Foods and household management

The crab is essentially like the lobster, being smaller, and having a sweeter flavor. The soft shell crab is caught just as the old shell is shed, and is highly esteemed as a delicacy. Both lobsters and crabs are cooked in the shell, and if allowed to die naturally before cooking they are uneatable. They may be purchased alive or cooked, and one is surer of their condition when they are bought alive. Twenty-five cents a pound is now an average price for lobsters in shell. Crabs are somewhat less expensive at times, but soft shells are always high-priced. The following table shows the food value of a few of this group in terms of the weight of the 100-Calorie portion. 100-Calorie Portions of Fish and Shellfish Fresh Fish Weight of 100-Calorie Portion Kind As Purchased (Entrails Removed) Edible Material Blue fish Cod Flounder ...... Haddock Halibut steak .... Mackerel Salmon Ounces 7.8 7.6 12.5 10.0 3.5 4.5 2.8 Ounces 4.0 5.5 6.2 4.9 2.9 2.5 1.8 Salt or Smoked Fish Cod, Salt Herring, Smoked . . . Halibut, Smoked . . . Mackerel, Salt .... 4.4 2.2 1.7 1.4 3.4 1.2 1.6 1.2 Shellfish Clams 6.9 Crabs 4.3 4.2 Oysters 7.0 ScalloDs 4.8 Preserved fish and shellfish. — Smoking and salting are two old-time methods that are still in use, and smoked salmon, herring, and finnan haddie furnish us well-flavored foods at a reasonable price. Small smoked herring are eaten uncooked, and the other two kinds are excellent broiled, or parboiled and finished in the oven. Salt cod should not be despised, for it is convenient and may be made palatable. Like the meats, the fish preserved by these methods are slightly less available for digestion. Preserving in oil is made familiar to us by the sardine of Italy in olive oil and the small herring of America in cottonseed oil, which also bears the name of sardine. The latter is less delicate in flavor than the European sardine, but is of course cheaper, and is palatable and of equal food value. Canned fish and shellfish are used in localities where fresh fish are not easily available, and should not be unwholesome if the process is properly inspected. Canned salmon is the most common, and makes an excellent luncheon dish when well prepared (see chapter on salads). 'Principles of cooking. — The protein in all of these is the chief consideration. The oyster is more delicate when cooked just below the boiling point of water for a brief period only. This is also true of the clam, except the tough membranes which must be chopped. The flesh of both lobster and clam is toughened by cooking, and the process should be short. t General directions. — All fish and shellfish should be thoroughly cleansed in cold water before using, and under running water when possible. Wash oysters, clams, and scallops in a colander or strainer under the faucet. If the oyster or clam liquor is used, put it through a fine strainer. 1. To serve oysters and small clams raw. — Arrange on finely chopped ice on a plate, with a piece of lemon in the center. Cut a section of lemon, not a slice. Horse-radish is sometimes .served with the raw oyster. Garnish with parsley if you wish. 2. Creamed oysters. — Clean oysters of all pieces of shell. Cook