FISH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 July 1941, Page 2

FISH

♦ TRICKY TO COOK. HINTS FOR AVOIDING FAILURES. There are so many different ways of cooking fish that one would think monotony could be very easily avoided. You can grill, bake, fry, steam, and boil, and, provided each one of these operations is correctly carried out, you will always have produced a nourishing and attractive meal. But there is no doubt that fish is tricky to cook — if you don’t know the snags of those different processes. Grilling is really very simple. Place the fish flat on the rack in, the grilling tray and stand them under the fierce heat of the grill until one side is cooked, and then turn them over and cook the other side.

Watch This Pitfall. The one pitfall in grilling lies in the grill itself. You must have it red hot before you put the food underneath it. Grilling takes anything up to seven minutes according to the thickness of the fish that you are cooking, and only once during the operation must that fish be turned.

All fish —except kippers, which contain a high percentage of fat —require to have a few nuts of butter laid upon them to prevent dryness during the grilling. For successful frying, intense heat is necessary. Fillets of plaice, sole, haddock; cutlets or steaks of cod. hake, and haddock are all suitable for this particular method of cooking. After you have washed and dried the fish, dip each piece first into flour, then into milk or beaten egg, and finally into sieved white breadcrumbs, and lay as many pieces as can. be comfortably accommodated in the frying basket. Meanwhile, the fat should be getting hot in the pan. When it is boiling—that is, when the blue haze rises and there is no movement whatsoever—plunge the basket and its contents into it and keep it submerged until the fish becomes a! good golden brown colour. Lift the basket out of the pan, drain the fillets or cutlets of superfluous fat, and arrange them on the dish for serving.

Failure in fish-frying is usually duo to fat that is not sufficiently hot. Unless that fat is boiling when the food is introduced, it will not automatically seal the outer surfaces, so it is bound to penetrate and produce a sodden and unappetising fillet or cutlet. Baking fish white in the oven is an attractive and easy method. Lay the fish, fillets or otherwise, in a well-but-tered, fireproof dish, sprinkle with salt, lemon juice, and a little stock, and cover with a piece of buttered paper. Cook for about fifteen minutes, according to the type and thickness of the fish. For the Children. One of the simplest ways of steaming fillets oi’ thin cutlets is to lay the fish on a well-buttered plate, put a few nuts of butter on top, and cover with a second plate. Stand all over a saucepan of boiling water and keep the water boiling rapidly for about 20 minutes. Fish thus treated is light and nourishing, and will be much enjoyed by invalids and small children. The melted butter can be served as sauce.

Boiled fish is too often a sodden, fianneily mass. To boil fish successfully put it into a pan containing half milk and half water, bring all rapidly to the boil, and then lower the heat so that the liquid will keep only at simmering point. If you boil fish rapidly all the time of cooking, it will crumble and the outside be cooked while inside is raw and tough.