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International Fisheries Exhibition
LONDON. 1883
....
FISH AS FOOD
BY
SIR HENRY THOMPSON, F.R.C.S.
LONDON
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED
INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION
AND 13 CHARING CROSS, S.W.
1883


TX
747
747


International Fisheries Exhibition.
Gchange in LONDON, 1883.
5/07 - 33
Gichango hicago
CONFERENCE ON TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1883.
Sir PHILIP CUNLIFFE-OWEN, K.C.M.G., C.B., C.I.E., in
the Chair.
The CHAIRMAN, in introducing Sir Henry Thompson,
said he felt it a special privilege to take the chair on that
occasion. They all knew Sir Henry Thompson as one of
the most eminent surgeons in the world, but it was perhaps
not quite so well known that he took very great interest in
$ all subjects that were for the benefit and welfare of the
human race. He was not sure whether the information
n they were about to receive, would not enable them to
"dispense to a certain extent with the services of the
physician, but he was quite certain that the important
questions relating to the use of fish as food would be
dealt with in such a manner as could not fail to be of the
utmost benefit to them all.
FISH AS FOOD.
I confess that it is with a deep sense of its importance,
that I enter upon the discussion of the subject which is to
occupy us to-day. The brief terms which designate it,
present to our consideration questions of the highest
interest to the entire population of this country, every
inhabitant of which now lives within easy distance of a
seashore; an interest indeed, which thus equally affects mi
[13]
B 2 No


effort for a short time, let us now see what is the com-
position of fish. There is a closer resemblance, at first
sight, perhaps, than many persons would expect to find.
Notwithstanding that the fish is an inhabitant of water,
and cannot live out of it, the proportion of that element
in the animal's structure exceeds only by a small amount
the proportion which is present in land animals. In other
words, the solid constituents of fish as a class, and there
are important exceptions here and there, are but little
less in weight, than those which the flesh of cattle
contains, and which are already before you.
In one hundred pounds of fish without bone, from
seventy-five to eighty-five are water, or rather more than
three-quarters of the whole ; leaving, say, about twenty
pounds of solids as a mean estimate. Of these, about
twelve to eighteen pounds are nitrogenous compounds.
The most important, or flesh-forming principle, is less
in quantity than in meat, and there is a rather larger
proportion of gelatine ; they are placed in one group here,
for further analyses of fish are required before accurate
quantitative results are forthcoming in relation to this
question.
The fat in fish varies in quantity greatly, somewhat
according to the condition of the fish and season, but
mainly with the different species. It is less than one
pound in the hundred in sole, whiting, and haddock; much
the same in turbot, brill, cod (without liver), and dory.
It is a little more in the plaice, and rises to seven pounds
in the hundred in the herring, to twelve or more in the
salmon, fifteen or sixteen in the mackerel, and even to
thirty in the eel.* In all these it is dispersed throughout
* I am indebted for these amounts to the recent researches of
Dr. J. Kønig, kindly forwarded to me by Professor Church, author of
the excellent South Kensington handbook on “Food.”


Comparing the foregoing tables with each other, we may
arrive at an approximate estimate of the place which fish
occupies as nutrient material among the other products
which the animal kingdom offers to man. Let me first
say that our estimate has thus far been based solely on
the facts afforded by a chemical analysis (without reference
to other considerations of minor importance)* of three
* I think it must be admitted that while as a general rule, the
nutritive value of food is to be determined by the presence in it of
certain chemical elements, harmoniously adjusted to the composition
of the body to be nourished, yet there are some restorative qualities
contained in animal Aesh, which, although not at present fully appre-
ciated by chemical analysis, have a value of no mean order, demon-
strative chiefly by empirical observation. The invigorating effect of a
small quantity of beef-tea, in a person suffering from inanition, may
be cited in illustration ; the solid matter resulting from its evaporation
being insignificant in quantity when compared with the support
afforded. Now the product obtained by dealing with fish, in the same
manner as we treat beef in order to obtain “ beef-tea," is greatly
inferior in this restorative quality, although the solids present are larger
in quantity in “ fish-tea” than in that of meat.
I have had the following experiments performed in the most
accurate manner, which will show in part the nature of the chemical
difference.
One pound of rumpsteak, one pound of turbot, each without skin
and bone, the former freed from fat, were thus separately treated. The
flesh was passed twice through a sausage-machine, and sufficient cold
water to cover (one pint) was added. After standing one hour, the
mass was heated to boiling point, and allowed to simmer ten minutes,
then strained through calico, and the contents of the strainer washed
with water : a little floating fat was removed in the case of the beef.)
Each of the liquids was evaporated on a water bath to the consistence
of a soft extract.
Beef-product.
Weight of extract, 276 grains or 3.94 per cent.
In this product 5 per cent. of gelatine was present.
Fish-product.
Weight of extract, 396 grains or 5.6 per cent.
In this product the gelatine amounted to 21.8 per cent.


