S It Author Title Imprint 16—47372-3 6PO INFORMATION ABOUT FISH AND HOW TO USE THEM ISSUED BY Mayor's Committee on Food Supply JOHN PURROY MITCHEL, Mayor GEO. W. PERKINS, - Chairman JOSEPH HARTIGAN, - Secretary OCTOBER, 1914 INFORMATION ABOUT FISH AND HOW TO USE THEM ISSUED BY Mayor's Committee on Food Supply JOHN PURROY MITCHEL, Mayor GEO. W. PERKINS, - Chairman JOSEPH HARTIGAN, - Secretary OCTOBER, 1914 PRESS OF The J. W. Pratt Co. 52-58 DuANE Street New York 0. '"' D- PR SSI i 5102. '14, 12,500 (P) CONTENTS. Page SUPPLEMENTING OUR MEAT SUPPLY WITH FISH, by M. E. Pennington, Chief, Food Research Laboratory, Bureau of Chemistry. 23 INTRODUCTION 5 FISH IN SEASON 6 GENERAL DIRECTIONS 6 BAKED FISH: Stuffing for baked fish 7 Bass 7 Bluefish 8 Cod 8 Eels 8 Baked fluke (large flounder) 8 Fish loaf 8 Haddock 8 Halibut 9 Mackerel 9 Salmon • 9 Shad 9 Weakfish 10 Court bouillon (for boiling fish) 10 BOILED FISH: Cod 10 Halibut 10 Fresh Mackerel 10 Salmon 10 BROILED FISH: Cod Halibut Mackerel Scrod (young cod) Salmon Shad Smelts FRIED FISH: Cod 11 Eels 2 Haddock 12 Halibut 12 Mackerel 12 Perch 12 Shad roe 12 Smelts 12 Fillet of Sole or Flounder 13 CONTENTS— Continued. Page PANNED OR SAUTED FISH: Butter fish 7 Cisco (lake herring) 7 Herring 7 Perch 7 Porgies 7 Trout 7 Weakfish ■ 7 See general directions 7 SALT FISH: Bloaters 13 Creamed codfish 13 Codfish balls 13 Codfish a la mode 13 A salt codfish dish 13 Fish cakes 14 Fish hash . . . . : 14 Finnan haddie 14 Kippered herring 15 Mackerel 15 LEFT-OVER FISH: Creamed fish 15 Curried cod 16 Fish balls 16 Fish croquettes 16 Fish hash 17 Fish with tomato sauce 17 Fish with green peppers 17 Fish pudding 17 Fish toast 17 Salmon and rice 18 Scalloped fish 18 Scalloped halibut 18 FISH SOUPS: Fish stock 18 Fish broth 18 Fish soup from trimmings 18 FISH STEW 19 FISH CHOWDERS 19 FISH SALADS 20 FISH SAUCES: Bechamel sauce 21 Drawn butter 21 Egg sauce 21 Maitre d'hotel sauce 21 Tartare sauce 21 Tomato sauce 21 White sauce 21 FISH. INTRODUCTION. The habit of eating fish on Fridays only is absurd, and should be stopped. Fish are just as appetizing and nourishing on Tuesdays and Thursdays as on Fridays, and if you and your neighbors will buy fish any day in the week you will get cheaper fish and better fish. Hundreds of carloads of fish are sent from New York to other cities because the people living here do not appreciate the value of fish as a food, and do not buy it as often as they should. Vary your diet as much as yon can. You zuill be more healthy if you do. Don't use meat so much. Use fish more. Fish is just as nourishing as lean meat, and if eaten with bread, potatoes, etc., will supply all the needs of the body. If possible, buy your fish from a fish dealer. When you buy fish, see that you get the trimmings. You are just as much entitled to them as you are to the trimmings of your meat. The meat part of almost any fish may be cooked separately. If you ask your fish dealer to remove the meat part of the fish for you, the trim- mings will consist of the head, the skeleton and the fins, and these can be used for fish stock, out of which can be made excellent fish soups and fish sauces. Halibut costs from 15c. to 22c. a lb. Market cod costs about 5c. less a lb. and can be cooked in the same way as halibut. It can be cut up into steaks; it can be boiled; the tail can be split and broiled in the same way that you would broil mackerel or bluefish, and it costs about 8c. less a lb. than either mackerel or bluefish. Haddock costs about 5c. to 8c. less a lb. than halibut, and can be cooked in the same way. Both cod and haddock are in season all the year, and, if properly .cooked, are extremely appetizing. When you buy bluefish, get a large si.'^e fish. A large sise one costs about 5c. less a pound than a medium si::e one, and if you buy a large one you will have enough left over for another meal. Any fish left over can be used to make fish cakes, or it can be creamed and put in a dish and baked. Lots of people go to a fish store and buy the fillets of a fish instead of buying the whole fish. A fillet of fish is nothing more nor less than the meat of the fish stripped from the skeleton. Some fish dealers have these fillets all ready on a platter for sale, but if you buy them that zvay you will pay anyzvherc from I5c. to 20c. more a lb. for them than if you bought the entire fish and asked your fish dealer to strip the fillets off for you and give you the trimmings. HOW TO TELL WHEN FISH IS FRESH. In fresh fish the eyes are bright, the gills red, and the flesh firm and odorless. Put fish in water, and if it sinks you will know it is fresh. If it floats, it is a sign that it is not fresh, and it should not be used. Serious illness is apt to follow the eating of fish that is not fresh. CLEANING FISH. Be sure that your fish is thoroughly cleaned before cooking it. It should be cleaned as soon as it is bought. FISH IN SEASON. Cod, scrod, haddock and chicken halibut can be obtained practically all the year. (Scrod is a young cod split down the back and the back- bone removed, except a small portion near the tail. Chicken halibut is the kind usually found in the markets.) Flounders are not so good in November, December and January. Smelts are in season from June to March. Mackerel are in season from May to September. Shad are in season from January to June. Salmon are in season from May to September, but can be obtained the greater part of the year. Bluefish are in season from May to October. As it is frozen and kept in cold storage from six to nine months, it may be obtained prac- tically all the year round. GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR COOKING. BOILED FISH. Small fish, such as small cod and haddock, should be cooked whole in enough boiling water to cover, to which is added salt, lemon juice or vinegar. Sew the fish in a piece of muslin to keep it from breaking to pieces. Large fish should be cut in thick pieces. BROILED FISH. Cod, haddock and mackerel should be split down the back and broiled whole. Salmon and chicken halibut should be cut in slices for broiling. Smelts and other small fish should be broiled whole without splitting. BAKED FISH. Bake on a greased fish sheet, or if you have not a fish sheet, two strips of muslin placed under the fish will answer the purpose. This will enable you to lift the fish from the pan when baked without breaking it. FRIED FISH. Wipe the fish dry, sprinkle with salt, then dip in flour or crumbs, then dip in egg, and again in flour or crumbs, and fry in deep fat. 7 PANNED FISH. This is suitable for any small fish or such as can be cut in slices. Have the fish well cleaned, seasoned with pepper and salt and dried with a little flour, or, better still, very fine bread crumbs. Have a large frying-pan smoking hot with as little grease in it as will keep the fish from sticking. Dripping from good, sweet salt pork is the best, but any sweet dripping will do. When the fat begins to smoke blue lay in the fish and brown quickly on both sides, then cover closely and set back to cook more slowly, from ten to twenty minutes, according to the size of the fish. Bass in all its varieties is suitable to cook in this way; so are butterfish, cisco (lake