Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking

by Mark Bittman

From New York Times bestselling author Mark Bittman, 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 in Bittman's book 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 sautéing, 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!

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Health

544 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

MARK BITTMAN is one of the country's best-known and most widely respected food writers. His How to Cook Everything books, with one million copies in print, are a mainstay of the modern kitchen. Bittman writes for the Opinion section of New York Times on food policy and cooking, and is a columnist for the New York Times Magazine. His "The Minimalist" cooking show, based on his popular NYT column, can be seen on the Cooking Channel. His most recent book, VB6, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in its first week on sale.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good advice on buying fish and preparing it that's usually realistic for the average city-dweller. The best part is the introductions to each type of seafood, so you can learn a bit more about cleaning and preparing it. The mussels section helped me get over my trepidations, and now we've made it three times.

The disappointment is the indexing. It's not always easy to find a new type of fish you found at the store. If the index helped you find basa or swai, then I'd give it 4 stars. Sometimes it's difficult to determine if it's just a new name for an old fish, or a fish Bittman disdains, like tilapia.

Overall, a good introduction book that got me and my wife cooking fish in many new ways. Just use the internet to find some of the other fish.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good guide to purchasing, preparing, and cooking fish. A fair number of these recipes appear in How To Cook Everything. This is possibly more useful as a guide to different types of fish than for the recipes. I like to cook fish very simply, but I find myself using this book as sort of an encyclopedia of fish, and it serves that purpose well. Also, the color photography is gorgeous.

[Carrie Bulger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read cookbooks to get ideas, learn about foods, and also to find recipes. I find that, very often, some cookbooks are better for one than the others. This book is great for all of the above. The first part discusses various fish and styles of cooking. The recipes are organized by type of fish, which is very nice. We've enjoyed every recipe I have tried so far.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a recent article in the New York Times, the author indicated the book is somewhat out of date.

Nevertheless, the book is packed with interesting recipes and fascinating information about fish and other seafood.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bittman's usual approachable no nonsense guide to cooking - in this case fish. Not too complicated, everyday type recipes as well as good advice on buying, preparing and storing fish. Some nice dinner party dishes too. This is another core book for me.

[Mcav0y · Rating 5 out of 5]

so far all the recipes I have made from this book have been fabulous!

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE book on fish!

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as much variety as *How to Cook Everything*, but the recipes I have tried have been delicious.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have no idea how to cook fish, this is the book for you. The recipes we tried were fabulous!

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not as good as other things he had done--Fish without a DOubt is my current favorite

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're into fish you should check this book out. If you're on the fence about fish then this book could sway you. I seriously only eat salmon so it could only help me so much.