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Cooking of True Proteids Continued: Fish: Fried
FRIED FILLETS OF FISH Have think pieces of fish freed from fat and bone; season with salt and pepper if approved and, if the flavor be agreeable, rub each fillet with the cut side of an onion. Have ready sifted bread crumbs from the center of a loaf of bread, and an egg beaten and diluted with two tablespoonfuls of water; dip the pieces of fish in the egg, then in the crumbs, to cover them completely, then shake off superfluous crumbs. Dip a frying basket into a kettle of hot fat, set it on a tin plate and in it dispose two or four pieces of fish; lower the basket into the hot fat, of which there should be enough to cover the fish, and let cook from three to six minutes. If the fish be not rolled, three or four minutes of cooking will be enough. Rolled fillets will take from four to six minutes.
TESTING FAT FOR FRYING When the bowl (a Scotch bowl costing about 35c. is the best shaped and most durable utensil that can be had for frying) of fat has been over the fire for a little time after it has melted, drop in a crumb of bread; if the bread browns on one side while you count thirty as the clock ticks, it is of the right temperature for the fish. When the fish is cooked, let it drain in the basket, then remove it to a tin plate covered with tissue or blotting paper. Let stand at the door of the oven a moment, then serve. Do not let the pieces of fish touch each other, either in the basket or while draining on the paper, or they will lose their crispness. Fish may be fried in batter after the same manner as in egg and crumbs. The fish may be more easily covered with batter than with crumbs. Small fish, as brook trout and smelt, may be fried in the same manner. They will be cooked through when of a good golden color. FISH FRIED IN BATTER Season the pieces of fish as above; have them flat or roll them, turban shape, and run through each a wooden toothpick, dipped in melted butter, that it may be easily removed. Immerse the fish in batter, drain by holding it on a fork, and lower it into the fat, with or without a basket. Let cook from three to six minutes, or until nicely browned, then drain and serve. With fat at the proper temperature no appreciable fat will be absorbed. SAUTED FISH. HALIBUT A small slice of halibut or fillets of a white fish, bass or pickerel, or small whole fish, as brook trout and smelts, may be sauted. Wash a slice of halibut and wipe it carefully. Dredge a board with Indian meal or white flour and shake on a little salt, then lay the slice of fish in the mixture; pat it a little, that it may take up the flour or meal and salt, then turn it over, that the other side may be covered in the same manner. Have ready a frying pan of such width that it will take the full length of the slice of fish; in this cook a slice of fat salt pork until the fat is well tried out; put in the fish and let cook over a steady fire until well browned on one side, then turn the fish and brown the other side. The fire must not be too hot, or the fish will be burned. If it is not hot enough, the nitrogenous juices will run from the fish, and the slice will not hold together. Properly cooked the fat will not be absorbed, and the fish may be easily turned and lifted from the frying pan in perfect shape.
SAUTED BROOK TROUT Clean the fish by slitting them open in front, after the heads have been removed. After all have been cleaned, dip the fingers in salt and take hold of the top of the back bone with the left hand, then with a knife in the right hand separate the backbone and small bones attached to it from the flesh, by scraping or pushing the flesh from the bones. Wash in salted water, dry on a cloth, then roll in Indian meal, to which a little salt has been added; lay side by side in a frying pan, containing hot salt pork fat to cover the bottom of the dish; let brown on one side and then turn, to brown the other side. Properly cooked these will absorb no appreciable fat. Smelts may be cooked in the same way, though these are quite as often egged-and-crumbed and cooked in deep fat. The bones are not always removed, as they can be easily taken out after cooking.
SLICE OF SALMON, BOILED Butter a piece of cloth large enough to take a slice of salmon; tie the cloth securely at the corners and lower it into a saucepan containing enough lukewarm water to cover the fish; add a teaspoonful of salt, cover the saucepan, and heat quickly to the boiling point, then let cook six or eight minutes. Lift up the cloth with a fork under the knot; let drain well, then remove to a tin plate, untie the knot and turn the fish on to a hot, folded napkin, set on a hot plate. Cook other fish in the same manner, the time of cooking depending upon the thickness of the fish. A thick piece of salmon weighing two or three pounds should be cooked nearly half an hour. Serve with boiled potatoes and egg or caper sauce.
ADDITIONAL RECIPES FOR COOKING FISH From June to January black bass and pickerel abound in most of our inland ponds and small lakes. You or the other member of your family may enjoy fishing for them, and as they well deserve careful cooking we will notice them first.
