Page:Art of Cookery 1774 edition.djvu/362

324 In this quarter are fine smelts, and hold till after Christmas.

There are two sorts of mullets, the sa-mullet and river mullet, both equally good.

DOREY, brile, gudgeons, gollin, smelts, crouch, perch, anchoy and loach, scollop and wilks, periwinkles, cockles, mussels, geare, bearbet and hollebet. ALL these are known to be new or stale by the colour of their gills, their easiness to open, the hanging or keeping up their fins, the standing out or sinking of their eyes, &c. and by smelling their gills. HE is chosen by his thickness and plumpness; and if his belly be of a cream colour, he must spend well; but if thin, and his belly of a bluish white, he will eat very loose. CHUSE him by his thickness towards his head, and the whiteness of his flesh when it is cut: and so of a codling. Lyng. FOR dried lyng, chuse that which is thickest in the poll, and the flesh of the brightest yellow. THESE are chosen by their thickness, and the she-scate is the sweetest, especially if large. THESE are chosen by their thickness and stiffness; when their bellies are of a cream colour, they spend the firmer. IF it cuts without crumbling, and the veins and gristles give a true blue where they appear, and the flesh is perfect white, then conclude it to be good. IF their gills are of a lively shining redness, their eyes stand full, and the fish is stiff, then they are new; but if dusky and sfaded, or sinking and wrinkled, and tails limber, they are stale. CHUSE them by their weight; the heaviest are best, if no