Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1880-09-04
ON THE COOKING OF FISH.
Boiling, Baking, Frying, and
BroiIing'Fish-Fish with Vege-
tahIpS

tables.
Ne " York Times.
If was to begin at the beginning OF
things, | should say that every fish as
fisherman caught ought to be killed the
minute it's caught. Sporting prints
have kind OF discussed this question, and
all Of them are in favor of fish being
better when killed just out OF the water
than left to float around and die by
inches. A shad is just one OF them fish
that can't live long out OF water, for he
| dies quick; but when | was boy, and
used to be round the fisherman on the
Connecticut, when planked shad was
in use-that was in old Jerry Warren
ner's time-his order was to kill every
shad right off as was to be served on his
table. Maybe Jerry Warrenner's hotel
at Springfield is past the recollection OF
most men. 1t used to be tumblc-down
kind OF place, with the floors a.sloping
so as you had to prop the table legs
from sliding; but. oh, me. the good
things that man used to have. People
would travel out OF their way to eat at
Jerry's and Dan'l Webster and Fanny
Elsler used to say-and they ought TO
know-that Jerry's was the only place
IN the United States then where you
could get square meal.
kind OF think that New England peo-
pleas Boston for instance-keeps up
the tradition OF fish.cooking better than
most any other place. What do know
is that south OF Rhode Island good
clam-bake amt possible. You see lots
OF chOwder feeds offered, but they amt
no good. There is no sabe about EN-, |
don't mean a clam-chowder, the soup
all alone, but the different kinds OF
things that 90 to make up regular out
and-out chowder meal. To cook Il soft
clam or hari one in the right way, with
the green corn, you can't boil EN- to-
gether, nor Just stream them, they must
be buried in pot with hot stones and
sea-weed, so as to get the flavor. But to
come back to the fish. 1t seems kind OF
cruel to put live lobster in pot, or to
Try a soft crab as is still a moving his
feelers, but sudden death is the law OF
all such things. Gamers as put up
Holsters know that, and Holsters as are
dead before they are cooked turn out
thin, watery, and don't keep. | have
heard it disputed whether a salmon
ought to be bled or killed just as it's
caught, but months fishing in the
provinces Just showed me that salmon
killed lust as he was out of the water was
better eating than fish that had died
slowly. The flesh was Just as red and
curdy, and of better flavor. But, after
all, an entire salmon feed, il you keep it
up for some time, is just one OF the most
sickening things in the world. No fel-
low ever writes about salmon without
Juggling in that story about the Scotch
people as declined to eat salmon more
nor once week. So many people be.
lieve i'm this story that is hard to dispute
it, but it never has been exactly proved
to be so. 1t seems that If objections
was raised it was to eating such dead
salmon for every day in the week with
out being sick OF it. 1t kind oil turns
agin him. Now, with white-iish that
amt the case. A man may have 10 eat
while-fsh every day and never get tired
oft. Being somewhat OF traveller, /
can say that, once in the Hudson bay
country, me and my mate, with some
eight dogs, lived on nothing else but
white fish and hard bread, and none OF
us-dogs nor anybody-but came
straight up to every meal, every time,
and took our iul rations. But | am
kind of going off the track | laid down.
People in this country only cook their
fish in four ways--they boil, Try, bake,
and broil. The boiling, baking, and
broiling they do pretty well. The
first they might DO Il deal sight
better if they would add Just few
things to the water they boil their fish
in. A spoonful OF vinegar is mighty
help, and keeps the fish tirmer; and II
an onion and bunch of parsley is also
thrown in. the flavor is increased. Oi
course, everybody knows that you must
put your fish in cold water, aud let 1t
simmer, not boil. No instructions is
necessary about boiling fish, but as to
irving, deal has to be learned. You
never can have good fried fish until YOU
use sweet oil. 1t is false prejudice
| that good oil has taste 10 1t. Lard
gives a twang to fish, and butter does,
for that matter, too. Taking oil and
butter together as to cost, oil, at 81 a
bottle for quart, it is just as cheap as
butter. The reason why it is better to
frv in is because you can get up bet
ter heat with the oil. But what want
TO write about is this, that theae are
ever so many ways OF cooking fish out
side OF boiling, broiling, baking and Try
inc. People ought to know that hsh
can be stewed. If q fish, as in chow
der, makes a good soup, why can't 1t be
stewed? Now, you just take cod.
YOU have been eating it boiled all your
life. Next time you see good hve-
pound fish OF Friday, you stew 1t,
sometimes IN this way: Cut itin slices,
and season it with salt and pepper. Boil
your head in, say, pint OF water, strain
that water. and add Just half of it TO
YOUR fish. Talks two wine glasses oil
sherry wine and the juice OF a lemon,
and bit OF butter as big as walnut,
which YOU have mixed with a teaspoon
ful of flour; stir that in, and add to that
three blades of mace. If oysters are IN
season, put in dozen; season with salt
and pepper. Cook it slowly for twenty
minutes Nothing hard nor expensive
about that. is there? II you have no
sherry, add a Matchmaker OF ordinary
| claret, or, as for that, ii you are temper
ance, don't put in any wine at all. lou
| might not fancy to eat 1t cold IN sum-
mer, but it is lust as good that way.
There is a kind OF prejudice against cold
| fish-iust as ii you couldn't eat it under
the same conditions rs beef ! noticed
that the Duke OF Argyll, who must bea
right down practical swell, writes about
cooking fish with vegetables, somethlns
our people know nothing about, It's
ius. one OF those false notions which our
people ought to get over. Don't you,
all of YOU, eat Goldfish with potatoes
What's to prevent your cooking bass, or
many other kinds OF fish, with vegeta-
bles? Just take your fish, not a bony
one, put parsley with it, slice your pc
ta,oes, add few herbs to it, and, hav-
ing some sweet oil in your pan al hot,
tumble in the whole concern, and as 1t
il cooking shake it. that's the Italian
way, and many is the good meal have
taken as a sailor off OF it in the poorer
class OF Genoa eating-houses, and dined
better than my captain. There are lots
of little fish in the marfiet, porgies Tor
instance. which are as good as they are
cheap. People mostly fry them, and
they are not bad that way. But sup
frt.t mo