FISH.
This department of the business of the kitchen requires considerable
experience, and depends more upon practice than any other. A very few
moments, more or less, will thoroughly spoil fish;[86-*] which, to be
eaten in perfection, must never be put on the table till the soup is
taken off.
So many circumstances operate on this occasion, that it is almost
impossible to write general rules.
There are decidedly different opinions, whether fish should be put into
cold, tepid, or boiling water.
We believe, for some of the fame the Dutch cooks have acquired, they are
a little indebted to their situation affording them a plentiful supply
of fresh fish for little more than the trouble of catching it; and that
the superior excellence of the fish in Holland, is because none are
used, unless they are brought alive into the kitchen (mackerel excepted,
which die the moment they are taken out of the water). The Dutch are as
nice about this as Seneca says the Romans[86-+] were; who, complaining
of the luxury of the times, says, "They are come to that daintiness,
that they will not eat a fish, unless upon the same day that it is
taken, that it may taste of the sea, as they express it."
On the Dutch flat coast, the fish are taken with nets: on our rocky
coast, they are mostly caught by bait and hook, which instantly kills
them. Fish are brought alive by land to the Dutch markets, in water
casks with air-holes in the top. Salmon, and other fish, are thus
preserved in rivers, in a well-hole in the fishing-boat.
All kinds of fish are best some time before they begin to spawn; and are
unfit for food for some time after they have spawned.
Fish, like animals, are fittest for the table when they are just full
grown; and what has been said in Chapter V. respecting vegetables,
applies equally well to fish.
The most convenient utensil to boil fish in, is a turbot-kettle. This
should be 24 inches long, 22 wide, and 9 deep. It is an excellent vessel
to boil a ham in, &c. &c.
The good folks of this metropolis are so often disappointed by having
fish which has been kept too long, that they are apt to run into the
other extreme, and suppose that fish will not dress well unless it is
absolutely alive. This is true of lobsters, &c. (No. 176), and may be of
fresh-water fish, but certainly not of some sea-fish.
Several respectable fishmongers and experienced cooks have assured the
editor, that they are often in danger of losing their credit by fish too
fresh, and especially turbot and cod, which, like meat, require a
certain time before they are in the best condition to be dressed. They
recommend them to be put into cold water, salted in proportion of about
a quarter of a pound of salt to a gallon of water. Sea-water is best to
boil sea-fish in. It not only saves the expense of salt, but the flavour
is better. Let them boil slowly till done; the sign of which is, that
the skin of the fish rises up, and the eyes turn white.
It is the business of the fishmonger to clean them, &c. but the careful
cook will always wash them again.
Garnish with slices of lemon, finely scraped horseradish, fried oysters
(No. 183), smelts (No. 173), whitings (No. 153), or strips of soles, as
directed in No. 145.
The liver, roe, and chitterlings should be placed so that the carver may
observe them, and invite the guests to partake of them.
N.B. FISH, like meat, requires more cooking in cold than in warm
weather. If it becomes FROZEN,[88-*] it must be thawed by the means we
have directed for meat, in the 2d chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery.
[Fish are plenty and good, and in great variety, in all the towns and
cities on the extensive coast of the United States. Some of the interior
towns are also supplied with fish peculiar to the lakes and rivers of
this country. A.]
FISH SAUCES.
The melted butter (No. 256) for fish, should be thick enough to adhere
to the fish, and, therefore, must be of the thickness of light batter,
as it is to be diluted with essence of anchovy (No. 433), soy (No. 436),
mushroom catchup (No. 439). Cayenne (No. 404), or Chili vinegar (No.
405), lemons or lemon-juice, or artificial lemon-juice, (see No. 407*),
&c. which are expected at all well-served tables.
Cooks, who are jealous of the reputation of their taste, and
housekeepers who value their health, will prepare these articles at
home: there are quite as many reasons why they should, as there are for
the preference usually given to home-baked bread and home-brewed beer,
&c.
N.B. The liver of the fish pounded and mixed with butter, with a little
lemon-juice, &c. is an elegant and inoffensive relish to fish (see No.
288). Mushroom sauce extempore (No. 307), or the soup of mock turtle
(No. 247), will make an excellent fish sauce.
On the comparatively nutritive qualities of fish, see N.B. to No. 181.
FOOTNOTES:
[86-*] When the cook has large dinners to prepare, and the time of
serving uncertain, she will get more credit by FRIED (see No. 145), or
stewed (see No. 164), than by BOILED fish. It is also cheaper, and much
sooner carved (see No. 145).
Mr. Ude, page 238 of his cookery, advises, "If you are obliged to wait
after the fish is done, do not let it remain in the water, but keep the
water boiling, and put the fish over it, and cover it with a damp cloth;
when the dinner is called for, dip the fish again in the water, and
serve it up."
The only circumstantial instructions yet printed for FRYING FISH, the
reader will find in No. 145; if this be carefully and nicely attended
to, you will have delicious food.
[86-+] They had salt-water preserves for feeding different kinds of
sea-fish; those in the ponds of Lucullus, at his death, sold for
25,000_l._ sterling. The prolific power of fish is wonderful: the
following calculations are from Petit, Block, and Leuwenhoeck:--
_Eggs._
A salmon of 20 pounds weight contained 27,850
A middling-sized pike 148,000
A mackerel 546,681
A cod 9,344,000
See _Cours Gastronomiques_, 18mo. 1806, p. 241.
[88-*] Fish are very frequently sent home frozen by the fishmonger, to
whom an ice-house is now as necessary an appendage (to preserve fish,)
as it is to a confectioner.