[Sca-cooks] Fish in Feast (was alot of things)

[Barbara Benson]

> When I bought for this last 12th night, I got pork butt for $.99/lb, but
the cheapest
> fish I could get was salmon at $4.99/lb.
>
> Margaret> Anybody who's actually served fish at a feast care to comment?

Greetings,

I have served salmon at 2 feasts, the same recipie both times. It is the
Salmon Casserole recipie from de Nola. I know it has been posted numerous
times to this list. The first time I served it was at a 3 day event where
there were 2 feasts. The main (Sat) night was cooked by Maestro Niccolo and
he also served a fish dish. I believe it was a trout in pastry. There were
several comments afterward about fish being served successfully two nights
in a row.

I managed the salmon by serving it as a small portion in the third course
along with another meat. I believe Niccolo found a really great price on
frozen trout. I think expense is a major concern, but I also think alot of
people are afraid of the additional sanitary concerns that accompany fish.

The perception is that fish, more so than the other meats, is sensitive to
temperature and if a person does not know what they are doing then people
could get really sick. This, I believe, can be gotten around by establishing
yourself as a good cook and getting people to trust that you will not put a
food in front of them that is going to get them sick. Of course, all of this
good-will can be set back by the next cook who sends out chicken that is
bloody at the bone. Because if you cannot even cook chicken right then there
is no way that I am gonna eat your fish (speaking as the hypothetical feast
goer).

 There is a fish dish out of Geuter Spise that I really want to try:
19. This is a good salmon dish.
Take a salmon, scale it, split and cut the two halves in pieces. Chop
parsley, sage, take ground ginger, pepper, anise, and salt to taste. Make a
coarse dough according to the size of the pieces, sprinkle the pieces with
the spices, and cover them completely with the dough. If you can fit them
into a mould, then do so. In this way you can prepare pike, trout, bream,
and bake each one in its own dough. If it is a meat-day, however, you can
prepare chickens, partridges, pigeons, and pheasants, provided that you have
the noulds, and fry them in lard or cook them in their moulds. Take chicken
breast or other good meat, THis will improve your art of cooking even more,
and don't oversalt.

Glad Tidings,
Serena da Riva