4. ONE MAN'S POISSON

If you think you do not like fish, you will never qualify as a gourmet. Gourmets eat and enjoy everything—when prop­erly prepared. Your dislike may come from the way in which fish is cooked. Try it baked or broiled—both of which mini­mize cooking odors.

Fish is low in calories, thus good for diets. It is also ex­tremely versatile in presentation . . . for instance:

1. Any fish fillet can be broiled, baked or sauteed in plenty of butter.

2. Any fish fillet can be spread with a bit of anchovy paste —or rolled about chopped shrimps, oysters or clams before baking.

3. Any fish fillet can be baked in a sauce of melted butter, white wine, parsley, chives, chervil, tarragon, onion, minced scallions or shallots, with a few tablespoons of lemon juice and some slivered blanched nuts.
   
   
4. Any creamed fish will respond to a dash of nutmeg in the sauce.
   
   
5. Any creamed fish will taste richer with a few table­ spoons of white wine added to the sauce. If you add sherry, the creamed fish automatically becomes "a la Newburg"—- and what's wrong with that?
   
   
6. Adding V\ cup of mixed pickling spice to the water in which you prepare any fish or shellfish will make a considera­ ble difference in flavor!

CLAMS CASINO, OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER, COQUILLES ST. JACQUES

Three traditional recipes, capable of many variations, which are basically the same: shellfish, combined with a simple sauce, replaced in the shell and baked until bubbly.

CLAMS CASINO

Allow 8 to 12 Cherrystones per portion for a main dish; 4 clams for each appetizer service. Have the clams opened at the fish market and packed on the half-shells.

Sauce:

¼ cup butter

1 tsp anchovy paste

¼ cup minced green pepper

¼ cup grate onion

2 tsp fine-chopped pimiento

4 slices raw bacon, cut in tiny pieces

salt, pepper, lemon juice

Heat the oven to 450.

Remove clams from shells and discard the juice. Bed the shells firmly in a baking pan, surrounded by crumpled alumi­num foil to keep them upright (rock salt is fancier, if you have it).

Cream butter and anchovy paste, distribute evenly among the shells. Insert a clam in each shell and sprinkle with lemon juice.

Combine chopped pepper, pimiento, onion, salt and pep­per, and distribute among the clam shells. Top with bacon bits, and bake until top browns: about 20 minutes.

OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER

Oysters, highly seasoned, baked on a bed of spinach.

3 dozen oysters, opened on the half-shell at the fish market

1 package cooked frozen chopped spinach

2 cups white sauce, made from condensed cream soup(celery)

1 egg

2 T butter

1 T each minced onion and parsley

½ tsp Worcestershire Sauce

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp Monosodium Glutamate(Accent Powder)

6 drops Tabasco

a dash of nutmeg, and of Nepal pepper

Heat the oven to 375.

Bed oysters in their shells upright in crumpled aluminum foil in a baking pan. Sprinkle lightly with sherry.

Cook spinach till slightly underdone, and drain thoroughly.

Meanwhile, combine condensed soup with ½ cup milk and heat gently. Add a beaten egg, blend thoroughly and place over hot water.

In a separate skillet, melt the butter and saute onion for 3 minutes. Add drained spinach and ¼ cup of the soup, plus all seasonings, and blend. Saute for 3 minutes, distribute over the waiting oysters. Top with the rest of "the soup-sauce, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and bake for 15 min­utes until light brown.

COQUILLES ST. JACQUES

Scallops in a wine sauce, baked in their shells. Any shell­fish will respond to this treatment, alone or in combination.

Large scallop and clam shells can be bought in any gour­met shop; once you have them, never let them go.

1⅓ cups white wine

1 bay leaf

2 T fresh chopped parsley

¼ tsp each thyme and fennel seeds

1½ pounds scallops

½ pound mushrooms

6 shallots or a small white onion

1 T butter

1 tsp lemon juice

Alternate Sauce Preparation:

#1

1 tin condensed mushroom soup

2 egg yolks

4T heavy cream

#2

4T flour

2 egg yolks

4 T heavy cream

1 tsp salt

4 T butter

Combine wine, bay leaf, parsley, thyme and fennel; bring to a boil, add scallops and simmer 10 minutes. Sea scallops should be cut in pieces, but the tiny Eastern bay scallops are used whole. Drain, but reserve the hot liquid.

