Canadian Method

Method for what? How to tell if your ice is good for curling, 'ockey (no h sound in Canada eh) or whiskey on the rocks? No, it's how to tell how long it takes to cook fish. Half of the fresh water in the world is in the Great White North and they have oceans on three sides of the country. These folks know about fish. The Canadian Department of Marine Fisheries established these guidelines. I had to translate from Canadian, they speak metric up there. Here goes.

• Measure your fish at the thickest part using a ruler accepted by the Canadian Department of Fish Measuring. This works for any piece of fish. Lay it down on it's side and measure the thickest part. Whole salmon I want to poach? Yes. Sole rolled around juilliene of vegetables? Yes sir, just measure at the thickest part.
• Every inch needs 10 minutes cooking time. Do not cheat and round up. If it's 3/4 of an inch convert that into a decimal and multiple. A 3/4 inch fillet cooks for 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
• If using metric its 4 minutes per centimeter.
• This works for microwaving, regular waving, poaching, steaming, grilling, that silly thing where you cook it on a plank, in parchment paper and in the oven. Oven should be at 425.
• If your fish is over an inch thick you should flip it halfway thru the cooking. When sauteeing I cook the fish 2/3 of the time on one side and 1/3 of the time after I flip it.
• Rumor has it you can cook fish from frozen by doubling the time. That rumor came from James Beard. What does he know?

There it is. So simple and so accurate. One last bit of advice. Use a timer.

P.S. What do the Ronald McDonald House and the James Beard House have in common?

Cook like you mean it, G