In selecting fish, choose those only in which the eye is full and
prominent, the flesh thick and firm, the scales bright and fins stiff.
They should be thoroughly cleaned before cooking.
The usual modes of cooking fish are boiled, baked, broiled, fried and
occasionally stewed. Steaming fish is much superior to boiling, but
the ordinary conveniences in private houses do not admit of the
possibility of enjoying this delicate way of cooking it. Large fish
are generally boiled, medium-sized ones baked or boiled, the smaller
kinds fried or broiled. Very large fish, such as cod, halibut, etc.,
are cut in steaks or slices for frying or broiling. The heads of some
fish, as the cod, halibut, etc., are considered tidbits by many. Small
fish, or pan-fish, as they are usually called, are served without the
heads, with the exception of brook-trout and smelts; these are usually
cooked whole, with the heads on. Bake fish slowly, basting often with
butter and water. Salmon is considered the most nutritious of all
fish. When boiling fish, by adding a little vinegar and salt to the
water, it seasons and prevents the nutriment from being drawn out; the
vinegar acting on the water hardens the water.
Fill the fish with a nicely prepared stuffing of rolled cracker or
stale bread crumbs, seasoned with butter, pepper, salt, sage and any
other aromatic herbs fancied; sew up; wrap in a well-floured cloth,
tied closely with twine, and boil or steam. The garnishes for boiled
fish are: for turbot, fried smelts; for other boiled fish, parsley,
sliced beets, lemon or sliced boiled egg. Do not use the knives,
spoons, etc., that are used in cooking fish, for other food, as they
will be apt to impart a fishy flavor.
Fish to be boiled should be put into cold water and set on the fire
to cook very gently, or the outside will break before the inner part
is done. Unless the fish are small, they should never be put into warm
water; nor should water, either hot or cold, be poured on to the
fish, as it is liable to break the skin; if it should be necessary to
add a little water while the fish is cooking, it ought to be poured in
gently at the side of the vessel.
Fish to be broiled should lie, after they are dressed, for two or
three hours, with their inside well sprinkled with salt and pepper.
Salt fish should be soaked in water before boiling, according to the
time it has been in salt. When it is hard and dry, it will require
thirty-six hours soaking before it is dressed, and the water must be
changed three or four times. When fish is not very salt, twenty-four
hours, or even one night, will suffice.
When frying fish the fire must be hot enough to bring the fat to such
a degree of heat as to sear the surface and make it impervious to the
fat, and at the same time seal up the rich juices. As soon as the fish
is browned by this sudden application of heat, the pan may be moved to
a cooler place on the stove, that the process may be finished more
slowly.
Fat in which fish has been fried is just as good to use again for the
same purpose, but it should be kept by itself and not put to any other
use.