Separately, saute sliced mushrooms, shallots or onion in butter and lemon juice, for 10 minutes. Strain and combine all the hot liquids in one pan, all the solids in another.

If you use Alternate Sauce #1: Start heating mushroom soup in a double boiler while scallops and mushrooms are cooking. Prepare the egg yolks, lightly beaten in a cup, and mixed with the cream.

Thin soup with 11/2cups of the hot liquids, stirring smoothly. Add a bit of this to the cream and egg yolks, blend smooth, and pour back into the sauce. Stir gently as it thick­ens, for about 5 to 10 minutes, and combine with scallops and mushrooms.

Alternate Sauce #2 (This is the traditional preparation method)

Melt butter in a saucepan, add flour and stir over low heat till free of lumps. Gradually thin with 2 full cups of the hot scallop-mushroom liquid, stirring constantly. Remove from the fire; combine egg yolks and cream, slightly beaten to­gether; add a little sauce to egg yolks and stir smooth, then return to main sauce pot. Blend thoroughly, and combine with scallops and mushrooms.

Final operation, no matter which sauce you prepare: Dis­tribute the creamed fish mixture among 4 large scallop shells, top with crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese, brown under a broiler for 5 minutes.
BOUILLABAISSE, CIOPPINO or ZUPPA DA -PESCA, and PAELLA

These are traditional French, Italian and Spanish versions of the same dish: a fish soup-stew, which is served as a main dish accompanied by a green salad and plenty of crisp French or Italian-style bread.

Paella dates from the 14th Century, is supposed to have been created by a Spanish king who would obviously have been happier as a chef (just as Louis XVI of France ought to have been a carpenter). The name is a corruption of "Para Ella," because it was dedicated to the king's mistress-of-the 40 moment. Paella combines chicken and sweet sausage with shellfish and rice. It will take every blessed minute of your quick-cookery allotment, plus plenty of preparation in ad­vance—and perhaps it should not be included here, but it definitely belongs with Bouillabaisse and Cioppino.

Bouillabaisse depends primarily upon several kinds of fish, both firm and soft-fleshed, with a modest addition of lobster and clams. Literal translation of Bouillabaisse is "boil-stop" —and the secret of the dish lies in fierce boiling, exactly as directed. Another secret is the combination of fish; an au­thentic Bouillabaisse de Marseilles (where the dish was origi­nated) uses at least seven different kinds of fish, and many of them are varieties unobtainable in our country. In making a bouillabaisse, however, remember that the flavors of sev­eral different kinds of fish must predominate; the shellfish are added merely as window-dressing.

Cioppino, or Zuppa da Pesca, is exactly opposite from Bouillabaisse. Here, you wish the flavors of shellfish to pre­dominate, and the bits of softer fish are the window-dressing. The cooking method of Cioppino is slightly more leisurely than for Bouillabaisse, but a final period of fierce boiling will make the smooth mixture of oil and liquid for the soup.

PAELLA (2-Step Cookery)

1 dozen Cherrystone clams

1 box each: frozen peas and artichoke hearts

1 large tin canned tomatoes

1 box cleaned frozen shrimp

2 small sweet Spanish or Italian sausages

Diced meat from one small chicken(pre-cooked)

½ cup olive oil

½ cup chopped onions

½ tsp each: tarragon, oregano, chervil, salt, paprika, chives

½ tsp saffron(soaked in 1 T hot water)

¼ tsp pepper

2 cups consommé

1 cup quick-cooking rice

1 minced clove garlic

Step 1: steam the chicken(or cook in a pressure-cooker); cool slightly and dice the meat. Slightly undercook peas, artichoke hearts and shrimp.

Step 2: saute onions and garlic in olive oil. Add consomme, rice, seasonings, chicken, tomatoes and sliced sausages. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, checking occasionally to stir and add extra consomme if needed.

Add peas, artichoke hearts, cooked shrimps, and place well-scrubbed clams on top. Cover tightly and steam for 10 minutes or until the clam shells open. Serve with strips of pimiento for decoration.

