Fried Fish

Mackerel, salmon, blue-fish or any oily fish should never be fried. Smelts, perch and other small pan fish are fried whole. Cod, halibut, etc., should be skinned and cut in slices an inch thick and two or three inches square. Flounders and bass may be cut in fillets, if desired. When fish has been kept near ice or is frozen, it should be warmed gently before being fried, that which is frozen being laid in cold water to thaw; otherwise the fish would chill the fat and become greasy. Enough fat should be used to cover the fish nicely. The frying basket should be used for smelts. Test the fat before using it by throwing in a crumb of bread; if the bread browns in half a minute, the fat is hot enough.

To prepare fish for frying, clean and dry them, season with salt and pepper and dredge with flour, then dip them into beaten egg, and roll in fine bread or cracker-crumbs. If this does not cover them completely, repeat the process. Smelts are not split open and cleaned, but the entrails are squeezed out carefully, so as not to bruise the fish ; and the heads are not removed. The smelts are washed as quickly as possible and then dried, no attempt being made to scale them. All fried fish should be thoroughly drained before being served. Another way of preparing fish for frying is to pepper and salt them and roll them in salted corn meal.

Fried Eels

Skin the eels (if this has not already been done by the fishmonger), cut them into four-inch lengths, and season with salt and pepper. Then roil them in salted corn meal, and fry.

Broiled Fish

Shad, white fish, blue-fish, young cod, haddock and many other kinds of fish are preferred by many broiled. A dry fish should be dipped in melted butter before broiling. In broiling whole fish, like shad, split them the entire length, wash quickly in water, and dry. Rub the bars of a double wire broiler with butter, and place the fish in it. Dredge with salt, pepper and flour, and place over a clear but not fierce fire, the inside of the fish being turned toward the fire first. Watch it carefully, and turn frequently. On taking the broiler from the fire let it rest upon a dish, loosen the fish from the wires on both sides by slipping a knife between the fish and the wires ; then raise the broiler with the skin side of the fish up, and fold the broiler together on the under side, leaving the fish on top. Place a warm platter upside down over the fish upon the broiler, and turn broiler, fish and platter over together. Lift the broiler, leaving the fish in the center of the platter. Serve with butter, squeezing a few drops of lemon-juice over the fish, if desired. Shad is sometimes served with a cream or Bechamel sauce.