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Other salmon recipes are those for salmon steaks, Gravlax, Poached Salmon Salad, or Salmon Burgers.

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Skinning and Deboning Salmon

For tips on skinning a salmon fillet, see the Note on section Appetizers, Nibbles, and Snacks. Often, small, quill-like bones are left in a fillet. Run your hand gently over the meat to see if there are any—but be careful: the bones can pierce your fingers. When you find some, pull them out with a pair of sterilized tweezers or kitchen pliers.

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Bass in a Fennel Broth

Here, you cook the bass in an aromatic onion broth but serve it in a much more delicate fennel broth. Makes 6 servings

8 cups (2 quarts) vegetable broth

4 fennel bulbs, trimmed, with the small feathery fronds minced and reserved

3 cups water

¼ cup dry white wine or dry vermouth

1 large onion, quartered

1 celery rib, cut into chunks

10 black peppercorns

4 parsley sprigs

Six 4-to 6-ounce skin-on black, striped, spotted, or sea bass fillets (see Note)

½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt, or to taste

Pour the broth into a large saucepan and set it over high heat. Thinly slice the fennel and add it to the broth once it comes to a boil. Cover tightly, reduce the heat to very low, and simmer very slowly for 1 hour. Strain over a large bowl, then pour back into the large saucepan. Set aside, covered, off the heat. Discard the sliced fennel.

Combine the water, wine or vermouth, onion, celery, peppercorns, parsley, and salt in a medium saucepan set over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer very slowly for 30 minutes.

Strain the onion mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and into a large sauté pan or high-sided skillet; set over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Also place the fennel infusion in its saucepan over medium-low heat.

Score the skin on the bass fillets in three or four places with a sharp knife. Slip them into the strained onion broth, cover, and poach until the fillets are opaque and can be flaked at their thinnest part with a fork, about 5 minutes.

Gently transfer the fillets to four large soup bowls. Ladle the hot fennel broth over them. Sprinkle a few feathery fennel fronds over each bowl and garnish with salt.

Note: The name “bass” is tossed onto a variety of fish, from fresh and saltwater, many of them not true bass. Sea bass, for example, is actually a member of the grouper family. Do not use Chilean sea bass (aka Patagonian toothfish), a deepwater predator now almost fished to extinction.

Variations: Substitute 2 large peeled sweet potatoes, cut into ½-inch-thick wheels, for the fennel.

Substitute 1 large turnip, peeled and cut into ½-inch wheels, 1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into ½-inch rounds; and 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into ½-inch rounds for three of the fennel bulbs. Add these vegetables with the remaining fennel bulb.

Substitute salmon for the bass (score the skin as well).

Bass with Apples, Cabbage, and Warm Cumin Vinaigrette

This elegant dish is made in three parts: the vegetable mixture, the fish with its crisped skin, and the vinaigrette. Makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 medium tart apple, such as a Granny Smith or a Pippin, peeled, cored, and diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

One 1-pound head Savoy cabbage, cored and shredded

12/3 cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 cups dry white wine or dry vermouth

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Four 4-to 6-ounce skin-on black, striped, spotted, or sea bass fillets (see Note of previous recipe)

¼ cup olive oil

1 small red onion, minced

1 teaspoon crushed cumin seeds

1½ tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 teaspoons lime juice

Melt the butter in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Add the yellow onion; cook, stirring often, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the apple and 1 minced garlic clove; cook until softened, about 1 minute.

Add the cabbage and chickpeas; stir over the heat until the cabbage begins to wilt, about 1 minute.

Pour