Classic Fish Recipes.

ish has long been recognized for its merits, and fish recipes rank high on the list of many chefs and home cooks alike.  Seafood has taken its place as one of the favorite foods of people across the globe, and no wonder!  Its popularity is due mostly to its wonderfully delicate flavor and ease of preparation, but studies in recent years have shown that the health benefits of fish may offer a substantial boost to your health.

In 1996 the American Heart Association supported findings that fish oil may benefit the heart as well as lower total cholesterol and triglycerides, a major concern of heart patients. Omega-3 fatty acids are the active ingredients in fish oil. Studies have shown that Omega-3 fish oils may help lower blood pressure, arrhythmia of the heart, improve circulation, and even help keep depression and Alzheimer's disease at bay.  With these added benefits from fish and other seafood, there has been a mad scramble to find new seafood recipes and search out the old standard fish recipes. Guidelines recommend that fish or other seafood such as mackerel, salmon, tuna, trout, etc., be eaten at least twice a week.

If you are a newcomer to the idea of eating fish both for its flavor and health benefits, or if you are already a seafood lover, you will most likely want to locate sources of new and old fish and seafood recipes. Just go to the cookbook section of any bookstore or other retailers and look in the "Fish and Seafood" categories.

Another source of cookbooks with seafood recipes is on the Internet, where a recent search made reference to 425,000 such cookbooks! You are likely to find dozens of excellent cookbooks featuring fish recipes that will suit your style, taste and pocketbook. While you are browsing through the vast selections, don't forget that even though the word "fish" commonly refers to any food that comes from a body of water, there are different categories of seafood, including shellfish.

If you are a true connoisseur, you will want to have a complete library of cookbooks featuring fish recipes.  You will no doubt want to include a rare or vintage cookbook, and there's no better place to start your collection than with a cookbook written by a famed chef.

One of the most famous of all early cookbook authors is Alessandro Filippini, who wrote several cookbooks, one of which was "One Hundred Ways of Cooking Fish."   This cookbook is a rare, vintage cookbook, but a search at an online auction site did turn up a couple of available copies.

Alessandro Filippini gained fame as a chef de cuisine at the famed Delmonico's Restaurant in New York City.  The Delmonico brothers, John and Peter, first opened a small cafe in 1827 that sold beverages and pastries, eventually hiring Lorenzo, a nephew, to help run the business.  As the business grew, it gained a reputation, which placed it high on the list of restaurants with excellent food and service. Delmonico's first chef was John Lux, who played an integral part in the continued success of the restaurant.  The Delmonico Hotel was added to the business venture a few years later.

Alessandro Filippini, an Italian, was hired as a cook in 1849, but his culinary skills quickly advanced him to the position of head chef, or "chef de cuisine."  Chef Filippini was a master at creating new and exciting seafood and other kinds of recipes to serve to the many distinguished people who frequented Delmonico's, which was the place to "see and be seen" in New York circles.  Many famous people like Abraham Lincoln, Oscar Wilde, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and Queen Victoria, to name a few, were regular patrons at one of Delmonico's four locations.

During this time, the chefs at Delmonico's created many famous dishes, including seafood recipes such as Lobster Newburg, and desserts such as Baked Alaska, which honored the purchase of Alaska.

Alessandro Filippini served as chef at Delmonico's until 1888, when he retired and decided to write a cookbook.  His first cookbook, "The Table," was published in 1889.  The recipes were based on those from Delmonico's and were written in a simple, basic format for home cooks that included hundreds of menus.  Later on, Filippini published a sort of trilogy of cookbooks under the collective name of "Handy Volume Culinary Series."  It included "One Hundred Ways of Cooking Eggs," "One Hundred Ways of Cooking Fish," and the third volume, "Twenty-five Years With Delmonico's - Desserts."

Filippini was a driving force behind the excellent cuisine at Delmonico's Restaurants.  His expertise as a chef who prepared culinary delights in every category - main dishes, seafood and fish recipes, and desserts helped propel the restaurant into a highly acclaimed business whose name was known around the world.

Reading the fascinating story of Chef Alessandro Filippini, your mouth will water to sample some of his famous fish creations, which can be found in his cookbook, "One Hundred Ways of Cooking Fish."

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