herring), herring, perch, porgies, trout, Vv^eakfish, etc. SAUTE FISH. Prepare your fish as for frying and cook in frying pan with small amount of fat. Cod steaks and smelts should be cooked in this way. SALT FISH. Very salt fish should be soaked several hours in three or four changes of warm water. Place the skin side up, so that salt crystals may fall away from the under or meat side. Wipe carefully and clean, then soak for an hour in very cold water. BAKED FISH. STUFFING FOR BAKED FISH. Put a large tablespoon ful of butter into a saucepan. When melted stir into it 1 cupful of cracker or dry bread crumbs, 1 teaspoonful of chopped onion, 1 teaspoonful chopped capers, ^4 teaspoonful salt, J4 tea- spoonful pepper, 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley. If a moist stuffing is preferred, add one quarter cupful of milk, stock or water. BREAD STUFFING. (For baked fish.) Fry a tablespoonful of chopped onion in a tablespoonful of butter. Add a cupful or more of stale bread, which has been soaked in hot water, then pressed dry. A tablespoonful each of chopped parsley, suet and celery, one quarter teaspoonful each of salt and pepper, and a dash of powdered thyme (if liked). When it is well mixed, remove from the fire and add an tg%. BAKED BASS. Wash and clean a fresh bass for baking, leaving on the head. Stuff the fish with the following mixture: two and one-half cups of fine bread crumbs, one cup of butter, the rind of a quarter of a lemon chopped very fine, two or three sprigs of parsley chopped fine, and a little sweet marjoram. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Mix two well-beaten eggs with a little water, and add to the mixture. When the fish is well stuffed, sew up the opening. Score it on each side, in the spaces place very thin slices of salt pork. Place it in a pan with a little stock, and bake in a moderate oven. When thoroughly cooked, carefully place it on a hot dish. To the gravy which is left in the pan, add a little tomato sauce. Stir 8 on the top of the range until it comes to a boil. Strain and serve in a separate dish. Garnish the fish plate with parsley and thin slices of lemon. BAKED BLUEFISH. Select a nice large bluefish, clean, and prepare it for baking. Wash it in salted water, and after drying it thor- oughly, fill with stuffing. Sew up the opening and rub the fish all over with salt. Then having put small pieces of butter over it, place it in a large pan with enough water to cover the bottom, and bake in a hot oven for forty-five or fifty minutes. After it begins to bake, sprinkle it with a little salt and pepper. Baste it often with the liquid in the pan, and a little melted butter. When it is cooked and a nice color, remove carefully to a hot plate. Do not break it. vServe with a brown sauce, or any de- sired sauce poured round the fish as a garnish, or serve it in a separate dish. BAKED COD. Select a fresh cod, cut off the head and fins, draw, wash, and split it down the belly. Remove the bone from the thick part only, and make small lengthwise incisions in the skin in order to prevent the fish from curling while it is cooking. Put it to soak for three hours in a dressing made as follows : Salt, white pepper, a little Worcestershire sauce, and some sweet oil. Drain and place in a pan. Baste it with melted butter and sprinkle with fine bread crumbs. Bake in a slow oven. Add some lemon juice and finely chopped parsley. BAKED EELS. Prepare as for frying; then put into a baking pan with a little water, flour, pepper, and salt. Bake twenty minutes. Make a gravy of the liquor in which they were baked, adding a little butter. BAKED FLUKE (large flounder). Prepare and cook the same as baked bluefish. FISH LOAF. Three pounds haddock. Have head, tail, skin and backbone removed, so you have two slices of solid fish. You can use cod, but haddock is better. On the bottom of your baking pan put three slices fat pork. On this place one layer of the fish, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix one cup soft bread crumbs, little salt, pepper and one- quarter cup melted butter, pork fat or bacon fat and spread over the fish slice. Cover with the other slice of fish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place three or four slices of fat pork on top. Bake about thirty minutes. Just before it is done remove pork, scatter one-half cup cracker crumbs over fish, replace pork and brown in oven. Serve with drawn butter sauce, to which you add a hard-boiled egg; or serve with a white sauce. If you haven't milk enough for the white sauce use milk and water. BAKED HADDOCK. Clean a four-pound haddock. Sprinkle with salt inside and stufi' and sew. Cut gashes on each side of backbone and insert narrow strips of salt pork. Place on a greased fish sheet or something to raise it from the bottom. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and place around fish small pieces of salt pork. Bake one hour in a hot oven, basting often. Serve with drawn butter sauce or egg sauce. BAKED HALIBUT. Arrange six thin slices of fat salt pork (about two and one-half inches square) in a baking pan. Wipe a two- pound (or as much as you happen to have) piece of halibut with a damp cloth and place it in the part. Cover the fish with three tablespoonfuls of butter creamed and mixed with three tablespoonfuls of flour; then cover the top with three-quarters of a cupful of buttered cracker crumbs and arrange five thin strips of fat salt pork over the crumbs. Cover with buttered paper and bake fifty minutes in a moderate oven, removing the paper durfng the last fifteen minutes to brown the crumbs and pork. Garnish with thin slices of lemon (cut in fancy shapes if desired) then sprinkle with finely chopped parsley. Serve with drawn butter sauce. BAKED MACKEREL. Stuff with dressing, dredge with salt and flour. Bake thirty minutes, basting often with water, butter and flour. Make a gravy with the water in the pan in which the fish is baked. Al- ways make the gravy quite salt. The best way to cook mackerel is to broil it. BAKED SALMON. Clean the fish, rinse it, wipe it dry; rub it well outside and in with a mixture of pepper and salt, and fill it with a stuffing made of slices of bread, buttered freely and moistened with hot milk or water (add sage or thyme to the seasoning if liked) ; tie a thread around the fish, so as to keep the stuffing in (take ofif the thread before serving) ; lay bits of butter over the fish, dredge flour over, and put in a dripping pan ; put a pint of hot water in the pan to baste with ; bake one hour, if a large fish, in a quick oven; baste frequently. Serve with slices of lemon. BAKED SALMON WITH CREAM SAUCE. Butter a sheet of foolscap paper on both sides, and wrap the fish up in it, pinning the ends securely together. Lay in the baking pan, and pour six or seven spoonfuls of butter-and-water over it. Turn another pan over all, and steam in a moderate oven from three-quarters of an hour to an hour, lifting the cover, from time to time, to baste and assure yourself that the paper is not burning. Meanwhile, have ready in a saucepan a cup of cream, in which you would do well to dissolve a bit of soda a little larger than a pea. This is a wise precaution whenever cream is to be boiled. Heat