Lynne's Country Kitchen
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Fish of all kinds provide high-grade protein, most of it considerably less fatty than most meats. For those concerned with lean and fat fish, the following are considered in the not-so-lean category - albacore, bloaters, butterfish, bluefish, chub, eel, herring, mackerel, pompano, salmon, sardine, shad, smelt, sprat, tuna, trout, and whitefish - the fat content ranging from 15% to about 30% with eel.

Fish of many kinds respond favorably to deep-fat frying or sautéing. Those with naturally dry flesh - pike, pickerel, and muskellunge are freshwater examples - often profit by baking and by preliminary marination, marination also being a corrective for too strong a flavor; while fish of moister texture are better suited for broiling. And there are fish that poach or steam well - cod, buffalo fish, hake, haddock, sheepshead, red snapper, grouper, pollock, halibut, and salmon. Some very oily fish may be smoked or may be bought smoked. Some others are available fresh or salted.

Many fish are seasonal delicacies. Available all year round are rock bass, carp, cod, eel, flounder, grouper, haddock, hake, halibut, herring, mullet, red snapper, salmon, sole, and tuna.

SEA FISH - These include - albacore, amberjack, sea bass, bluefish, bonito, butterfish, chub, cod, croaker, cusk, the small dolphin, flounder, grouper, haddock, hake, halibut, Atlantic herring, Pacific herring, kingfish, lingcod, mackerel, mullet, pilchard, plaice, pollock, pompano, porgy, red snapper, rosefish, sailfish, sand dab, sardines, smelt, the soles, sprat, swordfish, tuna, turbot, weakfish, whitebait, and whiting.

FRESH WATER FISH - These include - bass, buffalo, carp, catfish, crappie, lake herring, mullet, muskellunge, perch, pickerel, pike, sheepshead, sucker, sunfish, brook trout, lake trout, and whitefish.

Either sea or fresh water fish - depending on age and season - are eel, elver, and shad. Some fish are changelings, as witness the recent effortless conversion of certain types of salmon, like the Coho, and of sea-trout, notably the steelhead, from a life-cycle requiring fresh water infancy and salt-water adulthood to a cycle entirely accomplished in the Great Lakes and their tributaries.

The most important factor in fish cookery is to have or keep fish fresh. Whether the fish is large or small, choose the cooking method best suited to retain its juiciness, and no matter what its size or type, never overcook it.

FROZEN FISH - Frozen fish should be thawed, refrigerated, before cooking, or cooked while still frozen, unless stuffed or rolled. Also, fish sticks or individual portions should not be thawed before cooking.

Use thawed fish immediately, and do not re-freeze; it may be cooked in the same way as its fresh counterpart.

If cooked frozen, it is best baked, broiled, or cooked en papillote or in aluminum foil. Double the cooking time given for fresh fish, and in foil cooking add another 15 minutes to allow the heat to penetrate the foil.

See Cooking Methods