Page:The Boston cooking-school cook book (1910).djvu/190

 White and Oily Fish

White fish have fat secreted in the liver. Examples: cod, haddock, trout, flounder, smelt, perch, etc.

Oily fish have fat distributed throughout the flesh. Examples: salmon, eels, mackerel, bluefish, swordfish, shad, herring, etc.

Cod belongs to one of the most prolific fish families (Gadidoe), and is widely distributed throughout the northern and temperate seas of both hemispheres. On account of its abundance, cheapness, and easy procurability, it forms, from an economical standpoint, one of the most important fish foods. Cod have been caught weighing over a hundred pounds, but average market cod weigh from six to ten pounds; a six-pound cod measures about twenty-three inches in length. Large cod are cut into steaks. The skin of cod is white, heavily mottled with gray, with a white line running the entire length of fish on either side. Cod is caught in shallow or deep waters. Shallow-water cod (caught off rocks) is called rock cod; deep-water cod is called off-shore cod. Rock cod are apt to be wormy. Cod obtained off George's Banks, Newfoundland, are called George's cod, and are commercially known as the best fish. Quantities of cod are preserved by drying and salting. Salted George's cod is the best brand on the market. Cod is in season throughout the year.

Cod Liver Oil is obtained from cods' livers, and has great therapeutic value. Isinglass, made from swimming bladder of cod, nearly equals in quality that made from bladder of sturgeon.

Haddock is more closely allied to cod than any other fish. It is smaller (its average weight being about four pounds), and differently mottled. The distinguishing mark of the haddock is a black line running the entire length of fish on either side. Haddock is found in the same water and in company with cod, but not so abundantly. Like cod, haddock is cheap, and in season throughout the year. Haddock, when dried, smoked, and salted, is known as Finnan Haddie.

Halibut is the largest of the flatfish family (Pleuronectidæ),