this in a vessel placed within another of hot water ; thicken with a heaping teaspoonful of cornstarch ; add a tablespoonful of butter, pepper, and salt to taste, a liberal pinch of minced parsley, and when the fish is unwrapped and dished, pour half the dressing slowly over it, sending the rest to table in a boat. If you have no cream use milk, and add a beaten egg to the thickening. BAKED SHAD. Many people are of the opinion that the very best method of cooking a shad is to bake it. Stuff it with bread crumbs, salt, pepper, butter, and parsley, and mix this up with beaten yolk of 10 egg; fill the fish with it, and sew it up or fasten a string around it. Pour over it a little water and some butter, and bake as you would a fowl. A shad will require from an hour to an hour and a quarter to bake. BAKED WEAKFISH. Prepare and cook the same as baked cod. COURT BOUILLON. Fresh-water fish or others which are without much flavor can be boiled in court bouillon to give them flavor. Court bouillon is made as follows : Fry in one tablespoonful of butter, one chopped carrot, one chopped onion, one stalk of celery. Then add two quarts of hot water, one cup of vinegar or wine, three peppercorns, three cloves, one bay-leaf, one tea- spoonful of salt. BOILED FISH. BOILED COD. Take the head and shoulders of a good-sized cod. Scrape and wash clean ; rub a handful of salt into it ; flour a cloth and pin the fish in it. Put into boiling water, and boil half an hour. Take the fish carefully from the cloth, and serve with egg sauce. Potato is the only vegetable that is nice with boiled cod. BOILED HALIBUT. Take a small halibut, or what you re- quire from a large fish. Put it into the fish kettle, with the back of the fish undermost; cover it with cold water, in which a handful of salt and a bit of saltpetre the size of a hazel-nut have been dissolved. When it begins to boil skim it carefully, and then let it just simmer till it is done. Four pounds of fish will require half an hour nearly to boil it. Drain it, garnish with horse-radish or parsley. Egg sauce, or plain melted butter, are served with it. BOILED FRESH MACKEREL. If not cleaned, open them at the gills, take out the insides, wash clean, and pin in a fish-cloth. (Do not use the cloth that you use to boil mackerel for any other fish.) Drop into boiling water, and boil fifteen minutes. Serve with drawn butter. SALMON, BOILED PLAIN. Rub the fish with salt. Have ready a fish kettle with enough boiling water to cover the fish ; let it come rather slowly to the boil. Simmer very gently till done, allowing about fifteen minutes to each pound. Throw in one" tablespoonful salt just be- fore it is. done. Serve with plain drawn butter sauce. BROILED FISH. BROILED COD. Split, wash, and wipe dry a small cod. Rub the gridiron with a piece of fat pork, and lay the fish upon it, being care- ful to have the inside downward. If the fish is very thick cook thirty minutes ; but for an ordinary one, twenty minutes will be sufficient. Have the dish in which you intend serving it warm ; place it upon the fish and turn the dish and gridiron over together. If the fish sticks to the 11 gridiron loosen it gently with a knife. Have some butter warm, but not melted, with which to season it. Shake on a little pepper and salt and send to the table. BROILED HALIBUT. Season the sHces wnth salt and pepper and lay them in melted butter for half an hour, having them well covered on both sides. Roll in flour and broil for ten minutes over a clear fire. Serve on a hot dish, garnishing with parsley and slices of lemon. The slices of halibut should be about an inch thick and for every pound there should be three tablespoonfuls of butter. BROILED MACKEREL. Split down the back and clean. Be careful to scrape all the thin black skin from the inside. Wipe dry and lay on the gridiron ; broil on one side a nice brown, then turn and brown the other side ; it will not take so long to brown the side on which the skin is. (All fish should have the side on which the skin is turned to the fire last, as the skin burns easily and coals are not so hot after you have used them ten minutes.) Season with butter, pepper and salt. BROILED SCROD. Scrod is young cod, and one may weigh from two and a half to five pounds ; the best weigh four or five pounds. When thoroughly broiled it should be rich, flaky, and delicious. Rub the gridiron with fat pork and broil the inside of the fish first. Twenty minutes is usually sufficient to broil a fish of ordinary size. Serve with warmed butter, pepper, and salt. BROILED SALMON. The steaks from the centre of the fish are best. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, spread on a little butter, and broil over a clear but slow fire. BROILED SHAD. Scrape, split, wash, and dry the shad on a cloth ; season with pepper and salt ; grease the gridiron well ; as soon as it is hot lay the shad on to broil with the inside downward. One side being well browned, turn it. It should broil a quarter of an hour or more, according to the thickness. Butter well and send to table hot. BROILED SMELTS. Split the smelts down the back and re- move the bone. Lay them on a hot broiler, which has been rubbed with suet, to prevent sticking. Broil over hot coals for two minutes on each side. Put into a dish some Bechamel sauce, and lay the broiled fish on the sauce, or they may be spread with maitre d'hotel sauce. Serve at once while very hot. FRIED FISH. FRIED COD. Remove the skin (ask the fish-dealer to remove it for you) ; cut in square pieces and remove the backbone. Scrape all the fish from the bones, and press it with a knife into the larger pieces. Season with salt and pepper and roll in fine white corn meal. Fry several slices of salt pork, enough to have a cup of fat. Lay the fish in the hot 12 fat, cook brown on each side. Drain on soft paper and serve hot. Spread with butter, and garnish with slices of lemon. Any fish having firm white flesh can be prepared in this manner and it is a vast improvement on the old method of sending all the bones to the table. FRIED EELS. After skinning, cleaning, and washing them, cut them into short pieces, and dry them well with a soft cloth. Season them with fine salt and cayenne, flour them thickly, and fry them in boil- ing lard ; when nicely browned, drain and dry them, and send to the table with plain melted butter and a lemon, or with fish sauce. Eels are some- times dipped into batter and then fried, or into egg and dried bread crumbs, and served with plenty of crisped parsley, EELS FRIED IN BATTER. Cut a large eel weighing about two pounds in quite thick slices. See that it is clean. Place in a basin with a little salt and pepper and some vinegar. Let the pieces soak for several hours. They must be turned occasionally. Drain thoroughly, then dip in batter and fry in hot fat. When a nice brown, drain on paper and serve very hot with a brown or tomato sauce. FRIED HADDOCK. Follow same directions as for fried cod. FRIED HALIBUT. Let the slices lie in cold salted water, to which has been added one cup of vinegar, for ten or fifteen minutes. Dry them afterwards thoroughly by wiping with a towel, and dusting cracker meal on both sides. Lay them in smoking hot salad oil, and they will be