Matters of Taste

By Dorothy Hartz

A Shad Primer

We've greeted spring with the shad bush and endured the shad flies. It 's almost past high time to enjoy the fish itself, which The American Heritage Dictionary defines as "Any of several food fishes of the genus Alosa, especially the North American species A. sapidissima, related to the herrings but atypically anadromous, i.e. swimming up streams from marine waters to spawn."

Shad runs deep in Delaware River Valley history and folklore, as capsulized in Herbert Kraft's "The Lenape":

"The almost continuous runs of alewives, shad, eel, sturgeon, and other anadromous species that crowded the rivers from March to June provided enough fish to feed all of the Indian population of the region. Some of the shad swam as much as four hundred miles upstream into the northern branches of the Delaware River, as far as present-day Hancock and Deposit, New York. At the end of the nineteenth century, before pollution fouled the water, fishermen in the lower Delaware River caught from fourteen million to twenty million pounds of shad each year. These fish must have been at least as plentiful in earlier times when the Indians gathered along much cleaner streams."

Kraft quotes a seventeenth century explorer, Isaack de Rasiere, saying that shad have heads that "are so full of fat that in some there are two or three spoonfuls, so that there is good eating for one who is fond of picking heads."

Shad has 152 calories per 3.5 ounce serving. It is characterized as strong tasting and firm fleshed, composed of 19 percent protein and eight percent fat, despite de Rasiere's claim. Best cooking methods are baking, broiling, and grilling.

On the downside, shad is one of the boniest fish around, so in all likelihood heads are not all you'll be picking. If you wish to avoid the trouble altogether, you could bypass filets and make the acquaintance of shad roe, a delicacy prized far beyond its parent. "The Joy of Cooking" explains, "The eggs of the female fish are known as roe or hard roe; the male fish's sperm is known as milt or soft roe... Hard roe, to be cooked and served alone, should be pricked with a needle to prevent the membrane from bursting and splattering the little eggs. Cook roe gently with very slow heat. Overcooked, it is hard, dry and tasteless... Roe may be served as a luncheon dish as a savory; as stuffing or garnish for the fish from which it comes."

I offer a recipe from Narrowsburg's own former Century Hotel.

Sauteed Shad Roe
from "Catskill Country Cooking"

2 pairs shad roe
salt
freshly ground black pepper ("Joy of Cooking" recommends white)
1/2 cup flour
1 cup butter
2 tblsps. minced chives
1 tblsp. minced parsley
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
crisply cooked bacon slices

With a scissors, slit membranes connecting roe. Sprinkle roe with salt and pepper; flour on both sides, shaking off excess. Melt 6 tblsps. butter over moderate heat in an 8-inch skillet. When foam subsides, add roes and saute for 6 minutes on each side, regulating heat so roes brown evenly. Transfer roes when brown to a heated platter. Add chives, parsley, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce to pan drippings. Add remaining butter and mix sauce thoroughly. Pour sauce over roes and serve at once topped with bacon slices. Serves 4.

Eat well.