COOKERY

C OVER board or table with paper before laying fish down.

Remove scales by scraping a dull knife from tail to head, snap-
ping scales off. Rinse knife in water occasionally. Wet your
hands before touching fish, and any odor will come off more easily. :

Dip hands in salt so that fish will not slip, and hold by tail. If
inner organs have not been removed, make a lengthwise incision in
belly and draw or scrape them out carefully, so that membrane that
lines cavity is not broken. Remove head. Remove fins with scissors.
Wash inside and out in salted water. If fish is to be kept overnight,
sprinkle with salt. Handle fish carefully when cooking, as flesh falls
apart easily, and have all utensils well greased, as skin sticks readily
when heated.

How To Bone Fish

Clean fish and continue the cut from vent to tail. Beginning at
the tail, insert a sharp knife between the flesh and back bone. Keep
the knife as close to the back as possible, working towards the head,
loosening the flesh along the entire side in one piece. Turn and
loosen the flesh from the other side in the same way. Remove the
back bone and any small bones that may be left. Spread open and
wipe with dry cloth. |

Methods of Cooking

The method of cooking depends on the kind and size of fish and
on individual taste. Fish may be baked, broiled, fried, pan fried,
boiled or steamed. Dry fish requires cooking in fat or serving with
butter or a rich sauce. Fat fish may be served with a tart sauce. Small
fish are best cooked in fat. Fish requires a short cooking period. Long
cooking toughens and dries it. Fish is thoroughly cooked when the
flesh separates easily or flakes when tested with a point of a knife. In
boiling fish a little vinegar or lemon juice added to the water in which
the fish is cooked keeps flesh white and firm. |

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