Real Spaniards use: eels, lobster, crabs, fried eggplant sticks and oysters, mushrooms—any or all Paella is one of the great dishes, to be made with whatever is available.

BOUILLABAISSE

2 pounds of mixed fish: cod or halibut, bass, mackerel, smelts, porgy or flounder, eel, red snapper, whiting, perch… Have the fish cut in 1⅓ inch serving pieces, bones and all.

1 small cooked lobster, cut in serving pieces(shell&all)

1 dozen clams, well-scrubbed in their shells

¼ cup olive oil

3 sliced onions

3 crushed garlic cloves

2 sliced celery stalks(including the leaves)

2 chopped scallions or 1 peeled chopped leek

2 crumbled bay leaves

4 peeled chopped very-ripe tomatoes(or a drained large tin)

4 cups bouillon

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp saffron, steeped in 1 T hot water

½ tsp grated orange peel

2 cups white wine

2 tsp chopped parsley

OPTIONAL—if you live near the seashore:

2 small boiled crabs  

2 dozen cleaned, deveined raw shrimp

Mussels, in place of clams

Place vegetables and seasonings in a large pot—choose one with a tight cover!

Distribute the firm-fleshed fish (cod, halibut, eel, turbot, snapper, mackerel, sea bass) atop the vegetables, add olive oil, wine, and a cup of hot water.

Bring to the boil, and boil VIOLENTLY for 5 minutes.

Add the soft-fleshed fish (smelts, whiting, porgy, perch, etc.) and boil violently for exactly 3 minutes.

Add the cooked cut lobster and scrubbed clams (as well as crabs, mussels and shrimps, if you are using them) and again boil fiercely for 8 minutes.

Remove at once from the fire.

To serve Bouillabaisse, use the large old-fashioned soup dishes if you are lucky enough to have them. Garlic or Par­mesan toasted stale bread—plus a substantial green salad— go with Bouillabaisse. Put a piece of stale bread in the bot­tom of the soup plate, apportion the various kinds of fish and shellfish on top, and add enough of the liquid to float the fish. Serve plenty of extra bread for sopping up the juice.

CIOPPONO(or Zuppa da Pesca)

1 pound bass, cutting in serving slices

2 cooked lobsters, cut in pieces(shell and all)

1 cooked crab(cut in pieces like lobster)

1 package frozen cleaned shrimp

12 scrubbed Little Neck clams or mussels

½ cup chopped mushrooms

½ cup olive oil

1 large chopped onion

2 minced cloves of garlic

2 T minced parsley

1 large chopped green pepper(seeds removed)

1 bay leaf

2 cloves

1 large tin drained tomatoes

1 cup red wine

1 tsp salt

1 cup hot water

1 dash Cayenne pepper

Saute: onions, garlic, parsley, green pepper and seasonings in warm olive oil for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, bass and shrimp, water and wine. Cover tightly and cook briskly for 10 minutes. Add lobsters, crab and clams or mus­sels; cover tightly and cook briskly for 10 minutes.

Serve in large soup plates, with plenty of fresh Italian bread, a glass of red wine, and a plain green salad.

SOLE MARGUERY

Fish fillets in creamy shellfish sauce.

This recipe will require all your charm at the fish market —because you need so many ingredients and such small quantities of each—but the result is worth cajolery.

4 fillets of sole

8 oysters

8 Cherrystone clams

1 cooked package cleaned shrimp(or 12 fresh-cooked, shelled)

1 sea scallops

1 cup Sauterne

1 cup water

½ lemon, sliced thin

1 tin condensed mushroom soup

¾ cup milk

2 T sherry

¼ tsp each dry mustard and paprika

½ tsp Worcestershire Sauce

4 mushroom caps

4 T minced parsley

Grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375.

Combine Sauterne, water and lemon, bring to a boil, lower heat sharply and poach fish fillets for 3 minutes. Remove fish to a buttered shallow baking dish. Surround with drained shellfish and decorate with mushroom caps; arrange for easy service in 4 portions. Combine soup, milk, sherry, mustard, paprika, Worcestershire, and blend smoothly. Gently pour over the fish fillets. Bake 15 minutes in the oven, and remove. Increase heat to broil; dust the dish with cheese, parsley and paprika, and broil for 4 minutes or until lightly browned.

