Fishing for Compliments

Whenever the Wolf in your stomach urges you to search the animal kingdom for something to eat, you find yourself more or less limited to four categories: beef, veal, lamb and pork. But when you move among the finny fellows you have, in this country alone, at least 180 different varieties from lake, stream, surf and sea. You may choose delicate silvery smelts no bigger than your finger, or you may take home a walloping chunk of a big-mouthed 40-pound bass. You may skin an eel that fights his way over the trackless ocean from the Sargasso Sea to a little estuary on the New England coast. You may settle for a plump trout that never left its lake in the highlands. And don't let anyone get away with the tired fiction that all fish taste alike: cite such opposite-tasting delights as swordfish and gray sole, salmon and kingfish, pompano and smoked finnan haddie.

In fish cookery, too, there are more branches of learning than there are schools in the sea. For the fish enthusiasts hanging around your apartment you can serve anything from raw carp, featured in native Japanese restaurants and sometimes delivered alive on a silver platter, to the French version of stuffed shad, which is kept in a warm baker's oven for 15 hours until every last little bone disintegrates into the pillowy, sweet white flesh. You can make a saffron-scented,garlic-tinged, tomato-laden bouillabaisse containing 20 different kinds of fish and seafood (and a fine kettle of fish it is, indeed) or you can sauté a mountain trout that takes six minutes' sizzling (continued on page 36) Fishing (continued from page 33) in the frying pan.

To enjoy this kind of largess you needn't go spearfishing by torchlight or take rod and line and go hunting for tiger shark in tropical waters. Merely walk to the nearest fish stall, dip into the deep moat of cracked ice, and shanghai the freshest specimens you can find. A fish is fresh when its eyes are bulging and brightly arrogant, when the flesh is firm and your fingers leave no imprint, when the scales hug the body tightly and the fragrance is sweet and clean. If there's too pungent an odor, don't buy the fish. It's been held in storage too long, and it will develop an off-flavor when cooked. Of course, fish smoked or dried will have a characteristic aroma, not to be confused with staleness.

Fortunately, fish like king salmon, from faraway places, now travel refrigerated, by plane, to all parts of the country. Fresh-water fish are carried in tank trucks with freshly pumped water, and are delivered alive to big-city markets. A few years ago all frozen fish were watery and stale tasting, but recent advances in freezing are remarkable. Now you can buy frozen rainbow trout, some imported from Denmark, delightfully rich and supple in flavor. Even pound blocks of quick-frozen fillet of sole or haddock have been improved to the point where they can seriously challenge the flavor of the same fish freshly caught.

Lemon and fish form a fine finny affinity: no expert fish chef will start cooking his fish unless he has on hand a generous supply of lemons. It doesn't matter whether the fish is a fat butterfish or a lean bluefish: lemon picks up and slicks up its natural deep-sea flavor. You use lemon juice to anoint all baked fish before it goes into the oven and after it's placed on the serving platter. When you poach a piece of fish, the juice, together with the squeezed lemon itself, must go into the poaching water. And when the fish is carried to the table, it must be accompanied by generous wedges of lemon.

Butter also – fresh sweet 93-score butter – should be brushed on fish before it is broiled and just before it is served. When you sauté a fine piece of fish, you may use butter, but the butter in this case should be clarified; that is, slowly melted and then freed of all foam on top and solids on the bottom. Clarified butter, sometimes called drawn butter, will not turn a bitterish black when the fish is sautéed, as untreated butter will. If clarifying butter is a nuisance, you should use a clean, clear vegetable oil.

Parsley also has an old and honorable kinship with fish. Serve sprigs of parsley as a garnish on the fish plate. Chop it as fine as powder, and along with the lemon juice, add it to the butter which is brushed on the cooked fish. Dry the fresh curly parsley, and fry big handfuls of it in deep fat to go along with your fish fry.

When raw, fish, unlike meat, is tender. You cook it to change its flavor and to "firm" it rather than to tenderize it. Whenever a thin slice or fillet of fish is baked or fried too long, it will become wizened and sterile in flavor. The same drying out will happen to a large whole fish baked at too high a temperature, so keep the flame low. For cooking quickly under or over a strong flame, keep the fish on the fire for as brief a cooking period as possible. To protect small fish from the ravages of the heat, dip the fish on all sides in flour. When you broil a thick fish steak, like salmon, sprinkle the side of the fish exposed to the flame with bread crumbs and brush with butter, or coat the raw fish with flour and then brush it with oil. Both the breadcrumb treatment and the flour coating will form a delicious insulation.

