5. Codfish balls or cakes.

_Ingredients._

Codfish, picked 1 cup Potatoes, cut in cubes 2 cups Egg 1 Salt, if needed to taste Flour for dredging

Put the fish and potatoes in a stewpan, cover with cold water, bring the water to the boiling point, and cook until the potato is tender. The whole process will take about 20 minutes. Drain off the water very thoroughly and shake the stewpan over the fire to dry the contents. It is very necessary to have the mixture free from water. Mash and heat the mixture in the stewpan, and add the egg. Taste to see if more salt is needed, as is sometimes the case. Finish as follows:

(_a_) Shape into round flat cakes about an inch thick, dredge with flour and sauté.

(_b_) The same, browning the cakes on a greased pan in the oven, or under the gas flame, turning if necessary.

(_c_) Shape in balls, place these in a wire frying basket, lower the basket into hot fat until the balls brown, lift the basket, drain, and drain the balls on paper. Keep hot until it is time to serve.

_Laboratory management._——For individual work or work in groups of two, small fish, as perch, may be procured and these may be stuffed and baked in the period.

The shellfish are of two classes; the mollusks including clams, mussels (seldom used in this country), oysters, and scallops, and the crustaceans,——lobsters and crabs. None of the mollusks have high nutritive value, but they are a protein food, and add to the variety of the diet. The composition of the oyster is shown in Fig. 65, and it will be noted that the fat percentage is small and the calorie value low.

The oyster= is raised in beds in the ocean, or bays often near the river mouth, and it is the neighborhood to the river that makes it possible for the oyster to carry germs of contagion, particularly of typhoid fever, when city sewage poured into the river passes over the oyster bed. Here, too, government protection is essential, and this is a matter that has created so much excitement that conditions are already improved. There is an association of oyster growers who make a point of advertising clean oyster beds, and cleanly methods of handling and transporting.

Oysters vary in size and flavor, the flavor seeming to depend upon the locality. The smaller are sought for serving raw, and the medium and larger for cooking. They are sold by the measure or number when taken from the shell, the latter giving the surer quantity; and the price is usually one cent apiece. They are in season from September to May. The whole flesh of the oyster is soft and edible, even the muscle by which it opens and shuts its shell being tender.

Clams= are of two kinds, distinguished differently in different places. They are known as hard and soft, or round and long, and in Rhode Island the hard round clam still bears the Indian name Quahaug, the soft shell clam being the only “clam.”

The long clam lies buried in the soft mud of creeks and muddy shores left exposed at low tide, when they are dug by hoes from the mud. The round clam lies on the bottom of shallow warm waters, and is raked with an implement made for the purpose. The round clam is used when very young and small in place of raw oysters; but both kinds when matured have a tough portion that is not softened in cooking, and that is more or less indigestible. The long “neck” which protrudes from the shell has to be discarded.

Both kinds may be roasted in the shell, and are very palatable served hot with melted butter, salt, and pepper. They are most commonly used in soups and in chowder. They are purchased by the quantity or number, are cheaper than oysters, and are always in season.

Scallops=, as purchased, are only a part of the animal in the shell, consisting solely of the round white muscle which operates the shell. The escallop, or scallop, is migratory, moving by a shooting motion, the mature scallops reaching the creeks and shores in the autumn, and though found in so-called beds they are not fixtures like the oysters. The flavor is sweet, and they have a quality that makes them more or less indigestible, especially when fried. They are very palatable and more digestible served in a stew made like an oyster stew. They are sold by the measure and are cheap in season.

The lobster= is now a luxury, for methods of catching in the past have made them scarce in their old haunts. The lobster is a much more highly developed animal than the mollusk, having strong muscles inside its coat of mail, and the flesh has a protein content that compares very favorably with meat. When fresh, and not served with rich sauces or eaten at irregular hours, it is not especially indigestible, and may be the main dish at luncheon or supper, served simply with salt, pepper, and melted butter and not taken with meat foods. Its own delicious flavor needs no addition in the way of sauces and high seasoning.

The crab= is essentially like the lobster, being smaller, and having a sweeter flavor. The soft shell crab is caught just as the old shell is shed, and is highly esteemed as a delicacy. Both lobsters and crabs are cooked in the shell, and if allowed to die naturally before cooking they are uneatable. They may be purchased alive or cooked, and one is surer of their condition when they are bought alive. Twenty-five cents a pound is now an average price for lobsters in shell. Crabs are somewhat less expensive at times, but soft shells are always high-priced.

The following table shows the food value of a few of this group in terms of the weight of the 100-Calorie portion.

100-CALORIE PORTIONS OF FISH AND SHELLFISH FRESH FISH

| WEIGHT OF 100-CALORIE PORTION | KIND |-----------------------------------| | AS PURCHASED | | |(Entrails Removed)| EDIBLE MATERIAL| -------------|------------------|----------------| | Ounces | Ounces | Blue fish | 7.8 | 4.0 | Cod. | 7.6 | 5.5 | Flounder | 12.5 | 6.2 | Haddock | 10.0 | 4.9 | Halibut steak| 3.5 | 2.9 | Mackerel | 4.5 | 2.5 | Salmon | 2.8 | 1.8 | -------------------------------------------------

SALT OR SMOKED FISH

------------------|------------------|---------------- Cod, Salt | 4.4 | 3.4 | Herring, Smoked | 2.2 | 1.2 | Halibut, Smoked | 1.7 | 1.6 | Mackerel, Salt | 1.4 | 1.2 | ------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------ Clams | 6.9 | Crabs | 4.3 | Lobster | 4.2 | Oysters | 7.0 | Scallops | 4.8 | ------------------------------------------------------

Preserved fish and shellfish.=——_Smoking and salting_ are two old-time methods that are still in use, and smoked salmon, herring, and finnan haddie furnish us well-flavored foods at a reasonable price. Small smoked herring are eaten uncooked, and the other two kinds are excellent broiled, or parboiled and finished in the oven. Salt cod should not be despised, for it is convenient and may be made palatable. Like the meats, the fish preserved by these methods are slightly less available for digestion.

_Preserving in oil_ is made familiar to us by the sardine of Italy in olive oil and the small herring of America in cottonseed oil, which also bears the name of sardine. The latter is less delicate in flavor than the European sardine, but is of course cheaper, and is palatable and of equal food value.

_Canned fish and shellfish_ are used in localities where fresh fish are not easily available, and should not be unwholesome if the process is properly inspected. Canned salmon is the most common, and makes an excellent luncheon dish when well prepared (see chapter on salads).

Principles of cooking.=——The protein in all of these is the chief consideration. The oyster is more delicate when cooked just below the boiling point of water for a brief period only. This is also true of the clam, except the tough membranes which must be chopped. The flesh of both lobster and clam is toughened by cooking, and the process should be short.

GENERAL METHODS AND RECIPES

General directions.=——All fish and shellfish should be thoroughly cleansed in cold water before using, and under running water when possible. Wash oysters, clams, and scallops in a colander or strainer under the faucet. If the oyster or clam liquor is used, put it through a fine strainer.