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Classic
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page 127
platter on which it goes to the table. When no fish-kettle is at hand, wrap in a
cloth, lay in a circle on a plate, and set in the kettle. When done the fish may
be lifted out gently by the cloth and thus removed to the platter.
In frying by dipping into hot fat or drippings (or olive oil is still better), a
wire basket, in which the fish is placed and lowered into the fat, is a great
convenience.
One of the most essential things in serving fish, is to have every thing hot,
and quickly dished, so that all may go to the table at once. Serve fresh fish
with squash and green pease, salt fish with beets and carrots, salt pork and
potatoes with either.
In the East there is a great variety of fish in the winter. The blue fish is
excellent boiled or baked with a stuffing of bread, butter, and onions. Sea bass
are boiled with egg-sauce, and garnished with parsley. Salmon are baked or
boiled, and smelts are cooked by dropping into boiling fat. The sheep's-head,
which requires most cooking of all fish, is always stuffed and baked.
Nearly all the larger fresh fish are boiled, the medium-sized are baked or
broiled, and the small are fried. The very large ones are cut up and sold in
pieces of convenient size.
In cooking fish, care must be taken not to use the same knives or spoons in the
preparation of it and other food, or the latter will be tainted with the fishy
flavor.
In boiling fish, allow five to ten minutes to the pound, according to thickness,
after the water begins to boil. To test, pass a knife along a bone, and if done
the fish will separate easily. Remove the moment it is done, or it will become
"woolly" and insipid.
Fish is made firmer if a little salt and vinegar is added to the water in which
it is boiled. The water should be cold when the fish is put in,
except in the case of salmon, when the water should be hot, to preserve the rich
color.
Garnishes for fish are parsley, sliced beets, fried smelts (for turbot), lobster
coral (for boiled fish). For hints on buying fish, see "Marketing."
BAKED FISH.
Clean, rinse, and wipe dry a white fish, or any fish weighing three or four
pounds, rub the fish inside and out with salt and pepper, fill
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