Part 7 (1/2)

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Over here we have always seemed to regard fish as useful chiefly for stocking aquariums or for furnis.h.i.+ng sport for the vacationist, along with golf, tennis and bowling. True, we have become rather well acquainted with certain sea foods, the oysters, Blue Points and Cape Cods; we have a nodding acquaintance with some of the clam clan, especially the Rhode Island branch, and the Little Necks, the blue bloods of the family. And, of course, we are familiar with the crustaceans, the lobsters and the crabs.

And we know, too, certain succulent sea delicacies that come to us from Palm Beach sh.o.r.es and California and Oregon regions, tuna and halibut, bluefish and salmon as it comes to us variously prepared for the table.

In short, we Americans are fairly friendly with a number of the aristocrats of the water, but on a.n.a.lyzing the situation we come to realize that as for knowing the ”finny tribe” as a whole well enough to get complete gastronomic joy out of the situation, it remains that it is only the French people who are so blessed.

Time and the hour and the high price of meat, however, render it advisable, even absolutely necessary, that we work _all_ our resources instead of only a part of them, to economize whenever and wherever we can, and the waters in our midst and around us are surely one of the most important resources not already worked to the limit.

Therefore, let us eat fish--but first let us learn of the French about fish, even as we have learned of them concerning other foods, or as we have learned fas.h.i.+ons, for, verily, the turning out of a proper fish dish for the table has ever been regarded by the French as no less an art than the creation of a beautiful frock in one of their ateliers.

Moreover, their ways with fish are so broadly inclusive that one may make up an entire menu from one end to the other, with only a cup of coffee needed as a final fillip to make a perfect meal--and all of fish.

By way of furnis.h.i.+ng inspiration to our own appet.i.tes, herewith is a suggestion for a fish luncheon, a favorite menu of France, which its wealth and fas.h.i.+on delighted to have set before it in those good old days before the war. Subst.i.tutes are given for any fish not indigenous to American waters; otherwise it is just as it would be served at one of the Riviera restaurants, with the exception, of course, that on the Riviera or at any of the noted marine restaurants, the visitor himself was permitted to select the fish for each course from among the different specimens swimming in the reserves, altogether unconscious of impending fate.

No French restauranteur worthy the name ever kept dead fish in stock, for nothing deteriorates so quickly. There is rarely over here the natural reserve that the Riviera takes as a matter of course, although there is, in some restaurants, the tank of running water in which the fish are kept in condition till required.

AN ALL FISH LUNCHEON

MENU

=Hors d'uvres.= =Little Necks or Blue Points.=

(At Monte Carlo one would be served Clovisses.)

=Lobster with Sauce Piquante.=

(A subst.i.tute for the French langouste, which is similar to a giant lobster minus the two long nippers. Or there might be served abroad for this course a little gelatinous fellow called supion, or sea-hedgehog, or perhaps nonnots, smaller and more delicate than our own whitefish.)

=French Sardines Grilled, or Shad Planked.=

(Shad is a most satisfactory subst.i.tute for the French restauranteur's delight--loup de mer.)

=Flounder, Sauce Meuniere, or Shrimps.=

(In Dieppe sole and certain crevettes are both specialties and are served at this juncture, but little sole is being received here and our own flounder answers requirements admirably. Shrimps, too, will please an American palate fully as well as the crevettes.)

=Bouillabaisse.=

(This, for which we have no nearer synonym than fish stew, which is a libel, is the piece de resistance of the luncheon. It is probably the most famous fish dish of France.)

=Salade de Poisson with Aioli.=

(Aioli is a Mediterranean mayonnaise and ”the dressing,” the French say, ”is the soul of the salad.”)

It will be noted that there is no dessert given with the above menu, but the repast may be gracefully topped off with crackers and cheese and cafe noir. Tea is never served with fish, as the tannin is said to render fish particularly indigestible.