The Carp, as it is a Fish which
thrives best in black, deep, standing Waters, is therefore commonly given
to taste of the Mud; but to cure this, those Carps you intend for the Table
should be put into a clear Water for a Week before you use them, that they
may purge themselves. You may keep two Brace of large Carps well enough in
a two-dozen Hamper, plung'd into any part of a River where there is a clear
Stream, or Trench that is fed by a Spring, and they will become of an
extraordinary sweet Taste. And so we may do with Tench and Eels, when we
catch them in foul feeding Waters. When your Fish are thus purify'd, dress
your Carps after the following manner:
To Stew Carps or Tench.
Take a Brace of live Carp, scale them, gut and wash them, and bleed them in
the Tails, so that the Blood be not lost; for according to all the Receipts
for stewing this kind of Fish, the Blood, however small the Quantity is of
it, must make part of the Sauce: Lay these in a Stew-Pan with the Blood, a
Pint of Beef-Gravy, a Pint of Claret, a large Onion stuck with Cloves,
three large Anchovies, a Stick of Horse-radish sliced, the Peel of half a
large Lemon, Pepper and Salt at pleasure, a Bunch of Sweet-herbs, two or
three Spoonfuls of Vinegar.
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