Recipe - Baked Fish Manila Style

1 Fine 5lb fish; red snapper
best
1 cup Grated mild cheese
1 cup Milk
6 tablespoon Butter
One fourth cup Sherry or Madeira
1 small Garlic clove; crushed
3 cup Cashew nuts; chopped
3 Limes; juice; or 1 One half lemon
1 cup Bread crumbs; dry, fine
One half teaspoon Grated nutmeg
1 small Onion; scraped pulp
2 Bayleaves; rubbed fine

I have a number of old cookbooks with one going back to it's first
publishing in 1908. Here is a recipe from "The Gentleman's Companion, Vol
1, Exotic Cookery Book" 1946 edition, first published in 1939, by Charles
H. Baker, Jr. Most of the recipes are in narrative with anecdotes about how
the author found the recipes around the world.

One secret is that fish is painted inside and out with lime juice, salted
lightly, and iced that way for at least 4 hours before cooking. Take well
greased baking dish; dispose fish on bottom. Mix chopped nuts with cheese,
garlic pulp and onion, moistening with milk to make stiff paste. Salt and
cayenne to taste, and all seasonings. Then spread your fish with this
toothsome blanket, and cover with dry fine bread crumbs. On this put
generous walnuts of butter and brown in medium oven around 350 to 375
Fahrenheit, basting well. Chopped almonds, Brazils, hazelnuts or pecans do
equally well, but the cashew is traditional in the Philippines.

Posted to KitMailbox Digest by CathCooks CathCooks@aol.com on Jan 18,
1998