Because of its natural tenderness, a fish should be handled very gingerly when it's on the fire. When you're broiling a fish, don't turn it; broil it on one side only. Then, if the fish is thick, transfer it to the oven section, still unturned, where the heat will cook the unbroiled side. Thirty years ago, Andrew Pagani, fish chef of the old Waldorf-Astoria, was known for his hollering "Never turn the fish!" Actually the idea is much older than that. Louis Diat, famous chef of the Ritz-Carlton, handled his fish in precisely this manner. When you're turning a piece of fish in the frying pan, lift it carefully with tongs, turn it with a large long spatula, or use two spatulas or a spatula and a long meat fork.

The fact that many fish recipes recommend a short cooking period is undoubtedly the clue to the present popularity of fish among those who like ease in their daily living. The amateur chef can, in 10 or 20 minutes, assemble a sizzling platter of shad roe, a planked salmon steak, an eel stew or a delightful plate of sole bonne femme.

For Playboy followers who enjoy eating under the sign of Pisces, we offer the following easy formulae. Recipes are designed for four helpings.

[recipe_title]Broiled Deviled Mackerel[/recipe_title]

Buy two mackerel, 1-1/4 1bs. each. Have the fish dealer clean and split the fish for broiling, removing the backbone. Let 1/4, cup butter stand at room temperature until it is soft enough to spread easily. Combine the butter with 1 table-spoon prepared mustard, 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard, 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce and a dash Tabasco sauce. Mix well until very smooth. Dry the inside of the fish with paper towels. Spread the butter mixture on the inside of the fish. Sprinkle the inside with bread crumbs. Place fish, skin side down, on a greased shallow broiling pan. Place the pan under a preheated broiler flame. Broil about 8 to 10 minutes or until fish is golden brown. Do not turn fish. Remove carefully with a large spatula onto serving plates.

[recipe_title]Rainbow Trout with Almonds[/recipe_title]

Thaw four frozen rainbow trout, or eight for heavyweight appetites. Pour boiling water over 3 ozs. shelled almonds. Let them steep in the water 2 or 3 minutes. Drain water off the almonds, and slip the skin off each one. Cut the almonds lengthwise into thin slivers. Place them in a shallow pan with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Bake in a preheated oven at 375°, stirring frequently, until almonds are brown, usually about 15 minutes. Avoid charring almonds. Wash trout well in cold water. Dry with paper towels. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and paprika. Dip the fish in flour, coating each piece completely. In an electric skillet, heat 1/4 inch oil to 370°. Sauté the fish until well browned on both sides. Sprinkle almonds over fish on serving plates or platter. Garnish with large sprigs of watercress.

[recipe_title]Scotch Salmon[/recipe_title]

In a mixing bowl or casserole place 2 sliced onions, 2 smashed cloves garlic, 2 sliced pieces celery, 2 bay leaves, 2 cups red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup salad oil. Place four salmon steaks, 6 to 8 ozs. each, in the vinegar mixture, and marinate for 3/4 hour to 1 hour. Remove salmon from the vinegar mixture. Place it on a greased shallow broiler pan. Brush salmon lightly with butter. Sprinkle with salt, celery salt and paprika. Sprinkle lightly with bread crumbs. Place under a preheated broiler flame, 550°, for 5 minutes. Remove pan to oven section of range, and bake 5 minutes longer.

[recipe_title]Fried Fillet of Sole[/recipe_title]

For years, gourmets have monotonously pointed out that there are no true sole in American waters, only flounder. This may be literally true, but the fish we buy in this country as gray sole is so tenderly pleasing and succulent that nobody now stops to argue whether it's flounder or sole. The fillets of any of the flat fishes are ideal for frying. There are no special mysteries in frying fillets; (Continued on page 82) Fishing (Continued from page 36) simply dip them in flour, eggs, then bread crumbs, and drop them into deep fat. But Playboy would like to pass on some of the artful steps used by professional chefs which transform the ordinary fried fish into a really rare repast. First of all, don't use the usual prepared toasted brown bread crumbs. Make your own moist white bread crumbs as follows: cut a loaf of long Italian or French bread into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Let the slices be exposed to the air for one day. Then cut them into small cubes. Drop them into an electric blender, a small quantity at a time. Run at high speed until crumbs are fine. Remove crumbs from blender, and repeat the process until all the bread has been made into crumbs. Store in the refrigerator until needed.