LOBSTER THERMIDOR

Lobster, in a rich wine sauce, baked in the lobster shell. A traditional dish, named for the French Revolution . . . one cannot but applaud the single-mindedness that could create a new recipe in the shadow of the Guillotine, but per­haps that is why the French remain the masters of gas­tronomy.

2 cooked lobsters, split in half at the fish market

1 tin condensed cream of mushroom soup

2 T white wine

½ cup thin cream

2 T butter

1 tsp grated onion

4 minced mushroom stems(optional)

Grated Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and 2 more tablespoons butter

Remove all meat from lobsters, including claw meat; re­serve the cleaned body shells. Cut lobster meat into small pieces.

Melt 2 T butter, add onion, mushroom stems and lobster, and saute for 5 minutes.

Combine soup, wine and cream in a double boiler and heat until well blended and smooth, adding some minced parsley if you like. Add lobster mixture, and heat gently for 5 minutes. Then apportion among the lobster shells, sprinkle thickly with grated cheese and dust with bread crumbs. Dot with remaining butter and bake in a hot (450) oven for 10 minutes, or until the top browns.

WHITEBAIT

Crisp-fried little fish, eaten with French Fries and a good green salad . . . one of the few really good British dishes.

This is a real delicacy, not always available -at the fish market—but if you happen to be near water, and fresh "shiners" can be had from the fishing bait store, you've got whitebait!

3 pounds of whitebait

Seasoned flour – 1 cup or more, plus 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, 1 tsp minced chervil or fresh parsley, ½ tsp paprika

Heat the fish-frying deep fat kettle.

Rinse the whitebait (or shiners) thoroughly; drain any excess water, and toss them in a paper bag filled with the seasoned flour. Place the floured whitebait in a frying basket, immerse in hot fat for 2 minutes, drain, garnish with lemon and fresh parsley and serve with plenty of tartar sauce.

Whitebait should be crisp and well-drained, and it's ac­ceptable to eat them in your fingers—holding each fish by its little tail and dunking in the tartar sauce.

HOMARD A L’ARMORICAINE

Lobster in a sauce of wine, tomatoes and onions.

4 or 5 lobster tails(about 4 pounds in their shells), defrosted and cut in two or three pieces each

¼ cup olive oil

¼ pound plus 2 T butter

1 crushed garlic clove

1 minced shallot or scallion

1 T tomato paste

3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled

2 cups dry white wine

3 T flour

½ cup Cognac

1 T minced parsley

1 tsp tarragon

1 small bay leaf, crumbled

¼ tsp thyme

salt, pepper, a dash of Cayenne, a dash of Tabasco

hot water(about 2 cups)

Heat oven to medium (375).

Heat olive oil and 3 T butter in a large sauce pan; when very hot, add the lobster pieces, plus salt and pepper. Saute the lobster for 5 minutes, turning and stirring over fairly high heat until cooked; drain away the fat.

Add garlic and minced shallot to the pan, plus Cognac; heat briefly and flame, turning and twisting the pan until all lobster pieces are bathed in the flaming brandy. When flames die, add the white wine, tomato paste, coarsely cut tomatoes, parsley, tarragon, bay leaf, thyme. Mix well and transfer to an ovenproof casserole . . . adding enough water to bring the sauce just to cover lobster. Stir gently to distribute water in and around the sauce.

Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lobster pieces to a warm serving dish.

Over high heat, bring the sauce to a boil and reduce for 5 minutes. Stir the flour smooth with a little water, crushing out all lumps. Add a bit of the hot sauce to the flour, and stir until there are no lumps; then return to the sauce pot and simmer very gently for 5 minutes, adding a dash of Cayenne and a dash of Tabasco sauce. Pour the sauce over the lobster pieces, and sprinkle with parsley.

SHRIMP

To a gourmet, shrimp are ubiquitous and indispensable. Hot or cold, plain or sauced, shrimp are a universal Ameri­can favorite—because we have such good shrimp—and via deep freezing, they are available everywhere in the country. But other countries also like shrimp; next to our own delicious Mexican Gulf shrimp, the best in the world are probably Korean.

