"Nought like their home the constant lobsters prize, And foreign shores and seas unknown despise. Though cruel hands the banish'd wretch expel, And force the captive from his native cell, He will, if freed, return with anxious care, Find the known rock, and to his home repair; No novel customs learns in different seas, But wonted food and home-taught manners please."
278. INGREDIENTS.--2 lobsters; seasoning to taste, of nutmeg, pounded mace, white pepper, and salt; 1/4 lb. of butter, 3 or 4 bay-leaves.
_Mode_.--Take out the meat carefully from the shell, but do not cut it up. Put some butter at the bottom of a dish, lay in the lobster as evenly as possible, with the bay-leaves and seasoning between. Cover with butter, and bake for 3/4 hour in a gentle oven. When done, drain the whole on a sieve, and lay the pieces in potting-jars, with the seasoning about them. When cold, pour over it clarified butter, and, if very highly seasoned, it will keep some time.
_Time_.--3/4 hour. _Average cost_ for this quantity, 4s. 4d.
_Note_.--Potted lobster may be used cold, or as _fricassee_ with cream sauce.
How the Lobster Feeds.--The pincers of the lobster's large claws are furnished with nobs, and those of the other, are always serrated. With the former, it keeps firm hold of the stalks of submarine plants, and with the latter, it cuts and minces its food with great dexterity. The knobbed, or numb claw, as it is called by fishermen, is sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left, indifferently.
279. INGREDIENTS.--4 middling-sized mackerel, a nice delicate forcemeat (_see_ Forcemeats), 3 oz. of butter; pepper and salt to taste.
_Mode_.--Clean the fish, take out the roes, and fill up with forcemeat, and sew up the slit. Flour, and put them in a dish, heads and tails alternately, with the roes; and, between each layer, put some little pieces of butter, and pepper and salt. Bake for 1/2 an hour, and either serve with plain melted butter or a _maître d'hôtel_ sauce.
_Time_.--1/2 hour. _Average cost_ for this quantity, 1s. 10d.
_Note_.--Baked mackerel may be dressed in the same way as baked herrings (_see_ No. 268), and may also be stewed in wine.
WEIGHT OF THE MACKEREL.--The greatest weight of this fish seldom exceeds 2 lbs., whilst their ordinary length runs between 14 and 20 inches. They die almost immediately after they are taken from their element, and, for a short time, exhibit a phosphoric light.