Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-02-21
HOW WILL YOU HAVE
YOUR WHALE. SIR?
Steaks and Chops From the Big.
Fish May Grace Our
Tables


really good brain food?" And how much
should eat to achieve success In literature?"
said, "Oh. about a whale and half" folks
laughed and they have been chucklng ever
since at the joke. But some Of us may
shortly accomplish that very feat. for the
Government has already Instituted a move
ment to make whale steak popular
The American Museum Of Natural History
gave a whale-steak diDner in New York the
other night and everybody around the board
smacked his lips and, vowed that Mother had
never cooked anything quite so good Some
OF the guests wondered why whales had
never swum into the Lucullan imeght be-
fore. which was the cue for Roy Chapman
Andrews and other speakers. probably under
Government prompting. to arise and say
things, One of them declared whale mas
been a popular dish in Japan for twenty
years. Another told how common whale
steaks and chops were. say. couple of nun
dred years ago, among the pioneer whalers
Of New Bedford
At any rate, New Bedford, once the busy
home Of the American whaling industry has
been stirred again to its center by this news
OF the rehabilitation of the big fish. Tackle
is being overhauled and the weather-beaten
salts. who have been langulshing in snug
harbors are cooking up their ears ana
stretching the rheumatic kinks out OF their
sea-egs. And there must he a whale OF
crop or whales in the seven seas, Tor It hasn't
been worth while to chase them OF late years.
John u. Rockefellers men have been dig
ging 50 much petroleum out of dry land az
TO make sperm oil of but little more value
than dishwater But now the product OF the
whales blubber is bringing Sl.26 barrel,
and that, with the added prospect OF market
ing the meat for real money. promises 10
revive the old activities of New Bedford.
This new scheme Of the Governments may
fivVer. but the wise ones say they can see
success ahead. We don't know. We do re-
member that when visited our fsh-deal-
er's shop az late as Lent OF last year the
walls were decorated with placards, supplied
by the Department OF Agriculture, or Inter-
ior, or something. calling upon us to eat
plenty of tie1sh. Tilefish, it will be re-
membered, is the sensitive creature which
disappeared from our shores about twenty
five years ago and went into absolute re-
tirement; and then, probably feeling that
its past had been forgotten, returned to us
suddenly. II is due for another period of
retirement, for though the Government did
It's best to boost It, few folks fall for 1t now.
Some Hints for Lent
II whale steak fails to get across we may
he asked to try shark: and. indeed, there's
wise medico in New York who has always
been praiser of that fish's edible qualities.
DR.. Robert r. Morris, who is a many-sided
genius, deplores the fact that some good
food fish are going 10 waste because they
carry bad names around with them He
doesn't ask us to eat man-eaters, but he
contends that the dogfish. which Is mem
ber of the shark family is delicious eating.
If the Government will only arrange to call
the creature "gra ytish." which Is one of its
aliases, people might take kindly to it.
Sharks fms. as everybody knows. have long
been highly esteemed by Chinese gourmands.
But even if grayfiSh should become popu-
lar and prove plentiful, we have no guar
antee that it wouldn't also Immediately be-
come high in price. That, after all. is our
chief trouble. for there's no scarcity OF good
sea food nor lack of variety. It's the prices
they wear that stick in our throats Shad,
for instance, which many Philadelphians
were once able to pick up at Gloucester,
alive aud kicking, for from twenty to fifty
cents, in the season, will kick all the change
out of the average purse this year. They're
coming in now from Georgetown. \. c.. and
while they're good as usual, they're not
being sold at so much apiece, as they used
20 he. but by the pound. II may be ounces
and troy weight by the time they come where
they're finest-in the waters of the Delaware.
OF course Holsters have grown scarce try
Ing to satisfy the appetites of chorus girls
and their gentlemen friends, but that needn't
worry any one with so many other choice
things coming in. The scallop is delicious
bit. whether he's the big fellow from Maine
or the small and more delicately favored
mollusk from Cape Cod. Long Island
Morehead City, " g. New York city doesn't
let many of the Long Island catch get away
from the Gotham hotels and restaurants. so
Philadelphia has to take Cape Gods or More
head Citys What few get through from
Long Island bring 81 to SIS gallon, which
is ridiculousy high. The general run OF the
others fetch IS TO Sc n gallon---in ordinary
times they're worth no more than S1.5V.
These little fellows grow in the slate-gray
curiously shaped siels which give them their
name but the big ones from Maine live In
houses very unlike those affected by most
of the family. Some one has said that an
oyster Is IA fish that's built like a nut"
So is the Maine scaop Its home il of the
cam-shel style Of architecture. plain and
smooth and big as dinner plate.
Local dealers will tell YOU that most of
the fish coming into this market from New
England come without their heads. This Is
particularly true of cod for the New Eng
landers hold out the tongues and jowls of
that fish for dainty known down East as
tongues and sounds" Scrod another favor
ite down Boston way, seldom reaches these
parts-and that needn't worry YOU either. IL
your taste is anything like ours for we've
tried it and found it wanting. The scrod is
simply young Goldfish. and Charles s
knowlton, now Of this town. but New Eng
lander by birth. says it's prime eating when
it's boiled, Or, better still, stewed In chafine
dish.
But for Lenten fare, calculated 10 defeat
the original purpose of the penitential sea-
son. we might mention dish which has long
been feature of basement restaurant in
Chicago. It's called "Findan Haddie a Ia
Rector there, and although It may tasts
almost as good under some other name
somewhere else, we have never found 1t. At
Rector's, in Chicago. the fish is brought in
10 you upon generous platter. which in
turn, Is superimposed upon a larger pIatter
TO catch whatever of the rich milx-gravv
may overflow the first plateau. Up to their
middles In this gravy stand half a dozen
plump little boiled potatoes and the meal
OF the hsh Is saturated with savory juices.
on neNer mlhd trip to Chicago, The
spring airs are stirring in this old town ond
presently the waters of the Delaware will he
alive with the finest food fish that bless anv
part OF this country. The royal shad Is con, ps
ing II you can afford to entertain him.
Il. A. d.