"How many things by season, seasoned are To their right praise and true perfection."

Shakspere.

Fish being abundant, cheap and wholesome, is invaluable as food. It is a delicious adjunct to any dinner table, and in many families suffices for a good dinner by itself; but it requires nice and careful cooking. Nothing is more unappetizing than a piece of underdone fish; indeed, no food requires so much delicacy in handling and dressing, for if it is not perfectly fresh, perfectly cleaned and thoroughly cooked, it is not fit to appear on the table.

Salmon is the richest of fish, being even richer and more nutritious than meat. Red-blooded fish, like salmon, mackerel and blue-fish, have the oil distributed through the body. They are too rich for invalids, and should be eaten sparingly by people who are not very strong. White fish has the oil in the liver, and is consequently more digestible.

To Clean A Fish

remove the scales before opening, and scrape with a sharp knife from tail to head, holding the knife flat and slanting, and scraping slowly. Split the fish open, if a large one, from the gills half-way down the lower part of the body ; remove the entrails, and scrape and clean the inside, removing all the blood from the back-bone. If the fish has been scaled and cleaned by the dealer, it should always be scraped again about the head and tail, for scales are sure to be found on these parts. The blood and dark substance found on the back-bone should also be scraped off. If the fish is to be boiled or baked, the tail and head are left on, and the fins removed. The fish should be washed carefully in cold water, and dried before cooking. Fish that have a strong flavor, like sturgeon, catfish or sword-fish, should be soaked a few hours in strongly salted water. Use as little water as possible in cleansing fish ; and the more expeditious the work is done at this point the better will be the flavor of the fish, since water draws out the juices of most fish if they are permitted to soak in it.

Frozen fish should be well thawed out in cold water before using. Salt fish should be soaked in fresh water with the skin side upward, to draw out the salt. Fish should not be placed in the ice-chest near milk or butter, as these articles are very easily tainted.

To Skin A Fish

cut a thin strip down the back, taking off the fin; and open the lower part half-way down. Then slip the knife under and up through the bony part of the gills, and, holding this bony part between the thumb and finger, strip the skin off toward the tail. Treat the other side in the same way. Catfish and eels are always skinned before they are eaten.

Fillets Of Fish

are the flesh separated from the bone and served in different ways. In flounders, chicken halibut and bass the fillets on each side are divided lengthwise. They may be served in the form in which they are cut, or they may be rolled and fastened with a small skewer.

Fish that are long and slender are served on long, slender platters. Boiled and fried fish are often brought to table on a napkin; the latter is folded the length and width of the fish, and placed on the serving dish, the fish being laid upon it. When the dish is large enough, a sauce is poured around the fish, no napkin being used in this case ; and the head and tail are garnished with parsley. Fillets of fish, when rolled, are arranged in a circle on the dish, the sauce being poured in the center. When not rolled, they are .heaped in a pyramid in the center of the dish ; or they may be arranged in a circle, one fillet overlapping another. The center is then filled with sauce.