A gourmet cook can do absolutely anything with shrimp! They go into sauces, either whole or sliced; they can be used in any traditional course but dessert . . . and since there exists a liver ice cream (for diabetic diets), perhaps shrimps could also be used this way!

Shrimp can be boiled in the shell: place in cold water with pickling spices, if you like; bring to the boil and cook no more than 4 minutes. Or shrimp can be shelled and de-veined for use in special recipes ... or they can be cut in fancy ways (particularly for Oriental dishes), with or with­out an inch of tail shell left behind for eating in the fingers. A Smorgasbord serves cold boiled shrimp unshelled; you do the work of skinning before you dunk in a sauce.

One way or another, shrimp are runner-up in indispensa-bility to onions. No true gourmet can live without either of them.

SCAMPI, TEMPURA, DE JONGHE and WEST INDIAN SHRIMPS

Italian, Japanese, East and West Indian shrimp treatments —just to give a sampling.

Scampi is the Italian word for shrimp. There are many ways to prepare them, but all are basically broiled shrimp with garlic and tomatoes. The real variation lies in whether or not they are shelled.

Most Scampi dishes are shelled raw shrimp with a bit of tail shell remaining, but some of the finest Italian restaurants serve Scampi in the shell, merely cutting down the inside curve and spreading apart to form a butterfly-shape. The latter is attractive, but hard to eat; it can only be used with the very largest shrimps or prawns.

Basic Scampi

1½ pounds cleaned large raw shrimp( or 2 defrosted boxes)

½ cup olive oil

½ cup minced parsley

4 minced garlic cloves

2 minced shallots or scallions

¼ tsp oregano

Saute shrimp in olive oil for 5 minutes over high heat, shaking or stirring briskly until cooked. Season with salt and pepper and remove to a hot ovenproof platter, draining off the oil.

Add remaining ingredients to olive oil, saute over medium high flame for 3 minutes, shaking the pan briskly. Pour sauce over shrimp and broil for 2 minutes.

Scampi a la Casa

1½ pounds raw cleaned shrimp( or 2 defrosted cleaned boxes)

½ cup flour

½ cup olive oil

½ cup dry white wine

2 T Brandy

2 tsp tomato paste

2 tsp lemon juice

¼ cup water

1 T minced fresh parsley

2 minced shallots or scallions

salt, pepper, a dash of Cayenne

Roll the washed shrimp in flour, brown thoroughly in hot olive oil and drain off the oil to a separate saucepan.

Add wine and brandy to shrimp, warm for a few seconds, then flame; stir shrimps briskly until flames die. Reduce heat and cook very gently until all liquid is absorbed by the shrimps.

Meanwhile, combine olive oil, tomato paste, salt, pepper, Cayenne and water, and blend for 5 minutes over low heat.

Finally, pour this sauce over shrimp, add parsley and 48 scallions, simmer for a final 5 minutes. Remove to serving plates, sprinkle with the lemon juice, and serve.

Tempura(Japanese)

Shrimp in a batter, deep-fried.

2 pounds raw shrimp. Shelled, deveined – but tails left on!

1 cup flour

½ tsp salt

2 beaten eggs

1 cup milk

hot frying fat

Split each shrimp neatly down the back and spread open to form a butterfly-shape. Leave the tails on, so you can hold them to dip in the sauce.

Combine flour, salt, eggs and milk to make a thin batter, and do not fuss over small flour lumps. The batter must be used at once. Dip shrimp into batter, drain briefly, and fry in hot deep fat for 3 minutes.

Tempura are served hot, with side dishes of chutney, grated fresh horseradish or grated fresh ginger, as well as soy sauce.

Shrimp de Jonghe(East Indian)

Shrimp baked with herbs, spices and sherry.

2 pounds cleaned cooked shrimp(or 2 frozen boxes)

1 clove garlic

¼ tsp each: tarragon, parsley, chervil, white onion, shallot

½ cup sweet butter

1 cup fine bread crumbs

⅛ tsp each: nutmeg, mace thyme

½ cup dry sherry

½ tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

Extra bread crumbs and ¼ cup melted butter

Heat oven to 450.

