CHAPTER II.
Fish.
TO CHOOSE FISH.
Copper Fish or Ham Kettle.
The cook should be well acquainted with the signs of freshness and good condition in fish, as they are most unwholesome articles of food when stale, and many of them are also dangerous eating when they are out of season. The eyes should always be bright, the gills of a fine clear red, the body stiff, the flesh firm, yet elastic to the touch, and the smell not disagreeable.
When all these marks are reversed, and the eyes are sunken, the gills very dark in hue, the fish itself flabby and of offensive odour, it is bad, and should be avoided. The chloride of soda, will, it is true, restore it to a tolerably eatable state,[[42]] if it be not very much over-kept, but it will never resemble in quality and wholesomeness fish which is fresh from the water.
[42]. We have known this applied very successfully to salmon which from some hours’ keeping in sultry weather had acquired a slight degree of taint, of which no trace remained after it was dressed; as a general rule, however, fish which is not wholesomely fresh should be rejected for the table.
Mackerel Kettle.
A good turbot is thick, and full fleshed, and the under side is of a pale cream colour or yellowish white; when this is of a bluish tint, and the fish is thin and soft, it should be rejected. The same observations apply equally to soles.
The best salmon and cod fish are known by a small head, very thick shoulders, and a small tail; the scales of the former should be bright, and its flesh of a fine red colour; to be eaten in perfection it should be dressed as soon as it is caught, before the curd (or white substance which lies between the flakes of flesh) has melted and rendered the fish oily. In that state it is really crimp, but continues so only for a very few hours; and it bears therefore a much higher price in the London market then, than when mellowed by having been kept a day or two.
The flesh of cod fish should be white and clear before it is boiled, whiter still after it is boiled, and firm though tender, sweet and mild in flavour, and separated easily into large flakes. Many persons consider it rather improved than otherwise by having a little salt rubbed along the inside of the back-bone and letting it lie from twenty-four to forty-eight hours before it is dressed,. It is sometimes served crimp like salmon, and must then be sliced as soon as it is dead, or within the shortest possible time afterwards.
Herrings, mackerel, and whitings, unless newly caught, are quite uneatable. When they are in good condition their natural colours will be very distinct and their whole appearance glossy and fresh. The herring when first taken from the water is of a silvery brightness; the back of the mackerel is of a bright green marked with dark stripes; but this becomes of a coppery colour as the fish grows stale. The whiting is of a pale brown or fawn colour with a pinkish tint; but appears dim and leaden-hued when no longer fresh.
Eels should be alive and brisk in movement when they are purchased, but the “horrid barbarity,” as it is truly designated, of skinning and dividing them while they are so, is without excuse, as they are easily destroyed “by piercing the spinal marrow close to the back part of the skull with a sharp pointed knife or skewer. If this be done in the right place all motion will instantly cease.” We quote Dr. Kitchener’s assertion on this subject; but we know that the mode of destruction which he recommends is commonly practised by the London fishmongers. Boiling water also will immediately cause vitality to cease, and is perhaps the most humane and ready method of destroying the fish.
Lobsters, prawns, and shrimps, are very stiff when freshly boiled, and the tails turn strongly inwards; when these relax, and the fish are soft and watery, they are stale; and the smell will detect their being so, instantly, even if no other symptoms of it be remarked. If bought alive, lobsters should be chosen by their weight and “liveliness.” The hen lobster is preferred for sauce and soups, on account of the coral; but the flesh of the male is generally considered of finer flavour for eating. The vivacity of their leaps will show when prawns and shrimps are fresh from the sea.
Oysters should close forcibly on the knife when they are opened: if the shells are apart ever so little they are losing their condition, and when they remain far open the fish are dead, and fit only to be thrown away. Small plump natives are very preferable to the larger and coarser kinds.