13
plate to follow, say, of bacon and beans, of suet pudding
or sausage roll, or of a fruit tart with substantial crust,
will at once supply the elements which an ordinary dish
of fish fails to offer ; while a pleasant sense of satisfaction
will follow, and no complaint of void will be heard until
the accustomed period of time has elapsed.
On the other hand, for those whose physical labour is
light, other products of a less substantial kind may furnish
the indispensable adjunct; and thus we become acquainted
with the fact that the very sauces which long usage has
decreed shall accompany fish at our tables, consist precisely
of those materials which science has proved to be essential
in order to render the dish not merely acceptable to the
palate, but a perfect and harmonious combination of the
very elements which man requires for all the purposes of
life. The Hollandaise sauce, the Mayonnaise, the melted
butter, with their innumerable variations, all composed
more or less of olive oil, yolk of egg and butter, afford the
exact complementary material in which the fish is naturally
deficient.
I cannot help adverting to the curious fact, which I
have no doubt arises from the physiological law I have
been illustrating, that at a Greenwich fish dinner from time
immemorial, however profuse and varied the service of fish
has been, at the end of it appears a fat ham or a hand-
some piece of Hampshire bacon, surrounded by broad
beans. Clearly the dish is not really wanted in such
luxurious circumstances, but it is beyond doubt a survival
of the practice founded on a natural want, and discovered
empirically ; and the bacon makes its appearance because
experience had ages ago taught mankind that after fish
or with fish a portion of fat is demanded.
There is no doubt that the obvious and admitted value.


17.
widely entertained, viz., that fish contains certain elements
which adapt it in an especial manner to renovate the brain,
and so to support mental labour. There is no foundation
whatever for this view : the value of fish to the brain-
worker is due simply to the facts already referred to, viz.,
that it contains, in smaller proportion than meat, those
materials which taken abundantly demand much physical
labour for their complete consumption, and which without
this, produce an unhealthy condition of body, more or less
incompatible with the easy and active exercise of the
functions of the brain.
I must merely advert very briefly to the subject of
climate and temperature, as bearing on the question of fish
as an article of diet. Time will permit only the remark
that the greater the exposure to cold, the larger must be
the amount of fatty matters contained in the diet; hence
the large use of fish oils by the inhabitants of the arctic
shores. While in hotter climates than our own, as among
the populations occupying much of the Mediterranean
coasts, a little fish suffices in addition to cereals, vegetables
and fruit, together with olive oil, to supply an amply suffi-
cient dietary.
The question of age in relation to food, respecting which
a volume would be necessary for the adequate consideration,
must also be rapidly glanced at here. During the period
of early growth, the supply of food both in nature and in
quantity must be selected to correspond to the demand.
During the period of middle life, that of maximum activity
of all the functions, the nature and amount, as already
intimated, of that activity must govern the selection of our
dietary on principles which have already been explained.
Then inevitably comes with advancing years the stage of
[13]