well cooked and of a pale brown in three or five minutes, accord- ing to thickness of the slices. FRIED MACKEREL. Fry brown six good-sized slices of pork. Prepare your mackerel as for broiling. Take out your pork, sprinkle a little salt over the mackerel, then fry a nice brown. Serve the fried pork with it. FRIED PERCH. Scale and clean them perfectly; dry them well, flour and fry them in boiling lard. Serve plenty of fried parsley round them. FRIED SHAD ROE. Wash and wipe; fry twenty minutes in hot fat in a frying pan, turning at the end of fifteen minutes. Season, dish on a hot platter and garnish with fried oysters or fried potatoes. Garnish with a bunch of parsley at each end and a half lemon set in the parsley. FRIED SMELTS. The best way to cook smelts is to fry them, although they are sometimes baked. Open them at the gills. Draw each smelt separately between your finger and thumb, beginning at the tail; this will press the insides out. (Some persons never take out the in- sides, but it should be done as much as in any other fish.) Wash them clean, and let them drain in a colander; then salt and roll in a mixture 13 half flour and half Indian meal. Have about two inches deep of boiling fat in the frying-pan (drippings if you have them; if not lard); into this drop the smelts, and fry brown. Do not put so many in that they will be crowded ; if you do, they will not be crisp and brown. FILLET OF SOLE OR FLOUNDER. Take two soles or flounders; divide them from the backbone, remove the heads, fins, and vails. Sprinkle the inside with pepper, salt, and the juice of half a lemon. Roll in the shape of a corkscrew, then roll them in egg, then fresh bread crumbs, then in egg, and bread crumbs again. Fry in hot fat and serve on a napkin. Garnish with lemon baskets filled with Tartare sauce and sprigs of parsley. SALT FISH. BLOATERS. Take off head and split open and clean. Put fish into frying pan, cover with cold water and bring to boiling point. Pour off water and fry. CREAMED SALT CODFISH. Pick in small pieces one cup salt codfish ; cover with lukewarm water and let stand on back of range until softened. Melt one tablespoonful butter, add one tablespoonful flour, and pour on gradually one cup hot milk. Add fish, and turn on a hot platter. Garnish with slices of hard-boiled eggs. Serve with baked potatoes. SALT CODFISH BALLS. Trim and soak a piece of salt cod- fish in cold water for six or seven hours, and during that time change the water two or three times. Shred it. Should it be too salt after shred- ding, freshen it by frequent changes of cold water. There should be one quart bowl of the shredded fish. Cover it with water and let it simmer gently until tender. It will not take very long. Should you boil it too much, you might harden it. Have ready six good-sized, fresh-boiled potatoes, and mash them while hot. Have the fish drained, pounded, and rubbed through a sieve, and mix with three well-beaten eggs. Season to taste with salt — if necessary — and white pepper, also a small lump of butter. Drop by the tablespoonful into a pan of boiling hot lard and fry until a delicate brown. Drain on brown paper and serve very hot. CODFISH A LA MODE. Take one teacup of salt codfish picked up fine, two teacups of mashed potatoes, one pint of cream or milk. Mix them well together and then add two eggs well beaten. Stir them in thoroughly and then add a half cup of butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Put in a baking dish and bake twenty or thirty minutes. A SALT CODFISH DISH. Remove the skin and cut in pieces two and one-half pounds of salt cod. Soak for eighteen hours in cold water, changing water two or three times. Drain, place fish in a sauce- pan with cold water to cover it and let cook slowly (but not boil) for twenty minutes. Drain and remove all bones ; place cod in a saucepan ; then squeeze in the juice of a lemon and add drop by drop half a gill 14 of olive oil, sharply stirring while adding it. Then ponr in also, little by little, a half gill of cream or milk, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, one salt-spoonful of cayenne and mix well. Serve on a hot, deep dish with slices of toasted bread around. FISH CAKES. Wash salt codfish and separate in pieces; there should be one cupful. Wash, pare and soak potatoes and cut in pieces of uniform size; there should be two cupfuls (heaping). Put fish and po- tatoes in kettle with a generous supply of boiling water, and cook until potatoes are soft. Drain, return to kettle, mash, add one egg, well beaten, one teaspoonful butter, one-eighth teaspoonful pepper, and a few drops of onion juice. Shape in flat cakes, roll in flour and fry in frying pan in small amount of pork fat. You can also use left over fish for these fish cakes. FISH HASH. Follow same directions as for fish hash made with left-over fish, but salt fish must be soaked for several hours. BAKED FINNAN HADDIE. Place fish in cold water, then place on fire and let it come to a boil ; then remove skin and place in a pan with two or three slices of fat pork; bake in a moderate oven twenty- five or thirty minutes. BOILED FINNAN HADDIE. Place fish in boiling water and boil for twenty minutes ; serve with egg sauce or drawn butter. BROILED FINNAN HADDIE. First heat broiler and grease well to keep from sticking; then place meat side to the fire and cook slowly fifteen minutes; careful not to burn. Butter and pepper to suit taste ; garnish with slices of lemon or parsley. CREAMED FINNAN HADDIE. Tear baddies into small strips ; wash clean and place in basin with quart of water ; let it simmer half an hour; then pour off water and add one pint of fresh milk. When this comes to a boil, thicken with one spoonful of flour; let it boil five minutes and add butter (size of a walnut) and a little pepper, and serve. SCALLOPED FINNAN HADDIE. Soak fish in milk and water to cover, using equal parts, one and one-half hours on back of range. Drain, separate into flakes and rinse thoroughly in warm water. There should be two cupfuls. Cook one-quarter cup butter with one tablespoonful of finely-chopped onion five minutes ; add quarter cup flour, one cup each of milk and cream or two cups of milk, one-half teaspoonful of paprika, one and one-half teaspoonfuls of salt, and when mixture thickens add the flaked fish and one-third cup canned red peppers, cut in strips. Cover bottom of dish with cooked macaroni, pour over the fish and set in oven for five minutes ; then sprinkle grated cheese over top and put under gas flame to remain until cheese is melted. To vary this, use a cup of potatoes cut in cubes and mix with the fish, omitting the macaroni. 