SC - Fish at Feasts

[Phil & Susan Troy]

melc2newton at juno.com wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 17 Sep 1998 12:56:52 -0400 Phil & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
> writes:
> >Anne-Marie Rousseau wrote:
> >>
> >> You know its funny. here in the pacific NW, we have arguably the
> >best and
> >> most diverse seafood available, and for dirt cheap if you're willing
> >to go
> >> to the boat (Tuna anyone? Its going for a song now). We in the
> >Madrone
> >> Culinary Guild very rarely if ever serve fish or the like, because
> >> "everyone" hates it (well, ok, a handful of people, but they're very
> >vocal,
> >> very active in the guild and if there's fish they wont/cant come
> >into the
> >> kitchen).
> >
> >We're in a similar situation where I live, having the Fulton Fish
> >Market within
> >our Province's borders, which is one of the two large primary
> >wholesale
> >markets on the East coast, the other being in Boston, whose market is
> >somewhat
> >smaller.  And, in the same way, it seems  as the needs or tastes of a
> >vocal
> >minority have been able to shape the cooking practices of the kingdom.
> <snip>
> >
> >Adamantius
> >--
> >Phil & Susan Troy
> >
> >troy at asan.com
> Sigh! I would love to serve and eat more fish at feasts, but here in the
> southern part of the midwest, it would probably break most feast budgets
> to have more than one entree be fish or shellfish related. (unless you
> made it out of catfish : )  IS there any period recipes using catfish? )
> Beatrix

I'm not aware of any under that name, but there are period recipes that simply
specify "fish", and there are even those that specify various firm white
freshwater fish, some of which are similar in flavor and texture to catfish.
In addition, the admittedly post-period "Compleat Angler" by Izaak Walton (a
contemporary of Kenelm Digby's) gives instructions for catching, identifying,
and, if I remember correctly, dressing and cooking bullheads, which are a
variety of catfish found in, unless I've been misinformed, the Southern
Midwest of the U.S. The illustration of the bullhead in the book certainly
suggests a catfish-y fish of some kind.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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