The Washington times., 1919-04-11
Do You Know
Fresh Fish?
By Loretto G. Lynch.

NOW that the Lenten season is
IN with us, the housewife,
1 either for religious or hy-
gienic reasons, makes a change in
the food she feeds her family. At
this time. perhaps, more than at
any other, fsh-as one poet calls
1t, 'the fruit of the wave"-comes
into its own.
Fish to be at its best must be
fresh. Yet the city housewife not in
frequently is ignorant of a knowl-
edge Of the points to look for in
really fresh fish and must de- pend
on the dealer, unscrupulous or 9TH
erwise, in selecting fsh for her
family.
In fresh fsh the eyes are bulg-
ing and bright. The gills are bright
red. The flesh along the backbone
is firm and elastic. A fresh fish
lacks a heavy hshy odor.
Because OF the lack OF much con-
nective tissue in the muscular
structure OF a fish. great care must
be used in preparing FISH for the
table il It is to come there in an
attractive form.
1t is cheaper, in the long run, to
buy a whole fish. Yet small famI-
lies cannot always use UP a whole
fish, quickly, and it is sometimes
advisable to purchase only a por-
tion of a fish. Have you ever tried
boiled fish with egg sauce2
Clean a fish and place IL on a
plate. Tie plate, fish and all, in a
piece of clean white cheesecloth.
Lower it into a, pot OF boiling wa
ter, to which a fourth Of a cupful
Of vinegar has been added. Boil
for ive minutes, and then reduce to
simmering. Toward the end Of the
cooking add one level tablespoon Of
salt. A four-pound fish will require
about half an hour to forty min
utes' cooking. Fish is cooked when
ii is opaque and separates easily
from the bones.
When done drain the water from
the plate, dry the plate, and serve
the fish, garnished with parsley and
slices of lemon. If you have cooked
but a few slices of fish, remove the
skin and bones and arrange the
fish on a plate.
To make egg sauce, rub together
one-third Of a cup OF butterine with
the same quantity OF -four. Add a
cup and a half of water and half a
teaspoon OF salt. Stir constantly
over a flame until the sauce boils
Add chopped hard cooked egg to
the mixture and pass in a sauce
boat with the FISH.
Then there is baked fish. Try
this stuffing. With one cupful OF
cracker crumbs, mix enough melted
butterine to moisten, a tablespoon
ful OF chopped parsley, half a small
onion grated, salt, pepper, paprika
and a tablespoon of finely chopped
sour pickle. This is enough for a
three or four pound fish. To sue
cessfully back and handle a baked
fish. one should own a fish sheet.
These may be obtained for a rea-
sonable sum at any of the better
house-furnishing shops.
To fry fish. remove skin and bones
from sliced fish and cut into suita-
BILE sized portions. Or small FISH
may be fried whole. First wine
the ish with a damp cloth and dry
carefully. Sprinkle with salt and
pepper. Dip in beaten egg and then
into fine white cornmeaI or stale
bread or cracker crumbs. Fry in
smoking hot deep fat until a golden
brown. Drain on soft paper. Gar
nish and serve with mock tartar
sauce. To make this, to one-fourth
cup OF mayonnaise add q teaspoon
ful each of finely chopped onion
and olives and sour pickle.
Use fish at this season. 1t Is a
welcome change In the diet, and II
properly Selected. cooked and
served Il will delight the family
palate,