance in the market this month. Weakfish [Cyonoscion regale] plenty and cheap. Kingfish from Long Island make their appearance during this month in the markets, and are an excellent fish, growing better each month till October, when they go out of season. Sheep’s-head; a few make their appearance from Long Island. Porgies [Stenotomus chrysops], from Long Island. Sea bass during this month are abundant from Narragansett Bay. Shad from Connecticut is probably at its best this month. There is no doubt that shad from this river possesses a flavor superior to all others. Shad from the North River begin to get soft and are not in good condition. Bluefish; there are a few weighing one and a half to two pounds each in market. Squid [Loligo pealæi] This is an article of food that Spaniards and Italians think a great deal of, but it is very little used by American people as yet. It has been introduced to the American public by the dinners of the Ichthyophagous Club, which is composed of a few gentlemen connected with the leading newspapers, and some eminent scientific men, whose object is to cultivate a taste and demand for those varieties of fish which are not generally supposed to be good edible food. Brook-trout under the existing law come into market on April 1. Probably the finest flavored trout found on this continent are the wild brook-trout taken in the streams of Long Island. Cultivated brook-trout that are raised in ponds and preserves depend very much upon the character of their food as to what the flavor will be. Trout that are fed entirely upon chopped liver are usually flat and insipid to the taste. But trout that are fed upon small minnows or other fish-food, such as clams, larvae of insects, and small fish of any kind, are always more delicate in flavor. Salmon-trout and whitefish; a few are found in market this month, but during warm weather it is very difficult to obtain them in New York City markets in prime condition. Carp [Cyprinus carpia]. These fish are now making their appearance in our markets in considerable quantities, having been introduced into this country through the instrumentality of Professor Spencer F. Baird, late United States Fish and Fisheries Commissioner, some eight years ago. They have been distributed in nearly every State of the Union, and in the Southern States have grown larger, and are found in better condition, than they are in Germany, where the parent fish came from. The market is principally supplied now with fish caught in the Potomac River,