Fish

A wide variety of fish was served at fast-day meals, including most of the native sea-fish, shell-fish and freshwater fish available today, as well as lamprey, porpoise, sturgeon and whale. For most fishes, the basic preparation was limited to removing all the innards, and probably the gills too, before plunging them into boiling water usually flavoured with salt, parsley, thyme or other herbs, and sometimes either ale or yeast. Richer sauces might then be poured over them just before serving. In selecting the following recipes, I have chosen only those which were intended for varieties which are still readily available, and which do not require the use of fish offal, blood, or the contents of pikes’ stomachs and similar parts which most people would now find unacceptable.⁵¹