Turbot, halibut, skate, soles, and thick-skinned
fish, if the weather be favourable, may be kept a day
or two without injury, but all other fish cannot be too
fresh. Fish cannot be kept twenty-four hours even
on ice without injury. Persons living inland rarely
ever have the true flavour of some fish. Shell-fish,
unless quite fresh, are neither wholesome nor safe ;
lobsters and crabs keep longer by being under-boiled,
a practice often resorted to by fishmongers to the
injury of their customers. Thin-skinned white fish
boiled are the most digestible, and soft-roed fish (male)
are considered the best.
In the selection of fish see that the gills are of a
bright red colour, the scales fresh-looking, but the
surest test is the brightness of the eyes ; no very trust-
worthy rules can be given for determining the fresh-
ness of fish, because the world has become so corrupt
that stale fish often have red gills and other deceitful
Fish.
6 1
appearances given to them by artifice. The best way
is to seize every opportunity for examining fish when
fresh caught, this will give you more exact knowledge
than anything in cookery books. There is a close
analogy between the constituents of fish and meat,
but the nutritive value of fish is very inferior; you
cannot have the same nourishment from fish as you
can from equal weights of mutton or macaroni.
Before cooking, all fish should be thoroughly
cleaned, but not allowed to soak unnecessarily in
water, although some fish require a good time to
cleanse, nor should they be ever roughly handled.
In preparing fish there is no occasion for cruelty. I
once spoke to a cook who was brutal enough to
justify his cruelty by saying that the more eels suf-
fered the better they tasted ; I am sorry to say that
this absurd and utterly false impression exists in
the minds of many cooks. Fish should be well
cooked, but not allowed to remain in the water or fat
an instant after they are done. Nothing but the
experienced eye of a cook can see when a fish is
ready ; all directions as to time are more or less
fallacious; but to persons who have not had much
experience it may be of service to notice when the
eyes begin to start, and to use a thin plated skewer as
a probe; to test the easy Svtparation of the meat from
the bone. The minute any fish is sufficiently boiled
raise it, and place the fish strainer across the kettle to
drain, and if you have to It eep it a few minutes cover
the fish with two or three fo Ids of clean flannel. To let
the fish soak in water, or to keep watering it all day in
the sun, is the best way to spoil the flavour of fish.
MELTED BUTTER AND SAUCES.
“ Our fatliers most admired their sauces sweet,
And often asked for sugar with their meat :
Insipid taste to them who Paris know,
Where tarragon, shallot, and garlic grow.”
Dr. King.
Page 27
Presented as published in 1887. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Turbot, halibut, skate, soles, and thick-skinned fish, if the weather be favourable, may be kept a day or two without injury, but all other fish cannot be too fresh. Fish cannot be kept twenty-four hours even on ice without injury. Persons living inland rarely ever have the true flavour of some fish. Shell-fish, unless quite fresh, are neither wholesome nor safe ; lobsters and crabs keep longer by being under-boiled, a practice often resorted to by fishmongers to the injury of their customers. Thin-skinned white fish boiled are the most digestible, and soft-roed fish (male) are considered the best.
In the selection of fish see that the gills are of a bright red colour, the scales fresh-looking, but the surest test is the brightness of the eyes ; no very trustworthy rules can be given for determining the freshness of fish, because the world has become so corrupt that stale fish often have red gills and other deceitful
Fish.
6 1
appearances given to them by artifice. The best way is to seize every opportunity for examining fish when fresh caught, this will give you more exact knowledge than anything in cookery books. There is a close analogy between the constituents of fish and meat, but the nutritive value of fish is very inferior; you cannot have the same nourishment from fish as you can from equal weights of mutton or macaroni.
Before cooking, all fish should be thoroughly cleaned, but not allowed to soak unnecessarily in water, although some fish require a good time to cleanse, nor should they be ever roughly handled. In preparing fish there is no occasion for cruelty. I once spoke to a cook who was brutal enough to justify his cruelty by saying that the more eels suffered the better they tasted ; I am sorry to say that this absurd and utterly false impression exists in the minds of many cooks. Fish should be well cooked, but not allowed to remain in the water or fat an instant after they are done. Nothing but the experienced eye of a cook can see when a fish is ready ; all directions as to time are more or less fallacious; but to persons who have not had much experience it may be of service to notice when the eyes begin to start, and to use a thin plated skewer as a probe; to test the easy separation of the meat from the bone. The minute any fish is sufficiently boiled raise it, and place the fish strainer across the kettle to drain, and if you have to keep it a few minutes cover the fish with two or three fo Ids of clean flannel. To let the fish soak in water, or to keep watering it all day in the sun, is the best way to spoil the flavour of fish.
MELTED BUTTER AND SAUCES.
“ Our fatliers most admired their sauces sweet,
And often asked for sugar with their meat :
Insipid taste to them who Paris know,
Where tarragon, shallot, and garlic grow.”
Dr. King.