Salt fish

“ Salt fish mashed with potatoes, with good butter or pork scraps to moisten it, is nicer the second day than it was the first. The fish should be minced very fine, while it is warm. After it has got cold and dry, it is difficult to do it nicely. Salt fish needs plenty of vegetables, such as onions, beets, carrots, &c.
There is no way of preparing salt fish for breakfast, so nice as to roll it up in little balls, after it is mixed with mashed potatoes; dip it into an egg, and fry it brown.
A female lobster is not considered so good as a male. ”

“ The climate is excessively warm, and there is an abundance of fish (alewives) adapted to preservation by pickling in a region where an industry might well be built up and where repeated efforts to salt fish in the past had failed. Accordingly, the interest of local fishermen and dealers was enlisted to cooperate in the undertaking, and an experienced fish packer from the Chesapeake Bay region was sent to Florida, after he had been thoroughly instructed in the technology of the process, to try salting by the proposed method on a small commercial scale. ”

“ On the whole, we are convinced from experience, that salt-water fish are lighter and more wholesome, and that among these, what are commonly called white fish, are the most easy of digestion. Such as are fed in muddy ponds, or other stagnant waters, are, of all aquatic animals, the least conducive to health.—With respect to the most proper method of curing and dressing fish, there can be no doubt that such as are dried in the open air, and afterwards quickly boiled, afford the most salubrious nutriment. ”

“ Salt fish must always be well soaked in plenty of cold water the whole of the night before it is required for the following day's dinner. The salt fish must be put on to boil in plenty of cold water, without any salt, and when thoroughly done, should be well-drained free from any water, and placed on a dish with plenty of well-boiled parsnips. Some sauce may be poured over the fish, which is to be made as [63] follows: viz.—Mix two ounces of butter with three ounces of flour, pepper and salt, a small glassful of vinegar, and a good half-pint of water. ”

“ I find that there is a very prevalent opinion among the dwellers on the shores of Sir Isaac Newton's Ocean of Truth, that salt fish, which have been taken from it a good while ago, split open, cured and dried, are the only proper and allowable food for reasonable people. ”

“ Of all salt fish the salt salmon is the finest, and here, where salmon are so plentiful, a barrelled dainty is put up in the shape of salmon bellies, which saves only the fattest and most tender portions of these rich, bright red Kasa-an salmon. ”

“ What is true of salt-water fish is equally true of those inhabiting our fresh-water streams and lakes. It is one of the greatest problems of our Bureau of Fisheries to discover this relation of various fishes to their food supplies so as to aid in the conservation and balance of life in our lakes, rivers, and seas. ”

“ Of salt fish, green-fish, salt salmon, and conger, pare away the skin; salt fish, stock fish, marling, mackrel, and hake with butter, and take away the bones & skins; A Pike, lay the womb upon a trencher, with pike sauce enough, A salt Lamprey, gobbin it in seven or eight pieces, and so present it, A Plaice, put out the water, then cross him with your knife, and cast on salt, wine, or ale. Bace, Gurnet, Rochet, Bream, Chevin, Mullet, Roch, Pearch, Sole, Mackrel, Whiting, Haddock, and Codling, raise them by the back, pick out the bones, and cleanse the rest in the belly. ”

“ The fisherman is sometimes also the curer, but usually the two are distinct, and the former disposes of the fish to the latter 'on fixed terms to a fixed customer,' and 'looks to him for support during the slack season, the rainy and stormy south-west monsoon.' The salt fish is conveyed by coasting steamers to Ceylon, and by the Madras Railway to Coimbatore, Salem, and other places. ”

“ Many fish are skinned before they are salted. It has been observed that a skinned fish will cure almost twice as quickly as an unskinned fish. This is because salt penetrates the meat of the fish at approximately twice the rate at which it penetrates the skin. It is desirable, therefore, particularly in hot climates, to skin the fish before salting. This, of course, is only commercially practicable with certain large kinds of fish such as cod. ”