15 SAVORY FINNAN HADDIE. Soak finnan haddie in milk to cover one hour. Bake thirty minutes and separate into flakes ; there should be two cups. Cook one-half tablespoonful finely-chopped onion and three and one-half tablespoonfuls finely chopped green peppers in one-quarter cup butter five minutes, stirring constantly. Add one tea- spoonful salt, one-half teaspoonful paprika and a few grains pepper and cook three minutes ; then add four tablespoonfuls flour and stir until well blended. Pour on gradually, while stirring constantly, one cup each milk and cream or two cups of milk. Bring to the boiling point and add finnan haddie. Turn into a buttered dish, cover with buttered crumbs and bake until the crumbs are brown. KIPPERED HERRING. Remove fish from can and arrange on a platter that may be put in the oven. Sprinkle with pepper, brush over with lemon juice and melted butter, and pour over the liquor left in the can. Heat thoroughly and garnish with parsley and slices of lemon. CREAMED SALT MACKEREL. Soak the mackerel for twelve hours or more, with the skin side up, and change the water several times. Simmer it for fifteen or twenty minutes ; and, if convenient, have in the water one teaspoonful of vinegar, one bay-leaf, one slice of onion, and a sprig of parsley. Place carefully on a hot dish, and pour over it a cream sauce. BOILED SALT MACKEREL. Wash the mackerel, and soak over night in clear cold water. Put them on to boil in cold water, and boil gently thirty minutes. Serve with drawn butter. BAKED SALT MACKEREL IN CREAM. Freshen as for broiled mackerel, then lay into a baking pan, and to one mackerel add half a pint of new milk, put into the oven, and bake twenty-five minutes. About five minutes before it is dished, add a small piece of butter. This is a nice dish for breakfast and dinner. BROILED SALT MACKEREL. Soak the mackerel for twelve hours or more, with the skin side up, and change the water several times. Simmer it for fifteen or twenty minutes ; if convenient, have in the water one teaspoonful of vinegar, one bay-leaf, one slice of onion, and a sprig of parsley. Then broil and spread with butter, pepper, lemon juice and chopped parsley. HOW TO USE LEFT-OVER FISH. CREAMED FISH. Pick the fish into small pieces and heat in milk. Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add one tablespoonful of flour, and pour on gradually one cup hot milk. Stir until it thickens slightly. Add fish and cook gently for one minute. Turn on a hot platter and garnish with slices of hard-boiled eggs. Serve with baked potatoes. CREAMED CODFISH. Pick the cooked fish into small pieces. Make one pint white sauce (see Sauces). Grease a baking dish, fill with 16 alternate layers of fish and sauce, seasoning with salt, pepper, chopped parsley and lemon juice or a few drops of vinegar. Mix together one cup dry breadcrumbs and three tablespoon fuls melted butter; spread over top and brown in quick oven. This may be varied by using tomato, Bechamel, curry or any other sauce, or by adding grated cheese or sliced hard-boiled eggs to the white sauce ; by baking in shells or patty-pans in place of the deep dish, or by covering with mashed potato or biscuit crust instead of crumbs. CURRIED COD. Two slices large cod. or remains of any cod- fish, three ounces butter, one onion sliced, a teacup of white stock or water, thickening of butter and flour, one tablespoonful of curry powder, one-quarter pint of milk or cream, salt and cayenne to taste. Flake the fish, and fry to a nice brown, color with the butter and onions ; put this in a stewpan, add the stock and thickening, simmer for ten minutes. Stir the curry powder into the cream ; put it with the seasoning into the other ingredients ; give one boil and serve. Time, three-quarters of an hour. Sufificient for four persons. FISH BALLS. Take any left-over fish, put it in your chopping tray, being careful that there are no bones in it ; chop fine. Pare and boil potatoes enough to have twice the quantity of potatoes that you have of fish. When cooked turn them into the tray with the fish, mash fine, and make into balls about the size of an egg. Flour the outside lightly; have the fat boiling hot, and fry a light brown. The fat should be half lard and half salt pork. Have the slices of pork a nice brown, and serve with the fish balls. DROPPED FISH BALLS. One-half pint of raw fish, one heap- ing pint of pared potatoes (let the potatoes be under medium size), two eggs, butter the size of an egg, and a little pepper. Cut the fish in half- inch slices across the grain, and measure it lightly. Put the potatoes into the boiler and the fish on top of them ; then cover with boiling water and boil half an hour, or until tender. Drain ofif all the water and mash fish and potatoes together until fine and light. Then add the butter and pepper and the eggs, well beaten. Have a deep kettle of boiling fat. Dip a tablespoon in it and then take up a spoonful of the mixture, having care to get it into as good shape as possible. Drop into the boiling fat and cook until brown, which should be in two minutes. Be careful not to crowd the balls, and also that the fat is hot enough. The spoon should be dipped in the fat every time you take a spoonful of the mixture. These balls arc delicious. Salt fish can also be used to make these. FISH CROQUETTES. Put one large tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan. Let it bubble, then put in a little onion cut in small pieces, then a large spoonful of flour and some salt and pepper; then put in your fish and beat it up, then put the yolk of an egg in and beat it up. Put away to cool. When cool form into cone shape and roll in cracker crurnbs again and fry in hot fat. 17 FISH HASH. Prepare the fish as for fish balls; chop fine cold potatoes, and mix with the fish. Fry brown six good slices of salt pork ; take out the pork and turn the hash into the frying" pan ; add half a cup of boiling water; let this heat slowly, stirring often; then spread smoothly, and brown, being careful not to let it burn. When brown fold it as you would an omelet dish, and garnish the dish with the slices of pork. When the pork is objected to, butter can be used instead. FISH WITH TOMATO SAUCE. One cup tomatoes, one-half cup water, one-half of an onion sliced. Cook tomatoes, water and onion twenty minutes. Melt one tablespoonful of butter and add one table- spoonful of flour, stir into hot mixture, add one-half teaspoonful salt and one-eighth teaspoonful pepper, cook until it thickens and strain. Put fish in a baking dish and pour the tomato sauce around it. Bake from fifteen to twenty minutes in a moderate oven. FISH WITH GREEN PEPPER. One and three-quarters cups cold cooked fish, one cup white sauce, one-half small green pepper, one- half slice onion or flavor to taste with extract onion. Salt and pepper. Cut a slice from stem end of pepper, remove every seed and parboil pepper fifteen minutes. Make a white sauce with one cup milk, two tablespoonfuls butter, two tablespoonfuls flour, bit of bay leaf, sprig of parsley, salt and pepper to taste, scalding the milk with the parsley and bay leaf, cook the onion finely chopped in the butter three minutes, or flavor with onion extract to taste; add the flour when well mingled, the milk, salt and pepper ; when thickened and smooth add the fish broken into flakes and the green pepper cut into narrow strips ; heat thoroughly, and serve with brown bread sandwiches. This is easily prepared in a chafing-dish, having the green pepper previously cooked. FISH PUDDING. 