Fish

Winner of the International Association of Culinary Professionals/Julia Child Cookbook Award

If you find cooking fish a daunting undertaking, Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking is the book for you. Mark Bittman’s award-winning book, called "the best and most comprehensive fish cookbook of our generation," makes it easy. Organized in an easy-to-use A to Z format, Fish gives you the culinary lowdown on all the fish and shellfish most commonly found in supermarkets and fish stores.

Each entry describes how the fish is sold (whether fillets, steaks, or whole), the various names by which it is called, and how it looks when perfectly fresh. Easy-to-follow illustrations of important basics and Bittman’s general guidelines about storing, preparing, and cooking fish by all the popular methods–including grilling, roasting, broiling, and sautéing–tell you all you need to buy and prepare all of your favorite fish and shellfish.

Complete with up-to-date information on the health benefits of fish in our diet, Fish contains more than 500 recipes to make it easy to enjoy the wide variety of seafood available today.

"The most important fish cookbook in years. Mark Bittman reveals perfect technique and innovative recipes that turn even the novice into a confident cook."

–Bobby Flay, cookbook author and host of TV Food Network’s Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay, Food Nation, and Boy Meets Grill

"Clearly organized, written in prose as clear as a mountain stream, and packed with practical information and great recipes, Mark Bittman’s Fish is a masterful work. Whether you cook fish once a day or once a year, this is the book that will make it simple, fun, and delicious."

–Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby, coauthors, The Thrill of the Grill and License to Grill

Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking is a book that simplifies, once and for all, the process of preparing fish. Organized in an easy-reference, A-Z format, Fish gives you the culinary lowdown on seventy kinds of fish and shellfish commonly found in American supermarkets and fish stores. Each entry describes how the fish is sold (fillets, steaks, whole, salted), other names it goes by, how the fish should look, and buying tips. Fish begins with general guidelines on how to store, prepare, and cook fish, whether sauteing, frying, grilling, or smoking, and you will find easy-to-follow illustrations of such important basics as how to gut and fillet a fish. Fish also includes up-to-the-minute information on the health benefits of fish in our diet. In addition, there are more than five hundred recipes and variations, all of which use low-fat, high-flavor ingredients to accent the intrinsic natures of the individual fish rather than mask them. And the vast majority of the recipes are ready in less than thirty minutes.

Mark Bittman is a nationally known authority on cooking and the author of "The Minimalist," the weekly cooking column in the New York Times that has inspired several books. His bestselling cookbook, How to Cook Everything™, won both the Julia Child (IACP) and James Beard awards, and is considered the bible of contemporary home cooking.

Acknowledgments.

Preface.

Introduction.

Buying Fish.

Is Fish Good for You?

Preparing and Cooking Fish.

Basics and Staples.

Index.