Worldwide Cookbooks

The Consumer Viewpoint

SIMPLE ITALIAN COOKERY

American Woman's Home

Art of Living in Australia

Cooking Eggs

Elegant Art of Dining

Guide to Marketing and Cooking

Italian Recipes

Meal Preparation

School and Home Cooking

Physiology of Taste

Tried and True Recipes

Library of Cookery

Hans Christian Andersen . American Fairy Tales . Grimm's Fairy Tales

Aesop's Fables - Tales with Morals . Mother Goose . Mother Goose in Prose

THE FOOD VALUE OF FISH.


Along with its great ally, the oyster, fish undoubtedly occupies one of
the highest places on the food list. Unfortunately, it is not met with
in every home as it should be, its high price and scarcity combining to
make it conspicuous by its absence. That such a state of things is
actually the case in Australia can only be deeply deplored. Let us
suppose, for instance, that we were as well supplied with fish as we
are entitled to be, considering that we are of a maritime race and that
we live near the sea. If such were the case--and I would it were so--
how would a sudden reversal to the present state of our fish supply be
received? Would it not give rise to protestations, to indignation
meetings, to questionings in the House, and to the papers being filled
with complaints, till matters were put right again? Yes, indeed, all
these things would happen! meanwhile, however, we continue placidly in
our fishless state of existence, and the finny tribe, outside in the
deep sea, have a good time in consequence.

It may seem of little use, therefore, to call attention to the value of
fish when we are practically bereft of it. But as some improvement may
come about in course of time, the attempt will not be altogether thrown
away. First of all, then, it is worthy of note that in the old country
that advocate for rational feeding, Sir Henry Thompson, has
recently expressed his opinion that a large proportion of the town
population would profit by exchanging some of their meat, as an article
of daily diet, for fish. He further adds that the digestive system is
apt to become overloaded and oppressed by meals consisting chiefly of
meat, and that many a constitution suffers from an over-supply in this
way, which cannot be remedied without a considerable amount of
exercise. That being the case in the old country, with its cold, damp
climate, these facts are intensified a thousandfold when they are
applied to our semi-tropical existence. Dr. T. K. Chambers, also,
another authority on all that pertains to diet, is an advocate for a
more general use of fish in our daily life; and, as he sagely observes,
every sort is best when it is cheapest, for it is then most plentiful
and in fullest season. Then, again, we have Dr. F.W. Pavy, who is well
qualified to speak on these matters, observing that fish is an
important article of food. For, as he proceeds to point out, the health
and vigour of the inhabitants of the fishing towns, where fish may form
the only kind of animal food consumed, show that it is capable of
contributing, in an effective manner, to the maintenance of the body
under active conditions of life. Dr. Horace Dobell, too, tells us how
nearly fish represents in food value as equal weight of meat, and how
important it is to other forms of animal food as a mixed diet. Indeed,
it would be possible to adduce similar statements to an indefinite
extent, but my main object in making these references is to call
attention to the value of fish as ordinary diet. And although it hae an
every-day value of this kind, there are in addition certain qualities
ascribed to fish which render it particularly appropriate for a large
and important section of our population.

I refer to the brain workers. I say large and important, because in
their ranks are to be found literary men and journalists,
members of the professions, active-minded, busy men of the commercial
world, and the vast array of those having mental work and clerical
occupations. In one of the latest books on the subject of food and diet
by Dr. Burney Yeo, he remarks that it is the custom to speak of fish as
an "intellectual" or "brain" food, on account of the phosphorus
contained in it. But he adds that much of its reputation in this
respect may be due to its being readily digested by persons of
sedentary and studious habits. He proceeds to quote Louis Agassiz, the
famous naturalist, who bestows upon fish the following:--"Refreshing
to the organism, especially for intellectual labour; not that its use
can turn an idiot into a wise or witty man, but a fish diet cannot be
otherwise than favourable to brain development."

But if fish is thus a necessary and desirable element in the dietary of
our active daily life, it is not to be forgotten that it is at least
equally valuable for the invalid. It is often tolerated by the stomach
when the digestive powers are weakened from any cause. When the system
is recruiting after any exhausting illness, it is usually amongst the
earliest forms of nourishment allowed. In many chronic disorders,
likewise, it is just one of those things whose place it would be
impossible to fill. And, lastly, it should be ever remembered that many
men whose lives are passed in a state of perfect thraldom by reason of
their extravagant use of butcher's meat would find themselves better in
health, better in spirits, and better in temper, were they to curtail
their allowance, substituting fish in its place.