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136
FISH FILLETS.
There has been during the past few years an increasing demand for a
certain class of fish which has the appearance of being heavily smoked, and on
casual inspection bears a marked resemblance to the famous Scotch Haddies.
This is not put up for sale in the entire fish, but in fillets only, and my attention
having been called to an allegation that this fish, although sold as
"smoked haddocks," had in reality not been smoked at all, but merely salted
and dyed, I caused enquiries to be made and, found that it was sold largely in
Billingsgate and Farringdon Markets and by the various fishmongers throughout
the City as "prime fillets," "fillets of fish," and "Scotch fillets," but I
could find no substantiation of the statement that they were sold as "smoked
haddocks."
The fish used for this purpose are haddocks, cod, cat-fish, tusks and coalfish,
and I am informed that the method of preparation adopted in Aberdeen,
Grimsby, Hull and some Welsh seaports, from whence the major portion of
this class of goods emanate, is as follows:— The fish is headed, gutted,
washed in clean water, split and filleted. The fillets are then dipped in a
weak solution of Annatto, and afterwards soaked in clean made pickle, being
subsequently dried on spits in a kiln. Occasionally they are slightly smoked.
The result of an examination made by the Public Analyst shows the composition
of the sample to be as unde :—
Water 75.74 per cent.
Fish (dry) 22.27 „
Salt 1.99 „
100.00 per cent.
Dr. Teed adds that some proportion of the salt found would be normal to the
flesh of a salt-water fish containing this amount of water, and that "the dye
"was not Annatto, but, in my opinion, a coal tar derivative. The amount of
"dye was so small in the samples submitted that its identity could only be
"approximately made out. It was a dye somewhat of the methyl-orange
"type, which is, I believe, largely employed for colouring imitation Damara
"sugar, sweetmeats, &c."
It will be seen therefore, that the information afforded me that the dye used
was Annatto is not borne out by the report of the Analyst.
The trade in fish fillets was first introduced about 10 or 12 years ago by an
enterprising Aberdeen merchant, with the object of finding a market in South
Africa for a large glut of small haddocks which had been landed from the
North Sea. The long journey made it necessary to use a preservative, and
to this was added a small quantity of liquid Annatto for colouring purposes.