Baked Mackerel or Whitings (Cinderella's Receipt)

Ingredients

• 1 mackerel or whiting fish
• 1 tablespoon wine
• a few drops chili vinegar
• a pinch salt
• a pinch cayenne pepper
• 0.5 ounce butter
• 1 saltspoon flour
• a pinch pounded mace
• as needed butter

Instructions

1. Butter a baking dish of suitable size.
2. Open the fish only enough to empty and perfectly cleanse them.
3. Wash and wipe the fish dry.
4. Fold the fish in a soft cloth and let them remain in it for a time.
5. Replace the roes inside each fish.
6. Arrange the fish in the buttered baking dish with heads and tails towards each other so they lie compactly.
7. Place the fish backs downwards so the sauce may surround the thickest part of the flesh.
8. For each fish, distribute a tablespoonful of wine, a few drops of chili vinegar, a little salt, and a pinch of cayenne.
9. Blend about half an ounce of butter with a saltspoonful of flour for each fish and distribute this over them.
10. Lay two buttered papers over the fish and press them down gently.
11. Set the dish into a gentle oven for twenty minutes.
12. Take off the papers and send the fish to table in their sauce.