1 lb. or pint boiled halibut, half cupful of cream or milk, one and one-half tablespoonfuls of butter, half tablespoon- ful of flour, one and one-half teaspoonfuls salt, quarter teaspoonful pep- per, half teaspoonful onion juice, two eggs. Pound the fish in a mortar until it is thoroughly mashed, then rub it through a puree sieve ; season the fish pulp with salt, pepper, and onion juice. Put the butter into a saucepan; when melted add the flour and cook for a few minutes ; then add slowly the cream or milk, stirring con- stantly until well scalded; then add the fish pulp, take from the fire, add the beaten eggs, and mix thoroughly. Butter well a border or ring mold holding a pint or little more; put in the mixture, pressing it w^ell against the sides to remove any air bubbles. Cover the mold with a greased paper, and set in a pan of warm water covering one-half the mold. Place in moderate oven for thirty minutes, and do not let the water boil. FISH TOAST. One cup flaked cold fish, free from skin and bones. Heat in water sufficient to moisten; add butter, pepper and salt. When hot pour on slices of buttered toast ; garnish with eggs poached in muffin rings. 18 SALMON AND RICE. Form freshly boiled rice into flat cakes, brown slightly in butter on both sides and place on a warmed platter. Warm salmon that has been left over and spread over the rice. Over this pour a white sauce into which has been stirred the whites of two hard boiled eggs cut in dice. Garnish with the yolks cut into slices. SCALLOPED FISH. Two cups cold fish (cod, haddock or halibut), one and one-half cups milk, one slice onion, blade of mace, bit of bay leaf, three tablespoonfuls butter, three tablespoonfuls flour, one- half teaspoonful salt, one-eighth teaspoonful pepper, one-half cup buttered crumbs. Scald the mild with onion, mace and bay leaf. Remove seasonings. Melt the butter, add flour, salt and pepper, then gradually the milk. Boil three minutes. Put one-half the fish in a buttered baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and pour over one-half the sauce. Repeat, cover with buttered crumbs, and bake until the crumbs are brown in a hot oven. SCALLOPED HALIBUT. Shred one cupful of cold boiled halibut ; pour in the food pan one and one-half cups milk and let come to a boil ; add butter size of an egg, salt and pepper, then the crumbs of four crackers, add lastly the halibut; let it cook five minutes, then add two hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, and serve on a hot platter with bits of buttered toast. FISH SOUPS. FISH STOCK. Put all the trimmings from the fish, such as the skeleton, head, fins, etc., into a saucepan, and add enough water to cover. Let simmer for two or three hours. Then add carrot, parsley, onion, and simmer for one hour more. Strain through a coarse strainer. This is a good foundation for fish soups and fish sauce. Left over fish and fish bones can also be utilized in preparing this stock. FISH BROTH. Fry four ounces of butter with the following vegetables sliced fine : two onions, two carrots and two leeks. Fry until quite dry. Then add four pounds of fish — such as bass, black fish, flounder, or any bony fish — and the head of a fresh cod, and seven quarts of water. Season with salt, peppercorns, bunch of parsley, and a few blades of mace. Cover the stew-pan and boil one-half hour. Strain the broth and free it from its fat. Chop up two pounds of cod or bass, mix with two eggs, add the broth and a few more sliced vegetables. Set it on the fire and stir constantly until it begins to boil. Then let it simmer for ten minutes and strain through a wet cloth. FISH SOUP FROM TRIMMINGS. Put into a saucepan a carrot and parsley and fry them until they are reddish in color. Then add two pints of cold water and the bones, head and fins. Simmer for an hour. Take out the bones and put the rest through a coarse strainer. Then thicken with two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of flour rubbed together, season to taste. This fish soup can be varied by adding the pulp of any left over vegetables. 19 FISH STEW. COD OR HADDOCK. Remove the meat from the bones. Cut uj) one-half of the meat and put it into a saucepan with two or three onions and fry in drippings. Add a quart of water and the bones pounded. Let simmer for two or three hours. Then put the mixture through a strainer and return it to the saucepan. Cut the other half of the fish into half inch pieces. Add them to what is in the saucepan and boil gently for ten or fifteen minutes. Then thicken with two table- spoons of flour ; moisten with a little fish stock if you have it on hand ; if not, use cold water. Season to taste. FISH CHOWDERS. FISH CHOWDER, No. 1. Take three or four pounds of fresh haddock or cod and cut in pieces of three inches square. Place in the bottom of your dinner-pot five or six slices of salt pork, fry brown, then add three onions sliced thin, and fry those brown. Remove the kettle from the fire, and place on the onions and pork a layer of fish. Sprinkle over a little, pepper and salt, then a layer of pared and sliced potatoes, a layer^of fish and potatoes, till the fish is used up. Cover with water, and let it boil for half an hour. Pound six biscuits or crackers fine as meal, and pour into the pot; and, lastly, add a pint of milk; let it scald well, and serve. FISH CHOWDER, No. 2. Take four pounds of haddock or cod, wash thoroughly, and cut the flesh from the bones in pieces about two inches square. Cover the head and bones with cold water and boil one- half hour. Slice two small white onions in a pan with four slices of thin, fat, salt pork. When tender, skim out the pork and onions and add the strained bone liquor and one quart of sliced raw potato. Cook for ten minutes, then add the fish, one tablespoonful of salt, and one-half tea- spoonful of white pepper. When the potatoes are tender, add one quart of hot milk which has been thickened with two ounces of butter and flour mixed together. Do not break the fish by needless stirring. Split six butter crackers, arrange in a tureen, and pour the fish chowder over them. FISH CHOWDER, No. 3. Three lbs. fresh fish, three large pota- toes, one large onion, half lb. salt pork, one pint milk, three ship crackers, pepper and salt. Cut the fish, the potatoes, and the onion into slices. Cut the pork into half-inch dice. Put the pork and the onion into a pan and saute them a light brown. Place in alternate layers in a large saucepan first potatoes, then fish, then pork and onion ; dust with salt and pepper, and continue in this order until all the materials are used. Cover the whole with boiling water and let the mixture simmer for twenty minutes. Scald a pint of milk or of cream, take it ofif the fire and add one and a half tablespoonfuls of butter and three broken ship crackers, or the same quantity of water biscuits. Arrange the fish mixture in a mound on a dish, cover it with the softened crackers, and pour over the whole the hot milk. 20 CAPE AND FISH CHOWDER. This is the everyday style of fish chowder among the fishermen's f amihes : Wash and cut in chunks two pounds of fresh cod or haddock. Pare and thinly slice one quart of potatoes (or as many as you prefer) and place in cold water until you are ready for them. Cut two slices of fat salt pork in dice and slowly fry out in chowder kettle until fat is extracted, stirring often. Remove scraps, add one large onion sliced, and fry slowly for a very few minutes. Then in your kettle place a layer of