Wash in cold water 1 1b. fillet of sole. Combine 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup light cream, and steep the fillets in this mixture for 15 minutes. Drain the fillets. Sprinkle with salt, celery salt, white pepper and paprika. Dip in flour, patting off any excess. Beat 2 eggs with 2 teaspoons salad oil until well blended. Dip the fillets in the egg mixture, then in bread crumbs. Pat crumbs firmly onto each fillet. Chill the fillets, if possible, about 1/2 hour before frying. This chilling tends to make the coating more firm and dry. Heat fresh clean oil in a deep fryer set at 370°. Or heat 1/2 inch oil in an electric skillet set at 370°. Fry fillets until medium brown on each side. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve with prepared tartar sauce, catsup, Russian dressing or Aioli sauce (recipe below).

[recipe_title]Aioli with Horseradish[/recipe_title]

Aioli is a garlic-flavored cold sauce, resembling mayonnaise in consistency, and delightful when served with fried, boiled or broiled fish. It should be served in a sauceboat. In an electric mixer, not a blender, put 2 egg yolks. Beat slightly. Gradually add, almost drop by drop at first, 1 cup olive oil. As the sauce thickens, the oil may be added in a very thin trickle. Avoid adding too much oil at one time, or the eggs and oil will not blend. Add 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 tablespoon wine vinegar and 3 tablespoons horseradish. Over the sauce crush three cloves garlic in a garlic press. Mix well. Chill the sauce thoroughly before serving.

[recipe_title]Stuffed Sole with Mussels[/recipe_title]

Prepare sole for frying as in previous sole recipe. Mince 2 tablespoons parsley and 1 small onion. Sauté the onion in 3 tablespoons butter until tender but not brown. Drain a 4-oz. tin of smoked mussels. Chop mussels coarsely. In a mixing bowl combine the mussels, parsley, onion, 1/2 cup bread crumbs and the juice of 1/4 lemon. On each piece of breaded sole place about 2 tablespoons of the mussel mixture. Roll up sole. Fasten each piece with two toothpicks. Flatten each piece of rolled stuffed sole slightly on two sides. Heat 1/2 inch salad oil in an electric skillet set at 370°. Fry sole until brown, turning once. Remove toothpicks.

[recipe_title]Poached Halibut Fondue[/recipe_title]

Place four halibut steaks, about 6 ozs. each, in a wide shallow saucepan. Add just enough water to cover the fish. Add the juice of 1 lemon. Drop the squeezed lemon into the water. Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon onion salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce flame and simmer slowly 10 minutes. Remove halibut from saucepan, draining well, and arrange fish on a greased shallow baking pan or shallow ovenware. In the top part of a double boiler over barely simmering water put 1/2 cup heavy cream, 8 one-oz. pieces gruyére cheese cut into small dice and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat slowly, stirring with wire whip, until cheese melts and mixture is smooth. Beat 2 egg yolks slightly and slowly add to cheese mixture. Remove from fire. Pour melted cheese over halibut steaks. Sprinkle with paprika. Preheat broiler at 550°. Place the halibut under the broiler flame for a few minutes or until the cheese turns a light golden brown.

[recipe_title]Boiled Whole striped Bass[/recipe_title]

Buffet tables as well as formal dinners are often adorned with a large whole boiled fish such as salmon or striped bass. The best utensil for cooking such a fish is a long oval fish boiler with removable rach. If such gear isn't available, tie up the whole fish in cheese cloth and cook it in a large pot. Use the cloth to remove the fish from the pot. A 6-to-8-1b. Striped bass or salmon will provide about 10-12 portions. To cook it, first prepare a vegetable-flavored stock, court bouillon. In a large pot put 3 quarts water, 1/2 cup white wine vinegar, 2 sliced onions, 2 sliced carrots, 2 sliced pieces celery, 8 sprigs parsley, 1 bay leaf, 1/4 teaspoon rosemary, 4 teaspoons salt and 12 slightly crushed peppercorns. Bring to a boil. Simmer 30 minutes. Strain the liquid. Pour over whole fish. Bring to a boil. Reduce flame. Simmer about 3/4 hour. To test fish for tenderness, insert a long thin skewer into backbone. It should flake easily. Transfer fish gently onto silver platter covered with a large white cloth napkin. Remove as much skin as possible from fish. Serve with Hollandaise sauce if hot or with mayonnaise if cold. When your guests taste this, they'll flip, and that's no fish story.