SHARK-FINS

a Chinese delicacy which consists of the dried cartilaginous part of the fins of various sharks—especially in California those of the ‘‘soup-fin”’ shark, the ‘‘grey tope’’ (Gale or hin us zyopterus), abundant along our Pacifie coast and reaching a length of six feet. The ‘‘white’’, or back, fins are the choicest. In its first preparation the fresh fin is parboiled, and then the skin, bone, anil meat are removed, leaving only the soft, vellow cartilage. This in drying a umes a seaweed-like appearance, showing a hard, brownish base with a more or le pointed fringe, several inches in length, of yellow, translucent, moderately flexible strands / of varying thickne and lengths, and both straight and curled. In cooking, the fin becomes tender and gelatinous, readily absorbing the flavors of the foods and spices—as chicken, ham, garlic, onions, and ginger—eooked with it. i. w SHARK - MEAT. The ‘a ‘ is i) flesh of many of ° smaller sharks, especially ry 7; of those in temperate war i y v ’ ters, is both palatable and =:. wholesome. It is, generally \, a | ~ speaking, somewhat like ax at halibut, but softer and. 1 more gelatinous. Itis par- Ld ticularly good if salted | and lightly smoked. Dry ‘ 4 salting is preferable to > brining. The dried, salted 4 ‘ i 4 a | flesh is sold in Folk est one, i % 3 a: Hingland, as ‘‘ Folk est one a; FP gay beef.”’ a, = — — 3 One of the best of _ Sa small sharks is levis), a slender, - ( e - graceful creature reaching — ——_— _ three feet or so in length.?. a d Almost equally desirable.... is the ‘‘ horny,’’ or 4 is acantlhias). Both range Shark market, Fusan, Korea _— the Atlantic Coast from Halifax to the Carol in as, and the second, in a separate variety, is represented also along our Pacific Coast. The horny dogfish has in recent vears ceme to be known as Grayrisit (which see). The meat of some of the larger fish may be tough—it is then best run through a meat chopper and used in fish balls. That of some species has a rather strong, peculiar odor, but this is readily removed by salting, and later freshening and parboiling prior to cooking.