Fish, on account of its abundance, cheapness, and wholesomeness, is invaluable as an article of food. It is pound for pound less nutritious and less stimulating than meat, but is rich in phosphorus and has a large proportion of nitrogenous material. The white varieties, like flounder, halibut, cod, and haddock, have the oil in the liver, and are the cheapest and most digestible. Red-blooded fish, like salmon, mackerel, and blue-fish, have the oil distributed through the body, and the flesh is dark. They are nutritious for those who can digest them, but they are too rich and oily for invalids.

Fish should be perfectly fresh and thoroughly cooked, or it will be very indigestible and sometimes poisonous. The flesh of good fresh fish is firm and hard; if not fresh it will be soft and flabby.

Fish, after being dressed at the market, should be cleaned by scraping, if necessary, and by wiping with a cloth wet in cold salted water. As they are slippery to handle, dip the fingers into salt while dressing them.

Fish may be cooked in a variety of ways, but broiling and baking are the most wholesome methods. Small fish and pieces of large white fish are good if fried, but oily fish should never be fried.

Suggestion to the Teacher.

It will be impossible in twenty lessons to give more than one lesson on fish; but several ways of cooking may be shown from one fish, then, by following the general directions as given in the receipts, the pupils may cook any kind of fish at home.

For the lesson : Procure a haddock, weighing 21/2 or 3 lbs., also a cod's head. Have the fish cleaned, but left whole. Show how it may be stuffed and prepared for baking. Then cut off the head and end near the tail, and reserve them with the cod's head for a chowder. Cut off the thick end as far down as the opening, fill the inside with stuffing proportioned after the rule on page 197. Sew and bake, or steam it, in milk enough to baste it. Cut off a square piece from the thicker end remaining, and strip off the skin ; remove the flesh from the bone, and keep it as whole as possible, and prepare it according to the directions for fried fish, dipping it in batter instead of in egg. Save all the remainder of the fish, scrape the small bits from the bones, and use these with the bones for a chowder. A small portion of fish may be steamed for fifteen minutes, between two buttered plates.

Any pieces of cooked fish may be freed from bones and skin, moistened with white or tomato sauce, covered with buttered crumbs and baked. See directions for scalloped meat, pages 73, 77.