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Baked Fish
Cod, Haddock, Cusk, Blue-fish, Shad, Small Salmon, and Bass. These when served whole may be carved in a more satisfactory manner if before cooking they are prepared according to the following directions:
Stuff them and place them upright in the pan instead of on one side. Fish that are broad and short like shad may be kept in place by propping with stale bread or pared potatoes; but others that are narrow in proportion to the length may be skewered or tied into the shape of the letter S. Thread a trussing needle with strong twine, run it through the head and fasten it there; then bend the head round and draw the needle through the middle of the body. Bend the tail in the opposite direction, run the needle through near the tail, draw the string tightly and fasten it. Gash the skin two inches apart on each side. Fish thus prepared will retain its shape until served. Place it on the platter with the head at the left and the outward curve on the farther side of the dish. Make an incision along each side of the backbone the entire length of the fish. Then cut through the gashes on the side nearest you and lay each portion away from the bone. Then remove the fish on the farther side of the bone. Raise the bone to reach the stuffing, and serve a little of the fish, stuffing, and sauce to each person. The skeleton should be left entire on the platter.
If the fish has been baked in the usual way and placed on the platter on its side, cut across through to the backbone, but not through it, and serve, apportioning as may be desired. Slip the knife under and remove the portion from the bone. When the fish is all removed from the top, remove the backbone, and then divide the lower portion.
Instructions for carving a whole baked fish at the table, and for preparing it beforehand so that it can be carved at all. The first half is about the kitchen. The second half still works in any kitchen today.
- The fish is trussed to hold a curveA trussing needle and strong twine go through the head, the head is bent round and the needle drawn through the middle of the body, then the tail is bent the other way and fastened. The fish bakes standing upright in an S rather than lying on its side. It is presentation engineering, and it has to be done before cooking because it cannot be done after.
- Propped with bread or potatoesShort, broad fish such as shad are held upright by wedging stale bread or pared potatoes round them in the pan. It is a plain trick, it works, and it is worth knowing for any whole fish you want standing rather than flat.
- The gashes are for portioningScoring the skin at two-inch intervals down each side is not about heat. The carver cuts through the gashes to lift each portion away from the bone, so the serving divisions are marked out before the fish ever reaches the table.
- The carving sequence is still correctAn incision down each side of the backbone for the full length, lift the portions from the near side, then the far side, then raise the bone to reach the stuffing. That is exactly how to serve a whole baked fish now, and the instruction to leave the skeleton entire on the platter is the mark of having done it properly.
- CuskOne of the fish listed for this treatment: a north Atlantic cod relative that has become scarce and is rarely sold. Cod, haddock, bluefish, shad, bass and small salmon make up the rest of the list, and any firm whole fish big enough to carve behaves the same way under the knife.
- Stuffing changes the timingA stuffed whole fish cooks from the outside in and the stuffing lags behind the flesh. Judge it at the thickest part, next to the backbone, rather than by the look of the skin, and allow for the fact that it goes on cooking while it is carried in and taken apart in front of the guests.
The page belongs to a household where the fish arrived whole and was divided in the dining room, in front of the people about to eat it. Every instruction follows from that. The trussing gives it a shape worth looking at; the gashes pre-measure the portions; the platter is set with the head to the left and the outward curve on the far side so the carver has the right surface facing him; the skeleton is left entire as evidence of skill. The kitchen’s job was to hand the dining room something carveable. That division of labour between cook and carver is what this whole book is about, and it has since collapsed: fish now leaves the kitchen already portioned, and the skill that used to be performed at the table has moved out of sight.