30. As many of the recipes for fish call for sauce and stuffing, recipes
for these accompaniments are taken up before the methods of cooking fish
are considered. This plan will make it possible for the beginner to
become thoroughly familiar with these accompaniments and thus be better
prepared to carry out the recipes for cooking fish.
31. SAUCES FOR FISH.--Sauces are generally served with fish to improve
their flavor and increase their nutritive value. Some kinds of fish,
such as salmon, shad, butterfish, Spanish mackerel, etc., contain more
than 6 per cent. of fat, but as many of the fish that are used for food
contain less than this, they are somewhat dry and are improved
considerably by the addition of a well-seasoned and highly flavored
sauce. Then, too, some fish contain very few extractives, which, when
present, as has been learned, are the source of flavor in food. As some
of the methods of cooking, boiling in particular, dissolve the few
extractives that fish contain and cause the loss of much of the
nutritive material, it becomes almost necessary to serve a sauce with
fish so prepared, if a tasty dish is to be the result.
32. The sauces that may be used with fish are numerous, and the one to
select depends somewhat on the cookery method employed and the
preference of those to whom the fish is served. Among the recipes that
follow will be found sauces suitable for any method that may be used in
the preparation of fish. A little experience with them will enable the
housewife to determine the ones that are most satisfactory as to both
flavor and nutritive value for the different varieties of fish she uses
and the methods of cookery she employs.