New-York tribune., 1900-04-01
BETWEEN SEA AND TABLE.
THE CHIEF METHODS OF KEEPING FISH
EDIBLE.
FREEZING, DRYING. sMt

mora or less lightly to thoughts Of fish. and
recently issued Government report furnishes
some interesting information regarding the prin-
cipal methods employed to preserve this val
liable and delicious article of food from the time
when it is taken from the until it IS cooked.
The best known practices are keeping the fish
alive freezing them, drying, smoking canning
and picking them. Perhaps the one last men
toned is the oldest. The Ph9nicians, Greeks
and Romans were skilful in the use or brine Tor
this purpose and 1t is believed that preservation
with vinegar and spices antedates even that
plan although 1t is resorted to to-day only to a
limited extent. To be sure, a considerable guam
tity Of oysters, Holsters. salmon, anchovies and
cells are thus prepared for the market, but In the
aggregate this is a small item compared with
the enormous quantity of mackerel and other
nsh that are put up in brine. Salt is also used In
combination with desiccation, in the case OF
the Goldfish.
Large quantities of cod, halibut and other salt
water fish were once brought to market alive IN
the wells of specially constructed smacks. Ihls
custom has now been almost entirely aban-
doned the use of ice having proved more con-
venient to the average fisherman Stlll' the
practice of keeping shellfsh Gncludng terrapin)
alive until the moment of cooking is yet OBJ
served strictly Both during shipment and While
being stored for long periods fish are now kept
on or ice. But refrigeration must De EN-"
ployed judiciously. For oysters. clans and cav
iare temperature below 80 or 40 degrees is
undesirable; whereas sturgeon scallops, frogs
legs and some other fish are kept at about 10 or
Is Again. shad and few other oeilcate hsn
should not be frozen at all
Although the pyroligneoUs acid or smoke Is
powerful antiseptic alone. it is usually employed
in combination with other preserVatlve a8ehIs
or processes. salt and partial drying, 1or IN
stance In limited quantities, smoke lmpartS
a pcculiar relish to food and it would be impos-
sible to market salted halibut but for this ad-
ditional preservative AS applied to hsh, sfnok-
ing probably reaches its highest development
with salmon. Salmon smoked chiefly IN
New-York Boston. Philadelphia and Chicago.
ard they sometimes bring as high a price as 40
cents pound at retail. The finnan haddie an
other popular favorite. requires great skill both
in picking and smoking. For the latte" opera
tion rock maple or beech sawdust gives the best
results Large amounts of sea herring, river
herring COR alewives). lake herring, whitefsh,
sturgeon. catfish Ca cheap substitute for stur-
geon> ecls, shad mackerel and founders are
smoked every year A great many alewives are
salted and smoked along the South Atlantic
Coast; but the mullet. another Southern fish, Is
almost never treated in the latter way. 1t is
usually preserved only in brine.
Canning dates back more than half century
in this country Oysters were first put up In
this manner in 1874 Pacific Coast salmon In
1866 and sardines in 1875. At present an i'm |
mcnsc quantity and a remarkable variety Of
fish preserved by this general method. of
which. however, there numerous mOdifca- |
tons The value of the fish canned every year
in the United States is put at $15 100000. The |
majority of these products are precisely what |
they purpOrt to be, oysters, crabs, terrapin, |
mackercl ana so on; but considerable minority |
are not recognized by the consumer. good |
many canned herring, for instance, labelled |
Brook Trout" ocean Trout" For long |
time mossbunkers or Inenhaden were canned |
along the NeW-England coast and sold
'shadnes." They imitation sardines. A |
species of herring put up in Maine as
the sardine The European fish that bears this |
name, though. is a pchard.
To just what extent chemicals are resorted to |
for 'embalmins" fish it would be hard to say |
Horacic acid the use of which appears to have |
originated in Norway in 1870 has certainly |
found favor. 1t is applied alone in combna-
tion with acetic acid. SalicyIic acid is also a |
common preservative for fish number of |
processes for utilizing it having been patented |
Chloride of potassium, nitrate of soda gycerine |
alum lime, thymol and chloroform are among |
the ether antiseptic agents that have been used |
il. preserving fish.
Besides the staples already referred to, the |
fish trade has some curious features that are |
We'll known n WI n nd |