fish and one of potatoes, salt and pepper, and continue that way until all is used, potatoes on top. Cover with cold water and let come to boil, then boil slowly or simmer, until potatoes are done. Mix one tablespoonful flour with one of butter, add to chowder with one pint milk. Allow to come to boiling point once more, add a few halved crackers and serve very hot. Cheap and delicious. FISH SALADS. HALIBUT SALAD. Take a slice of halibut, rub well with salt ; steam until the flesh easily separates from the bone ; remove skin and bone, and with a fork separate it into flakes, not mincing it too fine; add a seasoning of salt, and French dressing to which has been added a few gratings of raw onion. When ready to serve, pour ofif what French dressing has not been absorbed and arrange in a salad dish with alternate layers of fish, cold boiled peas, cucumbers cut in cubes, and sprinkled with salt. Serve with leaves of lettuce and salad cream or Mayonnaise dressing. HERRING SALAD. Soak over night three Holland herrings, cut in small pieces. Cook and peel eight medium potatoes and when cold chop with two small cooked red beets, two onions, a few sour apples, three hard-boiled eggs ; mix with a sauce of sweet-oil, vinegar, stock, pepper and mustard to taste. SALMON SALAD. Shred some boiled salmon, mix with it half as much boiled potato cut in small cubes ; serve on lettuce leaves with salad cream. Shredded lettuce or peas may be used in place of potatoes. Garnish with sliced lemon and boiled beets cut in fancy shapes. FISH SALAD. Cold boiled or baked fish may be made into salad, allowing one head of lettuce and a half-pint of Mayonnaise or salad cream to every pint of the picked fish. SALAD CREAM FOR FISH SALADS. One-half tablespoon salt, one-half tablespoon mustard, three-quarters tablespoon sugar, one egg slightly beaten, two and one-half tablespoons melted butter, three- quarters cup cream, and one-fourth cup vinegar. Mix ingredients in order given, adding vinegar very slowly. Cook over boiling water, stir- ring constantly until mixture thickens, strain and cool. 21 FISH SAUCES. BECHAMEL SAUCE (Boiled Fish). Make a white sauce ac- cording- to directions given. Add a cupful of stock or half stock and half milk. A slice of onion, carrot and turnip should be fried in the butter before the flour is added. A richer Bechamel is made by adding a little cream and chopped mushrooms. DRAWN BUTTER. Beat one cup of butter and two spoonfuls of flour to a cream; pour over this one pint of boiling water; set on fire and let it come to a boil, but do not boil. Serve immediately. EGG SAUCE (Boiled Fish). To a pint, or two cupfuls, of white sauce, add three hard-boiled eggs cut into slices or small dice, and, if liked, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley. MAITRE D'HOTEL SAUCE (Broiled Fish). Two tablespoon- fuls of butter, one tablespoonful of chopped parsley, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, half teaspoonful of salt, half teaspoonful of pepper. Rub the butter to a cream ; add salt, pepper and parsley chopped very fine; then the lemon-juice slowly. Spread it on broiled meat or fish; let the heat of the meat melt the butter. The dish must not be put in the oven after the sauce is spread, or the parsley will lose its freshness and color. This sauce, which greatly improves as well as garnishes broiled meat, can be mixed and kept for some time in a cool place. Soften a little before using, so it will spread evenly, and be quickly melted by the hot meat or fish. TARTARE SAUCE. To a cupful of Mayonnaise made with mustard, add one tablespoonful of capers, three ohves, and two gherkins, all chopped very fine. A good Tartare sauce can be made by using Tar- ragon vinegar and a little onion-juice when mixing the Mayonnaise, and adding parsley and capers, both chopped very fine, just before serving it. TOMATO SAUCE. Two tablespoonfuls of butter, one table- spoonful of flour, one tablespoonful each of carrot and onion, half can of tomatoes, parsley, one bay-leaf, three cloves, half teaspoonful of salt, quarter teaspoonful of pepper. Put one tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan ; add the chopped onion and carrot, and let slightly brown; add the flour and cook five minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the tomatoes, cloves, bay-leaf, salt and pepper. Cook slowly for half an hour, or until the tomatoes are soft and reduced to right consistency. Then add a tablespoonful of butter (a small piece at a time to prevent an oily line) ; strain ; add more salt and pepper if necessary. WHITE SAUCE (Boiled Fish). One tablespoonful of butter, one tablespoonful of flour, one cupful of milk, half teaspoonful of salt, quarter teaspoonful of pepper. 22 Put one tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan. When it bubbles add one tablespoonful of flour, and cook, stirring constantly, for five minutes, but do not let it color ; draw it to a cooler part of the range and add very slowly, stirring all the time, one cupful of cold milk, and stir until perfectly smooth and a little thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Most of the white sauces are simple variations from this sauce. Water may be used instead of milk, and it is then called drawn-butter sauce. It can be made richer by adding a little more butter, in small pieces, one at a time, after the milk is in ; also by adding the beaten yolk of an egg. If the egg is added remove the pan from the fire and let it cool a little before adding the egg ; then cook for a minute, but do not let it boil, or the egg will curdle. If a cupful of stock (or half stock and half milk) is used it becomes a Bechamel sauce. 23 SUPPLEMENTING OUR MEAT SUPPLY WITH FISH. By M. E. Pennington, Chief, Food Research Laboratory , Bureau of Chemistry. (Extracts from Yearbook of Department of Agriculture for 1913.) Meat shortage was an old problem to other nations when our Nation was in its infancy. To supplement their supply of meat they turned to the sea for fish. The United States must now deal with the problem of meat short- age. The settlement of our vast cattle ranches and the breaking up of the great pasturage areas into cultivated farms have interfered with one of our natural sources of a meat supply. At the same time the increase in the value of corn has made cattle raising for meat purposes a difficult problem on the small farm. We, too, apparently, shall have to turn to the sea. One of the greatest difficulties in the way of utilizing this resource is the ignorance of the American people, especially of the native-born, well-to-do people, in regard to the kinds of food fishes, their desirability as foods from the viewpoint of both nutriment and palatability, and the methods of cooking which tend to enhance their food value. Yet Ameri- cans are delighted at the delicacy of English whitebait, at the fine flavor of the sole cooked in Paris, and' at the appetizing aroma of the smoked salmon in the sandwich so universally served in Germany. We quite forget that the sand dab of the southern California coast more than equals the English sole ; that the pompano of our southern waters, the whitefish of the Great Lakes, and the mackerel and bluefish of the east coast are not surpassed by any of the finny delicacies served in Europe, and that the delicious salmon in the German sandwich is more than likely the product of our own Pacific fisheries exported to Germany, because it finds comparatively scant favor at home. There is also a common belief that fish does not furnish us with as much high-grade food material as meat. Analyses of meat and fish, how- ever, show an encouraging similarity in tissue-building. The foreign-born population of the United States are the fish con- sumers of the Nation. They have brought fish-eating habits with them from nations where fish is commonly used in place of meat. Whereas we have done comparatively little to stimulate our fisheries, the older nations have expended, and now are expending, every efifort to gather the crops that the waters yield so abundantly, and to deliver them cheaply and in prime condition to their people, not only along the coast, but to extreme inland towns. 