Cook frozen shrimp 15 minutes in boiling water, drain thoroughly. Mash garlic clove to a paste, add everything else but sherry, melted butter, and extra bread crumbs. Cream the mixture until soft and smooth, then carefully thin with sherry.

Generously butter a casserole dish; make alternate layers of shrimps and the bread crumb mixture. Top with the extra bread crumbs and pour the melted butter over the dish.

Bake 15 minutes.

West Indian Shrimp

1½ pounds cooked cleaned shrimp(or 2 packages frozen)

2 T olive oil

1 T Angostura Bitters

1 tsp chervil

½ tsp marjoram(or oregano)

½ tsp thyme

½ tsp cumin(powdered)

¼ tsp saffron, soaked in 1 tablespoon warm water

Grated cheese

Place frozen cleaned shrimp in boiling water, bring again to the boil and simmer briskly for 15 minutes. Meanwhile heat your broiling oven.

Drain shrimp and saute quickly in olive oil. Sprinkle with the bitters during cooking.

Remove to a shallow casserole, and sprinkle the shrimps with the herbs and saffron. Top with a generous sprinkle of grated Parmesan, and broil until lightly browned (about 5 minutes).

Serve with steamed rice.

Shrimp a la Crème

A shrimp version of Coquille St. Jacques, using sour cream for the sauce.

1½ pounds deveined raw shelled shrimp

½ cup butter

½ pound fresh sliced mushrooms

1½ cups sour cream

1 tsp soy sauce

1 T paprika

salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese

Saute cleaned shrimp in butter for 3 minutes, add the mushrooms and saute for 8 minutes. Heat sour cream, soy and seasonings.

Combine shrimp and sauce, blend and cook about 4 min­utes (until thick and smooth).

Transfer to scallop shells or a buttered casserole, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and brown for 4 minutes under the broiler or until golden brown on top.

POMPANO

A Florida delicacy, baked with nuts and brandy. Consider this recipe for any combination of fresh fish fillets and suit­able nuts.

2 pounds pompano, cut in 4 pieces

2 shallots, minced

¼ lb butter

½ cup ground blanched hazelnuts

1 pony of brandy

Heat oven to 450.

Melt butter and saute shallots, while you place pompano sections in a buttered baking pan. Sprinkle generously with the hazelnuts, gently pour over melted butter and shallots.

Bake 20 minutes, basting every 5 minutes to prevent dry-ness. Add the brandy, and flame. Return to oven for 3 min­utes, and serve with lemon wedges.

CRABMEAT CASSEROLE

Very rich shellfish casserole of crabmeat and lobster in a cream sauce.

½ pound fresh crab meat( or 2 cleaned tins)

½ cup lobster meat( or ½ pound cleaned cooked shrimps)

½ cup heavy cream

¼ lb butter, melted

1 T flour

salt, pepper to taste

2 T brandy(optional)

2 slices crisp-cooked bacon

Grated Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs

Heat oven to 450.

Saute mushrooms in melted butter for 5 minutes, dusting with flour and blending; add cream and stir until slightly thickened. Thin with the brandy, if you use it.

Cook bacon crisp in a separate pan, and drain from fat. Place crab meat, lobster or shrimps, in buttered casserole dish. Cover with the mushroom-cream sauce, and top with crum­bled bacon bits. Dust with bread crumbs and sprinkle gen­erously with grated cheese. Bake 10 minutes in the oven, brown 5 minutes under a broiler flame.

BAKED OYSTERS

2 dozen oysters, opened on the half-shell

1 clove garlic, pressed

1 T minced parsley

½ cup melted butter

pepper, salt

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 T meat stock

2 T chili sauce

4 mushrooms

4 shallots

2 T grated cheese

2 T bread crumbs

Combine parsley, garlic, pepper, salt, Worcestershire, meat stock and chili sauce with 1/4melted butter. Mix well. Dip each oyster into this sauce and replace in its shell on a bak­ing pan. Distribute the additional sauce among the oysters.

Chop mushrooms and shallots finely, mix with cheese and crumbs and minced parsley. Sprinkle over each oyster, add the remaining melted butter, dribbled across the oysters, and bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

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