FRIED PICKEREL Remove the head and tail from the fish; with a sharp, pointed knife cut down the entire length of the front and empty the contents; cut off the fins, and with the back of the knife and the fingers work out the backbone and the small bones attached to it; cut the flesh down through the center of the back, then with the back of the knife push the flesh from the skin, thus making two long fillets. Leave these whole, or cut them in two or three pieces, each, according to the size of the fish. Lay them in an agate or earthen dish, pour over them one or two tablespoonfuls of oil and a tablespoonful of vinegar; sprinkle them with slices of onion and parsley branches, cover and set aside in a cool place for an hour or two, or until the next morning. Drain the slices, roll them in flour, season with salt and pepper, and set into a frying pan containing two or three tablespoonfuls of hot fat. Fat tried out of salt pork is particularly good for this purpose. Cook over a brisk fire until browned on one side, then turn and brown the other side. The fillets may also be egged-and-crumbed, and fried about five minutes in deep fat. They may, also, be baked in the oven, by the recipes given for cooking black bass. Serve with sliced tomatoes, or cucumbers, or with tomato sauce. TOMATO SAUCE FOR FRIED PICKEREL Cook a cup and a half of stewed or fresh tomato, half a green pepper pod, and half an onion, each sliced fine, also a bit of lean ham if at hand, ten or fifteen minutes, then strain and use the puree with two level tablespoonfuls, each, of butter and flour, in making a sauce. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
A cluster of frying and sautéing methods for fish, written when a cook judged fat temperature by counting clock ticks. The techniques hold up well; only the vocabulary and the equipment need translating.
- The fat temperature testA bread crumb that browns on one side while you count thirty seconds indicates fat somewhere in the deep-frying range, probably around 350-375F, which suits thin breaded fillets. A thermometer gets you there faster and more reliably, and keeping the fat hot enough is what the author means by "no appreciable fat will be absorbed" — cooler fat soaks in, hotter fat colours the crumbs before the fish is done.
- "Think pieces" is a misprintRead it as thin pieces. The three-to-six-minute times only make sense for relatively thin fillets; a thicker piece will need longer than the recipe allows.
- Indian mealCornmeal, and for this purpose a fine or medium grind. It gives a grittier, more durable crust than flour. The book calls for meal for the trout and smelts, and offers a choice of meal or flour for the halibut.
- The Scotch bowlA thick cast-iron bowl-shaped pan with a rounded bottom, sold cheaply at the time for deep frying. A heavy Dutch oven or wok does the same job: the curve concentrates the fat so less of it is needed.
- Blotting and tissue paperUse paper towels or, better, a rack. The instruction not to let the pieces touch while draining is the important part — steam trapped between two fillets softens the crust within seconds.
- Salt pork fatThe sautéing recipes all begin by trying out a slice of fat salt pork. Salt pork is still sold, but rendered bacon fat, lard or clarified butter with a little neutral oil will give a comparable result. Note that the pork is also salting the fish, so go lightly with additional salt.
- Doneness, not minutesFish is done at an internal 145F, when the flesh is opaque and just separates. "A good golden color" is a fair guide for smelts and trout but not for rolled turbans, which should be checked at the thickest part.
- The boiled salmonTying the slice in buttered cloth is a way of poaching without the piece falling apart; a piece of cheesecloth or a snug wrap of parchment does the same. The half-hour given for a two- to three-pound piece is generous by current practice — check the centre from about eighteen minutes on.
- YieldThe recipes state no number of servings. The "two or four pieces of fish" in the basket is a batch limit, not a portion count. The tomato sauce makes roughly a cup.
Cooking for Two came out of the Boston Cooking School tradition, and the chapter heading — "Cooking of True Proteids" — is the giveaway. Domestic science in the first years of the twentieth century organised food by chemical class rather than by course, and taught technique as applied chemistry: hence the explanation that fat at the wrong heat will let "the nitrogenous juices run from the fish" so the slice will not hold together. That is a period way of describing what happens when protein sets too slowly, and it is broadly correct. The fish themselves suggest, though they cannot prove, a setting in the American Northeast. Smelts, brook trout, black bass and pickerel were all local catch rather than market purchases, and the note that bass and pickerel "abound in most of our inland ponds" from June to January assumes a household where somebody fishes. Salmon, arriving as a cut slice to be poached and served on a folded napkin, was the dressier option; canned and iced rail-shipped salmon were both common by then. The hour's marinade of oil, vinegar, onion and parsley given for pickerel resembles older treatments for firm freshwater fish, and was perhaps intended to temper the muddy or weedy flavour such fish can carry, though that is a guess.