Ask The Old Farmer's Almanac:
Published Friday November 21st, 2008
How can I tell if fish is fresh?
Nov. 24, Monday — At the "Battle Above the Clouds," the Union army was victorious at Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, 1863.
Nov. 25, Tuesday — West Virginia was blanketed by 57 inches of snow, 1950. Comedian and actor Flip Wilson died, 1998. Forewarned is forearmed.
Nov. 26, Wednesday — Kappa Alpha Society, founded at Union College in Schenectady, New York, 1825. Race car driver Dale Jarrett born, 1956.
Nov. 27, Thursday — Thanksgiving Day. New Moon. Uranus stationary. Tallahassee, Florida, experienced freezing temperatures, with a low of 20 degrees Fahrenheit, 1950.
Nov. 28, Friday — Acadian Day (Louisiana). John Lennon made his last concert appearance, 1974. U.S. bill signed allowing states to set their own speed limits, 1995.
Nov. 29, Saturday — Moon runs low. Physicist Sir John Ambrose Fleming born, 1849. Kukla, Fran, and Ollie debuted on television, 1948.
Nov. 30, Sunday — First Sunday of Advent. Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. A tornado claimed two lives in Simsboro, Louisiana, 1996.
Follow your nose
Q: Can you give me some guidelines about choosing fresh fish at the market? What should I look for?
— M. Y., Long Beach, N.J.
A: Before you even begin looking, let your nose be your guide. Whether you're shopping in a fish market or in the seafood section of your grocery store, notice whether there's an odor in the air as you walk in. If there is, something is likely to be decaying somewhere. It may be only the fishy parchment paper in the trash bin or the unscrubbed sides of the workstation, but it's something to heed. The freshest fish stay fresh the longest in extremely clean surroundings.
Next, sniff the fish itself. Salty? Sea brine? That's okay. But if it smells "fishy," it's past its prime. Keep looking.
Beyond what your nose can tell you, look for bright eyes, firm flesh, and an overall glossiness (not milky). If the fish has been on ice, the eyes may look cloudy, but they should not be sunken. Gills should look red and moist, not brownish.
Finally, be savvy about labels. "Fresh" simply means it hasn't been frozen; it doesn't necessarily indicate that day's catch. "Flash-frozen" or "fresh-frozen" are top-of-the-line. "Prime" is just below that in quality — still very good. "Fancy," contrary to what you might think, simply means that the fish was previously frozen; it doesn't tell you how long it sat around before it was frozen, or how long it has been defrosted. Fancy is not that great, generally.
Perfect apple crisp
Q: I'm still searching for the perfect apple crisp recipe. Any suggestions?
— P.A., St. Louis, Mo.
A: Some chefs say it's in the topping, some say it's in the apples. And what may be your perfect crisp might be another person's disappointment. It's a matter of personal taste. Even the name of these fruit desserts comes into question. Are you looking for a true apple crisp, or could it be an apple pan dowdy, a grunt or cobbler, a buckle or slump? Some are more like puddings; some use biscuits instead of crumb topping; others are served with pouring cream, whipping cream, or ice cream.
In any case, start with a good cooking apple. Some modern recipes specify Granny Smith apples, because they are nice and firm, tart but not sour, and hold their shape well after baking. Paula Reds and McIntoshes, common apples (especially earlier in the season), tend to get mushy before the crisp topping is done. Macouns, Cortlands, Braeburns, and Fujis are all good candidates to consider for baking.
Crisp toppings are often too sweet, as a result of combining too much sugar with an already-sweet apple. Common recipes call for a cup of sugar (usually white, although brown is sometimes used) with a cup of flour, a tablespoon or so of cinnamon, a teaspoon of salt, and a stick of butter. That works well with a Granny Smith or a similarly tart apple, but if you've substituted the common Paula Red or McIntosh, you're apt to have too much sweetness for the average palate. One after-the-fact remedy is to serve the dessert with a lemon sorbet instead of vanilla ice cream, but purists will disagree. To be safe, taste your apples first, and if they're not tart, try cutting the sugar to 1/2 or 2/3 of a cup.
The other big variable in crisp toppings is whether to add oatmeal or granola for added crunch. The above proportions can be used in addition to 2/3 of a cup of rolled oats, or with the same amount of almost any health food store granola that you like. Don't try using the boxed grocery store granolas, because they're much too sweet and you'll go overboard with the sugar, again. Good luck!
Wish upon a candy...
Q: What's the deal with wishing on M&Ms? Which colour is the lucky colour?
— D.P., Ottumwa, Iowa
A: It's the green ones that are lucky, but maybe that was before the blue ones came out. But did you know that M&Ms were originally fighting food? Created in 1940 for the military, M&Ms take their name from their creators, Forrest Mars and Bruce Murries. In the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, Hershey's created a "Desert Bar" for the Desert Storm soldiers. While M&Ms were designed to "melt in your mouth, not in your hand," the Desert Bar had to withstand heat of up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit!
But back to wishing. If you're out of green M&Ms, there are lots of other things to wish on. Try a falling star, for starters, probably the most popular of the lucky charms. You can wish on a white horse, or, in summer, on a watermelon seed stuck to your forehead, but be sure you complete the wish before the seed falls. You can wish on the first robin of spring, if you can wait that long. You can wish anytime you touch blue, or on birthday candles, a wishbone (if you get the bigger half), a found penny, an eyelash blown from the back of the hand, and a found pin, if you pick it up.
The Old Farmer's Almanac Weekly Riddle
Q: Which insect is most polite?
A: The ladybug
Send your questions to: Ask The Old Farmer's Almanac, P.O. Box 520, Dublin, NH 03444. Visit our "Question of the Day" section at Almanac.com for more advice.
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