The European cookbook for American homes (from Italy, Spain, Portugal and France)

Clean, dry and salt the fish. Use a baking pan large enough to hold them without overlapping. Spread melted butter on the bottom and sprinkle over it a thin layer of the bread crumbs, which have been rolled in a mixture of the salt, pepper, nutmeg, thyme, saffron and parsley. Add wine. Place the fish on top; scatter over them the rest of the crumb mixture; dot with butter. Bake in a moderate oven (3500 F.), basting well. FRICASSEE OF FISH (Pescado Guisado) 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup boiling water 1 garlic clove, minced *4 teaspoon each pepper, cloves, 2 tomatoes, chopped cinnamon, minced parsley, 1 pound fish and saffron Y2 cup ground almonds Heat olive oil in a saucepan until it smokes. Cool a little and fry in it the garlic and tomatoes. When mixture bubbles, put in the fish and saute while you prepare the sauce. Stir the almonds into the boiling water and add pepper, cloves, cinnamon, parsley and saffron. Stir well and add to the contents of the saucepan. Continue cooking the fish in the sauce. Remove to hot platter and pour sauce over. PANNED FISH (Pescado en Casuella Catalana) 1 garlic clove, minced 1 teaspoon flour 1 tomato, sliced 2 cups boiling water 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt 1 teaspoon saffron 1 pound fish (any kind) Fry garlic and tomato in oil until a delicate brown. Remove from oil, add saffron, and mash to a paste. Brown flour in remaining oil and gradually stir in the boiling water. Add paste and cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Salt the fish and add. Cook until brown on both sides and all sauce is absorbed. Spaniards are quite partial to saffron, which makes even a simple dish look festive, especially when served in the beautiful native pottery. Saffron is made by infusing the stamens of a variety of crocus which flowers in Autumn, and its use in food originated in Persia or Kashmir, from whence the Arabs carried it west and the Monguls east. The Crusaders brought it to England, but we Anglo-Saxons have limited its use to a harmless vegetable coloring matter. It is valued for its pungent taste and peculiar musky odor wherever the influence of Arabian, Persian, and East Indian cooking has spread. A Spanish writer describes his country as "God's paradise, fruitful in crops, delicious with fruits, plenteous in deer and all kinds of game, abounding with fish, made glad by good wines, sweetened with honey, lighted with wax, seasoned with oil, and gay with saffron." FRIED FISH IN SAUCE (Pescado Frito y en Salsa) 6 small fish i garlic clove, halved Salt 6 peppercorns Flour i tablespoon minced parsley Oil or lard 2 tablespoons lemon juice Roasted filberts, chopped Clean, salt the fish and flour them. Have the fat deep enough to cover the fish well. Fry a garlic clove in fat, remove; then put in the fish. Remove when done, and keep hot on serving plate while you make the following sauce: Crush peppercorns with parsley and lemon juice. Moisten with a little boiling water and pour over the fish. Place under the grill for not more than 5 minutes while the sauce penetrates the fish. It must not be too dry. Sprinkle chopped roasted filberts on top and serve. SMALL FISH BREADED (Pescadillas en Caldo Empanado) % cup olive oil 1 tablespoon butter 1 clove garlic, minced 1 cup hot water 1 onion, minced Juice of 1 lemon 2 bay leaves, minced Salt