CHAPTER IX.
FISH.
FRESH fish should frequently be substituted for meat. For those who live in seaboard towns there is no trouble in obtaining a variety. Every inland place has its own peculiar species, which should have precedence over other kinds; for the first thing to be taken into account is freshness. Fish brought from a distance deteriorates with the handling it receives and the time it is out of the water.
The lighter the fish, the greater the variety of modes by which it may be cooked. It also may be served more frequently without one’s becoming tired of it. For example, at the Isles of Shoals visitors are offered broiled scrod every day in the week, yet they do not weary of the dish in a stay of months. At Nantucket broiled bluefish is served daily, and it is so delicious that its appearance three times a day would at first be hailed with pleasure; but after a short time the appetite would become palled, because the fish is rich. It would be the same with the freshest and most toothsome salmon and mackerel. A rich fish satiates much sooner than a lighter and poorer kind, and for this reason it is advisable to avoid having the richer varieties frequently. Of course, the poorer kinds require more and richer sauces than salmon, mackerel, or bluefish. Whitefish, like cod, haddock, cusk, halibut, and flounders, is improved by the addition of sauces made of milk, cream, or white stock.
Boiling is the least desirable mode of preparing fish, because it causes the greatest loss of flavor and nutriment. A fine sauce is needed to make the dish satisfactory. But boiling has one merit: the remains of the fish after the first meal are in better form for use in little dishes of many kinds than they are if any other way of cooking be employed. Small fish, like brook trout, smelts, etc., are best when fried.
How to Boil Fish.
Fresh fish should always be put on to cook in salted boiling water. A little lemon juice or vinegar in the water makes the flesh of the fish firmer and improves the flavor. For some tastes the flavor is improved still more by putting in the water, tied in a piece of cheese-cloth, a few spoonfuls of minced onion, carrot, and celery, two bay leaves, a sprig each of thyme, parsley, and summer savory, a small bit of cinnamon, and two whole cloves. There should be only water enough to cover the fish. If there be a fish-kettle with a tray, lay the fish in the tray and do not wrap it in a cloth. If, however, there be no regular fish-kettle, pin the fish in a piece of cloth, put a large plate in the bottom of a large flat saucepan, and lay the fish on this. A thick square of fish will take longer to cook than the same number of pounds cut from a long, slender fish. A small cod, haddock, bluefish, lake trout, salmon trout, whitefish, etc., weighing from three to five pounds, will require thirty minutes’ cooking. The water should bubble only at the side of the saucepan. A large fish of the same kind, weighing six or eight pounds, would require only ten minutes’ more time. A thick square or cube of halibut or salmon, weighing from three to five pounds, would require forty minutes’ cooking; and if it weighed six or eight pounds, it would require an hour. If the fish be put into cold water the juices will be drawn out. The fish will be broken if the water be allowed to boil hard during the cooking. A good sauce should always be served with boiled fish.
Baked Fish.
1/2 pint of cracker crumbs.
1/2 pint cold water.
1 teaspoonful of salt.