Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-07-17

ra1o au Deurrt ~d0lr, pTe6euG IL reg ulddiy uk'on
bills Of fare. The American, who is nothing
If not initiative, has accepted this fashion
and now puts the once Objectionable ray
upon every fish stand in the large cities OF
the seaboard The same change marks the
use of the sea robin and of the small Try
which nowadays are denominated, according
to their size, either white bait or parrish. As
a result of this foreign influence, the fish
market has been greatly increased both In
the variety of the fishes sold as well as in
the amount of supply and demand
To this should in justice be added the eff
forts of the famous Ichthyophagus club, OF
which Fish Commissioner Eugene 6. Black
ford is the head and front. This curious or
ganization makes it regular practice to
cook and eat eveV form of marine Life, and
more especially those which are strange or
have never before bekl SO employed. Through
their efforts chiefly have the snapper, mud
turtle, bullhead, frog back and whitebait
been populariEed as articles OF food They
have even gone so far as to give what may
be termed gastroaouic status to such SUBJ
stances as sharks Fms, devil fishes, squits,
beche de la mer, razor clans and porpofse
meat
The market at present. is crowded with the
king of salt water-the bluefish. 1t visits the
Atlantic coast in countless shoals, following
the soup, or porgy, upon which itpreys so
absolute is that relation that whenever an
angler In the late spring catches porgy, the
dealers Immediately announce to their Gus
toners that they will have bluefish on their
stands in two weeks. The rule has not failed
since the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock
in 1920 and adopted the Indian name SOUP
pang for the fish, which today has shortened
itself into soup in New England and porgy in
Connecticut and New York. The supply of
bluefish seldom runs low. 1t is caught in
vast numbers by the professional fishermen
from Norfolk to Passamaquoddy, and in ap-
preciable quantities by amateur Izaak Wal
tons. At such popular places as Rockaway,
Fire Island, Montauk and Narragansett Pier
the average catch of the amateurs is SO large
that nearly all turn an honest penny IN SELL
ing all but the few they take home. At Fire
Island and Rockaway alone hundreds. OF fish,
ing parties every year pay all their expenses
and realize handsome profit by selling the
results of hard days work with rod and
reel
The bluefsh Is not only the ganest of all
the finny tribes of the ocean, but also one Of
the best for the table. 1t Is superb cooked in
every style of civilized culinary art, but it is
unapproachable when steamed, as is done In
Japan. Cleaned, scraped and exposed to hot
steam for twenty minutes, 1t makes dish
whose delicacy and nutritiousness cannot be
excelled. Another new way of cooking it Is
to plank" it, just like shad. A third and
even more novel style is the bluefish dumping,
whose original the French found, or discov-
cred. in -Kwin In their last war; In
this exquisite dish the raw fesh broken into
small fragments and seasoned with salt, black
and red pepper and Worcestershire sauce, is
covered with the thinnest dough and boiled
or steamed for an hour. The result cannot
be described, but must be eaten by the ex-
perimenter.
The porgy, always popular but never fully
appreciated, is also prominent feature in
the market 1t is growing in Importance
with the years Formerly it could be OBJ
tanned only month in each year 1t reached
the coast in vast armies spawned and then
vanished into the ocean. During this brief
period it was caught in such numbers that
the price fell to a mere song. After 1t was
gone the price rose for few days and then
came to an end. Some ingenious Rhode Isl
ander perceived this popularity and built a
huge pond, into which the living contents Of
all the nets were poured. The captives
thrived in their jail and retained their health
up to the moment they were taken out OF the
water and sent to the market
The remarkable success of the idea led
others into the same business until today
there are at least thousand porgy pounds on
the New England coast. Of almost equal ad-
vantage was the fish pier. This is practically
a pound run out from the shore in which there
are fykes so arranged that the fish which en-
counter the obstruction as they swim along in
quest of food can enter it and once in cannot
escape. Some of these on the Long Island
coast have caught as high rs ten thousand
fish in day Even the unluckiest catch
brings in more than enough to pay for their
cost and for the time and labor of the pro-
prietor. What with the porgy pound and the
fish pier, the porgy is now feature in the
market for several months and affords
wholesome and inexpensive food TO the popu-
lace of the Atlantic cities.
The crustacea are as popular and abundant
as ever. The crab, however, is supplanting
the lobster in public esteem. The change Is
TO be congratulated upon. Owing to the inn
mense demand for the former In past years,
the favorite articulate was In fair way to
become extinct The size fell season after
season in consequence until the majority Of
those caught averaged about pound in
weight The danger became so great that
the Maine legislature passed law prohibit
ing the catching of Holsters below ten inches
In length, and other states followed in
the steps of that commonwealth with
similar enactments One result was to in
crease the popularity of the crab This is
now caught and canned in colossal quantities
in Texas, Florida and Maryland, while the
live animals in the New York market are
brought from the vast belt of coast which
starts at Nova Scotia and goes as far south
as South Carolina. Unlike its cousins the
bivalves. the crab varies but little in differ
emit localities.
The best, according to epicures, are those
from the Great South bay of Long Island
and Barnegat bay In New Jersey. These
long and shallow bodies Of water contain an
inexhaustlble supply. There is also grow
ing demand and supply of shrimps and
prawns These smaller crustacea are rapidly
coming into favor not only as dishes, but also
for soups, stews, salads and sauces. The best
shrinps are from Texas, and the best prawns
from Florida Singular 70 relate, the finest
specimens that appear in the market are those
from the Chinese colonies which have settled
along the shores of tho Gulf of Mexico. An
illustration of this new taste is seen in the bills
of fare O. the fashionable restaurants of New
York Shrimp and prawn appear there In
bisque, salad. sauce and omelet. 1t is only a
question of time before they appear likewise
in the menus Of the west and northwest.
FALES-CURTH