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Hilde Lee: Fish have provided nourishment throughout the ages - The Daily Progress

Hilde Lee: Fish have provided nourishment throughout the ages - The Daily Progress

Hilde Lee: Fish have provided nourishment throughout the ages - The Daily Progress

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 03:00 PM PDT

I like most seafood dishes, but I am not a good fish cook. I prefer shellfish — shrimp, lobster and scallops — wiggly things I don't have to handle. My dad used to love to gently boil fish and then prepare a white sauce with lots of parsley for them. I will on occasion steam fish fillets in the microwave and prepare a mushroom-parsley sauce to serve with rice.

With fast transportation and sport fishing, we do have access to a variety of seafood. Our home fishermen often ship back their catches. Most of our supermarkets have fish departments, although they have eliminated lobster tanks.

There are more than 20,000 kinds of fish — probably as many as amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals counted together. Most of them are edible. Throughout the ages, they have been found where there is a supply of water — from the high mountains to even the Sahara Desert. Fish live in streams, in lakes and in ocean waters. They occupy about a tenth of the ocean area.

Salt divides fish into freshwater and saltwater species. However, some fish spend part of their time in fresh water and part in salt water. About 8500 B.C., rising temperatures melted the northern ice, raising the level of the Mediterranean and pouring salt water into previously fresh water. This killed thousands of fish.

Most fish prefer either cold or warm water, but not both. Consequently, tropical fish tend to be of the same species all over the world. However, plant species are different in the northern and southern hemispheres.

The movements of fish are limited by their need for specific foods or the flow of currents. Some areas of the world, like the coast of Peru, suffer fish shortages when the temperature or the salt content of the water is not to usual standard.

There are many factors that influence the tastiness of fish. Saltwater fish are usually tastier than freshwater fish. Fish from swiftly moving streams have a finer flavor, as do fish from clear water. Fish from cold water are also more flavorful. The Egyptians raised fish in irrigation reservoirs and the Chinese in flooded rice fields.

The ancient Greeks used every fishing technique known to man at the time. They taught the Romans how to fish when their army returned to Italy from Greece in 185 B.C. At the time, choice fish cost more than an ox.

Enormous quantities of fish were eaten in the Middle Ages, due to the strict enforcement of religious dietary restrictions of the church. The 40 days of Lent and other fasting days increased the consumption of fish.

The consumption of fish on long voyages, from Europe to the Far East, helped make the spice trade possible. When the currents of the 15th century moved south, both Holland and England developed large fishing fleets, the latter of which remained rather sluggish. The Dutch seized the Spice Islands and the Portuguese followed course. Queen Elizabeth recognized the importance of a large fishing fleet as the basis for a navy.

Due to the spoilage of seafood before days of refrigeration, most fish eaten in medieval times was dried, smoked, salted or pickled. Fresh fish commanded enormous prices. At the time, fresh fish was unavailable to the general population. However, Louis XIV organized a relay team to bring fresh fish from ships at the seacoast to Versailles.

American Indians were taking fish by sophisticated methods as early as 2000 B.C. In the Pacific Northwest, fish made up three-quarters of the diet of the Indians. In Peru, the Incan ruler used runners to relay fish from the Pacific to Cuzco — not an easy trip, considered an ascent of 12,000 feet from sea level to Cuzco.

Although fish is available throughout most of the world, it is not the prime source of our well being.

My two favorite fish dishes to cook at home are Curried Shrimp and Coquilles St. Jacques, a famous scallop dish. The latter is a little involved, but well worth the effort.

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