THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF FISH

New Zealand Listener, Volume 6, Issue 155, 12 June 1942, Page 8

THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF FISH

(Written for "The Listener’ by DR.

MURIEL

BELL

Nutritionist to the

Department of Health)

trition," A, P. Herbert dissects the "latest addition to the Stomach library "the report of the League of Nations Technical Commission on Nutrition. "Listen to this about the things in milk," he says. " You have no idea how many things there are in milk. Listen. ‘It contains the body building and energy giving nutrients:- proteins, fat, and carbohydrates; a/l the known essentials, vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sulphur, iodine, magnesium, potassium, sodium, chloride, and copper, some of the physiological roles of which are known; and a number of other elements, present only in minute amounts, such as manganese, zinc, and fluorine... .’ In short, milk is not so much a drink as a mining area, Cannot these be used for making ships or shells?" Fish is Somewhat Similar In moments like these one feels hesitant about recounting the virtues of fish, However, the duties of a " Nubloomingtritionist ’’ must be done. The proteins of fish are classified as "first class"; they are moreover easily digested. Its fats are exceptionally rich in the important and very necessary vitamins A and D of which the latter is insufficiently supplied by our ordinary foodstuffs, and for which we always have to resort to fish oils (or alternatively to sunshine) to get our necessary supply. In its mineral components it is richer than any meat from land animals. The most important of these minerals for our New Zealand community is iodine for preventing goitre. The kelp-feeding fish like greenbone (or do you prefer its other name — butterfish?) are very rich in iodine, Oysters, pipis,-and crayfish contain about 200 times as much iodine as milk, eggs, or beef steak, Most sea fishes contain about 50 times as much. For I: an essay entitled " Nublooming-

these considerations let the mother and especially the expectant mother therefore not fail to consider such fish supplies as these well worth a place on her table, But let her not, as so many are inclined to do, prefer to buy, say, flounder that is somewhat stale and rather dear instead of, for example, good fresh moki, trevalli, or gurnet, which are too often wasted, Ways of Cooking To some extent the choice of fish by the New Zealand housewife has been determined by her lack of ingenuity in methods of cooking fish. Fried fish and chips is so entrenched in our kitchens that those of us who have to consider our fat intake (from consideration of avoirdupois, digestion, or of troublesome gall bladders) are often forced to turn sadly away from the fish course, We are particularly sad when we think of the array of methods available-con-sult Blackmore’s How to Cook New Zealand Fish for numerous recipes, There are baking, broiling, grilling, steaming, sousing, making chowders, curries, croquettes, custards, kedgerees, soufflées, salads; embellishing with many and various sauces — and a host of other methods. Even when fried, fish is often cooked in too small a volume of fat, thus spoiling the culinary technique and the digestibility. How many of our small, bony fishes would respond to the method known as "sousing" which produces pleasant recollections in my mind of soused herring — and Aberdeen? How suitable this sort of treatment would be for the sardine type of fish known as the "Picton herring," or for fatty fish, where the vinegar counteracts the oiliness of the fish, (Next week: "Chilblains,’ by Dr, Turbott.)