“ It is truth to say that I have never struck salt or fresh waters, where edible fish were at all plentiful, without being able to take, in some way, all that I needed. Notably and preferably with the fly if that might be; if not, then with worms, grubs, minnows, grasshoppers, crickets, or any sort of doodle bug their highnesses might affect. When a plump, two-pound trout refuses to eat a tinseled, feathered fraud, I am not the man to refuse him something more edible. ”

“ For Lent the chief articles of food were herrings and salt salmon, but the list of salt store purchased by the cellaress of Syon in 1536-7 shows a great variety of fish, to wit 200 dry lings, 700 dry haberden (salted cod) , 100 “Iceland fish,” 1 barrel of salt salmon, 1 barrel of [white] herring, 1 cade of red herring and 420 lbs. of “stub” eels [378] . The chief food during Lent, besides bread and salt fish, was dried peas, which could be boiled or made into pottage. Thus Skelton complains of the monks of his day:
Saltfysshe, stocfysshe, nor heryng,
It is not for your werynge ”

“ In marine animals common salt is a necessary constituent of their drink, and in fact it is the preserver of their life; but it is injurious, if not certain destruction, to many fresh-water fish, though some live both in the sea and fresh water—as the salmon, sturgeon, and some species of lamprey. The male salmon, on entering the mouths of rivers in order to spawn, follow the females, and fecundate the ova which they have deposited in little pools, or kinds of nests. They, therefore, are hatched in rivers. ”

“ While the former white. firm fish is the customary quality demanded in commerce, there are strong reasons for believing the softer and yellowish fish produced in pure salt to be superior. There is reason for believing that the whitening of the fish in impure salt is explained by the fact that the calcium coagulates the protein, just as heat by coagulating egg white causes it to be white and firm. But where there is no calcium in the salt the protein retains its natural translucency and yellowish color. ”

“ It is not mere guessing to say that when advantage is taken of all that is known of improved salting methods a fish nearly if not quite equal in edible qualities to fresh fish is obtained, and in some cases the quality is decidedly improved by salting. ”

“ In the salt water, salmon never take the fly, and rarely bait of any kind, although they feed on sand eels and small fish in addition to shell-fish; but as they advance into brackish or fresh water, they either miss their natural food and become hungry, or get accustomed to feeding on grasshoppers and insects, and are deceived by the artificial fly, and will at times take the bait. ”

“ The fry of the Salmon, which, by-the-bye, is perhaps the most delicately flavoured fish that exists in this country, although it lives and thrives in fresh water for two or three years, if kept in a locality where it cannot escape to the sea, yet, if kept longer than that time, pines away and dies. If, therefore, we could obtain a hybrid fish, bred between the river Trout and the Salmon, we should probably produce a fish which, being a mule, would be always in good condition; being crossed with a river fish, it would probably never require a visit to salt water to keep it in good health. ”

“ When the fish are cleaned, proceed to salt them, using plenty of coarse salt and rubbing each fish well inside and out. I found it best to pack them one over another, either on a board or into a big wooden tub, till the next day, then give them another rub over and begin stringing them on to long thin sticks or withes, an equal number on each for the convenience of counting, and do not run them too close together, or they will not dry so well. ”

“ If immersed after death, the entrails of the fish, absorbing too little salt, would corrupt, while the skin would present a deceitful appearance. If established usage was departed from, there would be the risk of our having at table beautiful fish, which on being carved would be rotten. To see if the conditions of cure have been fulfilled, the merchants on making a purchase always open the mouths of the fish, in order to smell them.” An insertion of powdered salt into the insides of the fish completes the operation. ”

“ In this way each individual fish is first of all thickly coated with salt in the rousing tub, and adjacent layers of fish in the barrel are also separated by a layer of salt. In this packing process, it is important that the fishery salt used should be coarse, reasonably hard, slow in dissolving and present in considerable excess. It should be coarse enough to prevent the fish from touching each other, thus enabling the brine to penetrate to every part. It should be hard enough to withstand the pressure of the fish in the barrel. ”