21
But besides all these there are fish, which may be
placed if not in the first, yet certainly in the second class,
which are practically unknown, I will say, to ninety-nine
out of every hundred London housekeepers. I shall name
first the Wolf-fish, or Cat-fish, which, although unlike in
appearance to the usual occupants of a fishmonger's shop,
is a white fish, of excellent quality. It lives almost en-
tirely on crustacea, a circumstance, as Yarrell long ago
pointed out, always associated with excellence in the fish
so fed. The superiority of the cod caught at the Dogger
Bank is partly due to the same cause, as their food at this
spot is largely crustacean. The halibut, from the North
Sea, closely related to the turbot, is good and substan-
tial food, and when large, as it often is, is also very cheap.
The sea-bream, not unlike a large freshwater perch, and the
basse, which has been sometimes styled a white salmon,
are both useful varieties, which have never received the
attention they deserve, and which may be presented
simply yet effectively at table. The gurnard is much
better known, and an excellent dish may be made with
it. Among cheap fish, which might be obtained in any
quantity and at a very small price, are the ling and hake,
related closely to the cod, but chiefly used at present as
salted fish and exported; the thornback, of the same family
as the skate and equal in quality ; the pollack, a substantial
whiting, and the coal-fish, of the same family, but second in
order of quality, are both good when in season ; a proviso
which, it is to be remembered, applies equally to every
variety.
I shall but enumerate the conger-excellent for soup and
stew making—the source, as few people seem to be aware,
of all our turtle soup when at its best, the turtle furnishing
only the garnish and the name; the whole tribe of eels


24
producing a nutritive dish at a very small cost, especially
in the colder season of the year.
I shall, before closing this paper, venture to offer a prac-
tical suggestion or two in reference to preparation of fish
for the table, which, considering the terms of our subject,
appear to me to be sufficiently important to be brought
under your notice here, and to which your consideration
may be fairly invited. I think it will be universally admitted
that, according to the present usage adopted by the majo-
rity of consumers in this country, the bulk of our fish is
cooked almost invariably by one of the three following
methods :
First, it is simply boiled, in which case it is served with
a liberal supply of some butter sauce, often associated with
a minor fish product for the sake of flavour.
Secondly, the fish is fried either whole or in portions,
and is eaten with or without butter sauce, or with the
juice of a lemon, or that of the mushroom, or with some
composite ready made sauce.
Thirdly, it is broiled, and is served pretty much as in the
preceding mode ; but occasionally, and this relates to a few
exceptional varieties, it is baked, and some form of seasoned
forcemeat is served with it.
By all these methods, but particularly by boiling, some
waste of nutritive material occurs. Relative to this I
have made numerous experiments, and I find that the
loss in weight by boiling varies with different fish, and also
with the mode of operating. It is rarely as low as five
per cent., it is generally much more, and I have known it
to reach thirty per cent., the water always containing
more or less solid animal matter. In order to avoid waste
as much as possible, the fish should be placed in a
relatively large quantity of water, which should be boiling.


25
The liquor in which the fish has thus been cooked, I
have evaporated, and have obtained from it, in solid
deposit, no less than four per cent. of the original weight
of the fish ; a very startling quantity. There is no doubt
then that steaming is a more economical process than
boiling, which in my opinion ought to be discarded
altogether.
But I now desire to call your attention to another
mode of cooking fish, which ought to be general, since it
is applicable to all varieties, and has the advantage of
retaining all the nutritive material, while the juices and
the characteristic flavour of the fish are preserved in a
manner not attained by any other process. It is very
rarely practised, simply, I believe, because any other than
stereotyped methods in cookery are always regarded with
suspicion, and are very slowly adopted by the public,
until attention has been thoroughly aroused on the
subject. The opportunity offering a few years ago, I
advocated its occasional use, but I wish now to show how
widely it is applicable, and how well it deserves at least
to rank among the other and better known modes of
preparing fish. It consists in placing the fish, after the
usual cleaning, entire, if of moderate size, say from a sole
to a small turbot or dory, in a tin or plated copper dish
adapted to the form and size of the fish, but a little
deeper than the thickness of it, so as to retain all the
juices, which by exposure to the heat will flow out; the
surface is to be lightly spread with butter, and a
morsel or two added ; the dish is then to be placed
in a Dutch or American oven, or with some other screen
to reflect the rays of heat, in front of a clear fire.* The
* Mr. W. Burton of Oxford Street, has been good enough to send
an oven or two, and some dishes, which he has made expressly for