Baked Carp

Serve a baked carp with a gravy made from its drippings, some butter and some lemon.

Clean a carp and place it in a bowl of salted cold water and vinegar to let it disgorge. Remove, drain and dry it, stuff with well-seasoned forcemeat, sew up the belly, brush it with egg, dredge breadcrumbs over and put on a few small lumps of butter here and there. Place the fish in a deep earthenware dish with two onions cut in slices and a few sweet herbs, pour over one breakfast cupful each of sweet wine and stock, mixing it with one teaspoonful of anchovy sauce or essence, put the dish in a moderate oven and bake for an hour. Dress the carp carefully on a dish and keep it hot, then strain the liquor into a saucepan, add a lump of butter rolled in flour to thicken and stir continually over the fire until it is done; then mix in half a teaspoonful of sugar, the juice of a lemon and a seasoning of salt and pepper. Pour this into a sauceboat and serve.