“ Not only does quite pure salt penetrate the fish more rapidly, but when the time comes to cook the fish it is found to soak out more rapidly also. Practical experiments in the experimental kitchen of the Bureau of Fisheries indicate that fish preserved in very pure salt soak out in from a third to a half the time required by fish preserved in crude salt. ”

“ Every species generally of salt water Fish, are best fresh from the water, tho' the Hannah Hill, Black Fish, Lobster, Oyster, Flounder, Bass, Cod, Haddock, and Eel, with many others, may be transported by land many miles, find a good market, and retain a good relish; but as generally, live ones are bought first, deceits are used to give them a freshness of appearance, such as peppering the gills, wetting the fins and tails, and even painting the gills, or wetting with animal blood. Experience and attention will dictate the choice of the best. ”

“ The preservation of fish by means of salt is an excellent method, even in the crude and inexact manner in which the art has hitherto been practiced. The comparatively small amount of scientific research that has been done on the problems and principles involved has not only justified itself in practice but furnishes abundant grounds for the expectation that a great deal more of valuable results will follow further work. ”

“ The bacteria are adjusted to strong salt solutions, that is, the body fluid is of such concentration and their covering membrane is of such partial permeability that when surrounded by strong salt solution they live normally, but when water or weak brine surrounds them these relations are disturbed and they die. Probably water enters the cell in excessive quantity. It is known that the reddening does not attack fat fish. Perhaps the fat acts directly on the membrane, or indirectly by acting on the calcium and magnesium in the salt, to effect the disturbance. ”

“ There are reasons for expecting that the improvements made in the salting of other fish, particularly those which depend on the use of a very pure salt, will find application in the mild curing of salmon.
14. Fats undergo certain changes after the fish is salted, resulting in a condition known as "rusting." Rusting consists of oxidation of fat after the latter has been split into free fatty acids. This splitting is caused by tissue enzymes in the presence of warmth and moisture. Oxidation is brought about through the agency of light in the presence of water. ”

“ When there is danger of their being attacked by flies, a wire safe, placed in a strong draught of air, is better adapted to the purpose. Soles in winter will remain good for two days when thus prepared; and even whitings and mackerel may be kept so without losing any of their excellence. Salt may be rubbed slightly over cod fish, and well along the back-bone; but it injures the flavour of salmon, the inside of which may be rubbed with vinegar and peppered instead. ”

“ As a matter of fact, the mullet if it be what List. says, loco salsi—salted on the spot, i.e. as caught, near the sea shore, requires soaking to extract the salt.
[150] A DISH OF ANY KIND OF SALT FISH PATINA EX PISCIBUS QUIBUSLIBET [1]
ANOTHER FISH DISH IS THUS MADE [2] FRY ANY KIND OF CURED [3] FISH, CAREFULLY TREATED [soaked and cleaned] PLACE IN A PAN, COVER WITH SUFFICIENT OIL, LAY [strips of] COOKED SALT [4] [pork or bacon—petits salés] OVER THE CENTER, KEEP IT HOT, WHEN REAL HOT, ADD A DASH OF HONEY WINE TO THE GRAVY AND STIR IT UP [5] . ”

“ Those fresh-water fishes that do not wander away, go to the well-aired spots in their neighborhood to spawn—to the shore-waters, the wet meadows, or the junctions of rivers, or to the tributary streams of the lakes in which they live. Those salt-water fish which live at the bottom likewise go to the waters near the shores, where the flats and the meadows swarm during the spring with their young. The eggs of the cod and mackerel are buoyed upon the surface of the water, where the winds blow constantly over them. ”

“ Many, and those the largest, do not appear to leave the salt water, and are found in the small bays and inlets. In the fall, when the cold weather sets in, they retire to the salt water coves and lagoons, where they lie imbedded in the mud or hiding near the bottom, secure against danger, or discomfort from cold or storms. Advantage is taken of this peculiarity by the market fish [204] ermen, and there is a pond on Long Island, near Sag Harbor, and others near Point Judith, that are a source of great profit to their owners. ”