FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE SEA — FISHES. 275 



Carrying out the same calculation for the entire catch of 

 the Atlantic States, the potential yield of the menhaden 

 fisheries would exceed ten millions of pounds of "extract 

 of fish." 



Among various food preparations of fish and other 

 sea animals put up in America are the following : — 



Cod-fish balls, canned fish chowder (cod and haddock), 

 smoked smelts and canned smelts (Osmerus niordax), 

 canned mackerel {Scomber), smoked Spanish mackerel 

 {Cymbium maculatum), smoked halibut (Sippoglossus vul- 

 garis), pickled clam chowder, pickled scallops (Pecten 

 irradians), pickled mussels (Mytilus edulis), pickled oyster 

 crabs {Pinnotheret ontreum), and devilled crabs. 



Some of the purely national dishes of diflerent nations 

 are most extraordinary things, such as the Swedish lut- 

 fisk on Christmas eve. 



Lut-fisk is the salted stock or cod fish steeped in a 

 solution of potash until, in fact, decomposition takes 

 place. On Christmas eve, the great evening of Sweden, 

 this mess is boiled and eaten with oil, and this and 

 grot, which . is simply boiled rice, are the Christmas 

 dishes of Sweden, just as roast beef and plum pud- 

 ding are with us. The smell of the lut-fisk is terrific, 

 but a true Swede clings to his national dish on 

 Julaften as much as any beef-eating Englishman does 

 to his. 



Very many food fishes are preserved in oil, and thus 

 form considerable articles of commerce and food dainties, 

 such as the tunny, the halibut, the sardine, menhaden, 

 and small pilchards. 



I^sh Sauces. — We have our anchovy, lobster, and 

 shrimp sauce for fish, but the ancients and some of the 

 Eastern nations also indulged in fish sauces, as their 

 garum, balachong, gna-pee, and other condiments prove. 



Balachong is a compound made of prawns, sardines 

 and other small fish, pounded and pickled. This article, 

 is of universal use as a condiment, and one of the largest 

 articles of native consumption throughout both the 

 Malay and Philippine Archipelago. It is not confinetl 



