Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1890-03-26
FRUIT OF THE SEA
Very Many DespIsed Fish are Pal
atabIs-

the sea- is meant that large variety of
animal life which can scarcely lie class
Ell as fish, flesh OF fo Al, but for wan OF
n distinctive appellatiOu WAS denomI-
mated as above by the old time lover OF
the "briny" and Its products. Lot
ers. crabs, oysters, CLANS, escallops
and nondeScTipt thin which are tile
especial delight OF the gOurmand are In
the category There are very many
edible fish and things which live in
the salt seas that are excellent TO eat,
although they are taboOed by Americans
generally. One of the fish is the skate
or maid, " which il caught in such
large numbers by anglers IN the waters
adjacent To this city.
Most fishermen do not like to waste
bait upon them, and the C crnsequeuce is
when they are caught objurgatIons are
expended on them. aud often from.
nIeie wantonness and To crafty a small
Spirit OF getting even" they are to-
ture and left To die and rot on the
docks or sands or in bJat, or are cast
back into the water minus their caudal
appendase. Now, as matter of fact,
there are port ouS Of "A faiT-sIZed skate or
maid which are delicious eating. 1t Is "A
fiat fish, and If the two large solid cir
Clets of flesh by the sides are cut out
and skinned AMI this flesh
is boiled, after wrapp ng 1t
in thin cotton cloth, and after
it Is cooked it is served with drawn
butter and white turnipS boiled, it will
be found most palatable and healthy
food, as our English aud Dutch co:sinS
know. Skates OF maids are much eS-
tcemed in the British Isles and Holland,
anu on the coast of France also. The
natives there eat them, making kind
of fish chowder from them, which IS
very nice, so much So that the partaker,
II not told differently, would think he
WAS feeding on halIbut.
Another fish, deSpised here, which Is
excellent to eat, in fact IS preferred
now to black and even weakiish, 10y
some of our local anglers who have had
at Irst TO lie coaxed TO tasted them, is
the large species of sea robin" which
are known by the name of the English
Or 'red gurneL" The fish, when
caught by the uniniIiated, are treated
very much as the skate and sea
robin" generally are, and u Jeer and a
laugh accompany the catching Of one,
whereas, If a very little pains he taken,
by cutting of the head and skIunIuE
aud dlsemOowelIng the fish It VIII be
found TO fry and cook in any manner
into 4 delicious mOrsel. The q 'Sn =
firm and quite IeldISh and tastes lar
better than the flesh OF most ground
fish which resort hereabOuts. The
cumalUn "sea robin" which, like the
gu net, is a northern species of the H.
ing fish, can also, with a little care IL
SHINING and Cooking, be made quite
paIatable- There Is also u species of
the same fish which comes from the
Arcic seas in great plenty in the
waters heTeabOuts, but, although some
profess TO like them, it must be con-
fe,sed that they are not at all toothsome,
aad would only be enjoyed by person
who was halt starvel aud raveuOus.
The late FreI J. Karche-, one OF t,.e
IN m1st persistent practical i0sers who
ever resided In Dutchtown, on one Oc-
casion fooled a host of his friends by get
ting up fish chDwler and using large
SIZED dog fish, y which are a species of
shark, in the making Of the mess,
whIcl was enjoyed by all until they
Fred always declared to his dying
day that he preferred to eat shark or
dog fish to any other deCizens of the
SEA. ''BurgallS" are the most persis
ent bait stellsrs and as such are the
dread OF mo fishermen, who treat
them with contumely, and yet they are
excellent fish when large enough pay
for the trouble of scaling and properly
clear in.
AM hers Il shopld be said that they
are really no more trouble to scale and
properly clean than the pOr-ieS or
p,rcra,rr. and after being CO KEEL a-e
- plIItIGl= ,ts eIL,irr of the O,her hsa
natuad. Most persons whJ eat fish Will
recp.l Z. that III t.IS ng pOTgies they
have often uOtIcel - very puus nt o !Or
and bitter taste. This comes from the
Ignorance or cdrtiessuesS II the one
who d.sembow-ls the h>h. The gall
ducts and bIgs Of al fish ought 10 be
removed very carefully, without break
Iug or the fish viii be spoiled Cue who
dr5i, Is TO att IIp this knack or art
should watch some of the expert fish
cleaners in any of the New York or this
ci.y's fish markets, and five minutes
obSrvatiou VIII repay the trouble
takei.
1t is very curl us that, after angling
for Years, many oil . tl~h rnsn do not
know the dIlfgrcu-e between an cIible
hartlsLeIl crab and u sand or rock crab
The ell ble crab can always be Known
10y its dark ! u its dark blue and
that is spotted on it hack is not goOI
To eat Not that Il has ever been
shown that they are really poisonous,
but hey are watery after being Cooked
and have no substance; whereas Il good
crab should be uTm in its flesh and
heavy for its size. In fact. the safest
plan u never u eat crab that IS light
IN weight. IecauSe one of two things Is
shown by lightneSS: Either The crab IS
not In proper condition or it has been
cooked OUT and IS watery AMI I'M
pleasant to the taste in consequence
one of the must pleasant fruits OF
the sea- Is the shrimp, which should
ALWAYS be boiled in s-a water, with
plenty II table salt aided T1ey are
an excellent relish with a meal AMI one
must expect to make meal OF tIem-
unless lie wants to ''dTInk pOtat'Ons
pottle deep" and there again expert
ence only can teach one the difference
between edibie and non-edible shrimp
One Is healthy AMI pleasant 10 eat, AMI
the other kind will cause nausea and,
uerhaps. a very bad Illness The Tt
marks about crabs are applicable also 10
Holsters which are never good unless
they are heavy.
Every one knows that o-sters are not
IN season except in the RI months oil
the wear, and yet another biyalye, the
hard she'll clam, is good in the very
middle of summer, although experts
sly the clam as well as the oyster
treed I'm the summer. This does not
apply, however. to the soft shell CLANS
They are at their best only When the
i, NH-RE