24 THE FISHERIES OF ENGLAND. England knows she can produce only a portion of her meat supply, but she believes she can produce all her fish supply and also export to other countries. England's fisheries, as a source of her food supply, are considered of very great importance, and the fishing fleet is recog- nized as bearing an important relation to her navy. An enormous quan- tity of fish is caught in the fisheries of the United Kingdom (in 1912 the catch amounted to 2,698,400,544 pounds, valued at $64,405,334), and it is distributed speedily and in very good condition. All these factors help to make fish not only a relatively cheap food article, but also a popular one. HOW GERMANY ENCOURAGES FISHING. One phase of the work of the association, and one which is sup- ported by the Government, is the education of the people regarding the kinds of fish and their desirability as a food. "A series of cookery lessons was started in Berlin and other large cities, using moving picture? to show the methods of fishing and the varieties of fish, and to aid in ex- plaining their food value. This movement was enthusiastically received and at present articles are frequently being written and issued in pamph- let form which contain helpful and heretofore little known facts regard- ing sea fish and the best methods of preparing them for the table. As a consequence the taste for fish has spread amazingly and the various trawling concerns have entered upon an era of prosperity which seems likely to be permanent." Naturally, such an educational campaign has created an exceptional demand for fish, not only near the sea, but more especially inland, where the people, like our own inland population, know practically nothing of sea fish nor how to cook them. Germany has very wisely turned her attention to the handling of fish so as to preserve quality and prevent waste. Her vessels, like our own, go long distances for their catch. Hence the fish must be packed with care if they are to reach the market in good order. Some of the newer vessels are provided with refrigeration to aid in preserving freshness. At Geestemunde, especially, much attention is given to the preservation of food fish, thereby preventing market gluts and utilizing as food many fish that would formerly have been turned over to fertilizer or oil fac- tories. VARIETIES OF FISH IN THE MARKETS. The usual consumer near the seacoast has no idea of the many kinds of fish that are to be found in his market, nor of their seasonal variation. A visit to any large wholesale fish market in the United States is a voyage of discovery to most consumers. They will then see more kinds of fish for sale than they had supposed in the sea. But such a market displays little variety when compared with the fish market of the "Halle Centrale" in Paris, or the wonderful market on the Grand 25 . . Canal in Venice. Spread out in trays, garnished with green and red and brown seaweeds, arranged to catch the eye by beauty of color and design, are dehcacies that our fishermen never trouble to bring on shore because we do not consider them desirable food. The praised soup served in Naples was made from a member of the cuttlefish family — a "squid" — eaten here only by Italians, and used for bait by our fishermen. The much desired "raie au beurre noir" of Paris is, in plain English, just a piece of skate, or ray, that would not be salable in an American market. The prevailing ignorance concerning frozen fish is even greater than that concerning fresh fish. There is probably not one in ten thousand American housewives who would not refuse hard-frozen salmon at 15 cents a pound in favor of fresh-caught cod at 18 cents a pound. Yet most of them would doubtless consider salmon more or less of a delicacy. The foreign-born population in the congested areas of our large cities are not prejudiced in favor of certain varieties ; provided the price is within their means the name of the fish is a secondary matter. And if the fish is palatable the fact that it is hard frozen does not weigh against a low price. Consequently, we find hard-frozen whitings and other plentiful fish selling for a few cents a pound in inland towns as well as on the coast, when the shops in the residence districts are charging double the price for the same article thawed to simulate fresh-caught fish and sold as fresh, a condition directly traceable to the ignorance of the consumer. PREPARATION OF FISH FOR THE TABLE. The person who has enjoyed the appetizing and satisfying fish served so universally in Europe, or even in New Orleans, finds a woeful lack of ability on the part of the American cook to utilize to the best advantage even the high-class fish, and a hopeless incompetence when the less de- sirable varieties are used. The many attractive sauces that add flavor and piquancy are unknown. The many accessory dishes, such as salads, croquettes, pates, etc., that may be made from fish are never considered. A very great gain would accrue to this Nation if some agency would follow the example of Germany and institute classes in the art of cook- ing fish. To fish, more than to any other nitrogen-rich product, must we look for a food supply to supplement the meat which we can not hope to have in the future as in the past, either in price or in quantity. All food taken from the sea is a net gain to the land. This food in no way impoverishes the soil, and in fact adds to the fertilizing elements of the country. On the other hand, food raised on the land necessarily takes elements from the soil, and this tends to impoverish the fertility of our farms unless the elements withdrawn are artificially restored. This is true of every animal raised for meat purposes, although, of course, the depletion of the soil on which meat animals are fed is not so direct as when corn or some other product is raised and shipped away to be consumed in some 26 distant section. There is, moreover, a limit as to the amount that can be produced on the land. The fish in the seas, on the other hand, feed and breed unaided and practically in unlimited numbers. Like many another of our resources, we have not yet begun to fathom the value of the fish in our waters. Only time and necessity will teach what they mean to our Nation. ■■if^ ::^m