On 10/14/2014 11:39 PM, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:
> On 2014-10-13 02:15:18 +0000, Pringles CheezUms said:
>
>> I want to learn to cook fish dishes that people will actually want to
>> eat.
>>
>> 1 - Do any of you have a very-easy-to-make fish dish that your family
>> asks for over and over?
>>
>> 2 - What's a good cookbook, one that has good basic instruction as well
>> as some great recipes?
>> There are several high-rated books on amazon that have a decent number
>> of reviews, including ones by Bittman, Moonen, and Peterson.
>> But I prefer personal recommendations, which is why I'm posting here.
>>
>> Thanks for the help!
>
> You're making this a bit too complicated. The Joy of Cooking (1975
> edition preferably) has all the basic recipes for all your different
> broad categories of fish. Once you learn how long each type fish takes
> to cook with each method, variations in seasoning and so forth come
> naturally. Specialist cookbooks like the three you mention are largely
> an exercise in photography, and there are plenty of nifty photos of
> well-prepared fish on Flickr for free.
>
> We live less than 200 yards from the ocean, in a town with an active
> fishing fleet. In addition to that, my wife and I are both into fishing
> as a hobby. Each type of fish can be treated any number of ways, and
> once you know how to prepare fish well your family will be excited to
> have any *DECENT* fish. I see many errors committed by people who buy
> and cook fish, though:
>
> 1.) People go to the store / market knowing what kind of fish they want
> in advance. This is stupid. Unless you are buying frozen fish (which
> you should avoid doing unless you live in an area with poor access to
> fresh, high quality fish) you always determine which fish you purchase
> according to a function that takes price and freshness into account with
> freshness heavily weighted over price. And you never, EVER eat farmed
> fish with the exception of Atlantic salmon farmed in Norway because of
> their strict quality control regulations.
>
> 2.) People usually overcook fish. With any oilfish such as mackerel,
> sardine, euchalon, sable, etc you should generally cook the fish just
> until the flesh loosens, then take off the heat and let stand like a
> steak. With tuna and family, you should cook until the inside is rare,
> and let stand like a steak until the inside is medium rare at the MOST
> well done. With cod and anything with cod-like meat with fat (firm
> white flesh) you should cook the fish until the fat just starts to come
> out then let stand like a steak (seeing a trend here?) for a few
> minutes. With fat salmon, you should cook the fish until the fat just
> starts to emerge and then let stand, but lean salmon and trout might not
> have enough fat to visibly emerge (instead they often have more of an
> oil) so you must watch them carefully like an oilfish and remove them
> when the texture starts to flake. But with fat salmon and cod (and
> cod-likes) if you wait for the fish to flake it will be overdone by the
> time it is cool enough to eat. Specialty methods will take more
> practice - I often broil sardines whole, which is delicate business. I
> also often simmer sardines and mackerel whole, until every bone is soft
> enough to eat. I cook sturgeon like a pork roast.
>
> 3.) Every fish has a season, so learn what they are and eat them in
> season. There is a reason for this - many fish are decidedly inferior
> out of season. Just because it's available frozen this is no guarantee
> that the fish was caught at peak season either. I only rarely buy
> frozen fish, and only from reputable fishmongers who obtained and froze
> the fish themselves in season. And I would never buy a fish that I can
> not at least visually inspect. I prefer to visually examine and even
> smell a piece of fish or buy the fish whole and uncleaned, because it is
> easiest to tell if a fish is fresh if you can view the whole carcass.
> Look for bright, shiny eyes, firm flesh, good color, and a moist but not
> slimy surface.
>
> 4.) Practice makes perfect, and there's no way in hell you are going to
> do a super-great job unless you really get to know each and every fish
> you intend to cook. If I encounter a new type of fish, unless it is
> generically like one I already know how to cook I assume I might **** it
> up the first half dozen times I prepare it and am pleasantly surprised
> if it turns out great by the third preparation.
>
> I do have to say though, the idea that you can read a book and magically
> become a great fish preparer is preposterous. I have spent decades
> becoming proficient at cooking game, poultry, fowl, domesticated
> animals, fish, and shellfish as well as everything else and I must say
> that fish and shellfish are easily the most challenging foods to select
> and prepare properly, followed by game and then vegetables.
>

Your argument overreaches. I don't think anyone thinks that reading a
book will make you a master of fish preparation without any practice,
but I do think it's possible for a beginner to read a basic cookbook and
immediately prepare a simple dish, which is obviously what this poster
was looking for.

I have no doubt that you are a genius at fish preparation in particular
and cooking in general, but you completely missed the intent of this
person's post.