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CATFISH HEAD SOUP

This is a great favorite in the South.

2 or 3 good-sized catfish heads

1 onion stuck with 1 clove

1 carrot

1 leek

A few sprigs of parsley

6 cups water

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme

Wash the catfish heads well and let the tap water run over them. Place them in a saucepan with the onion stuck with a clove, the carrot, leek, and parsley. Add the water and bring it to a boil. Add the salt and thyme and simmer for 45 to 60 minutes. Remove the heads and take the meat from the bones. You may use this in the soup or serve it the next day in a soufflé or creamed fish dish — any of your favorite ways of using leftover fish.

Strain the broth and taste for seasoning. Serve any of the following ways:

1. Add 1 cup of finely chopped carrots and string beans cooked for 12 minutes in boiling salted water.

2. Add 1/2 cup of finely broken noodles. Cook these in the broth for 12 minutes.

3. Add the meat from the catfish heads and chopped parsley and grated cheese.

4. Prepare a recipe of fish forcemeat (page 41) and drop small balls of it into the boiling broth. Let them poach for 15 minutes, or until the tiny dumplings are cooked through.

NOTE: Catfish may be used in any of the fish stews or in bouillabaisse (pages 42–43).

Chub

The varieties of chub, which is a member of the whitefish family, are known mainly for their excellence as smoked fish. The fish resembles whitefish, of course, but is smaller and thinner. The flesh is extremely soft.

Prepare chub as you would whitefish.

Crappies

Crappies are seldom taken commercially because of state prohibitions. An excellent pan fish, they are caught frequently by sportsmen. They propagate readily, and in sections where fish is scarce they are sometimes planted in ponds and used for individual family consumption.

The crappie is a small fish, seldom weighing more than a pound or exceeding a foot in length. The white crappie, also known as the chinquapin or white perch, is found in New England and down the Mississippi Valley. The black crappie, also known as the strawberry bass, is found in almost the same section.

BROILED CRAPPIES

The usual portion is one crappie to a person. Oil the fish well, or brush it with melted butter, and broil according to the directions on pages 9–10.

CRAPPIES SAUTÉ MEUNIÈRE

See directions on page 10.

PAN-FRIED CRAPPIES

When pan-frying crappies, it is probably better to remove the heads and tails of the fish. Clean them well, run the fins, and wash thoroughly. Dip them in flour, then in milk, and roll them in crumbs or corn meal. Sauté in butter, oil, or bacon fat according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 10). Serve with tartar sauce (pages 35–36) or lemon wedges.

Lake Herring

These small fish, plentiful in the Great Lakes region, are no relation to the herring of the sea but resemble whitefish. They are popularly known as “ciscoes.”

Some of the lake herring catch is sold salted, and much of it is smoked. The smoked fish is exceedingly good; the texture is delicate. Altogether, lake herring is deservedly popular and is one of the most important freshwater catches.

Lake herring sold fresh in the market average 1/2 to 1 pound. Any of the recipes for small trout (pages 336–344) and smelt (pages 229–232) can be followed in preparing them.

Pike and Pickerel

Among the well-known varieties of pike are the common pike, the pickerel, and, most of all, the huge muskellunge. All varieties are popular as sport fish.

The pike is a fierce and voracious fish, even devouring small waterfowl and mammals, and it puts up a strong fight when hooked. Like many fish popular with anglers, it has special local names: lake pickerel, grass pike, jack pike, great northern pike. It is abundant from New York to the mouth of the Ohio River and thence northward to Alaska. Some varieties of pike often weigh up to 25 pounds, but the average market weight is 11/2 pounds to 10 pounds.

Eastern pickerel, called chain pickerel in the North and jack pickerel in the South, is well known