The Mackerel Species
Boston Fish House Recipes, 1940s
Upon the abundance of mackerel depends the welfare of many thousands of the citizens of Massachusetts. The success of the mackerel fishery is much more uncertain than that of the cod or haddock fishery; as for instance, the supply of cod and haddock is quite uniform from year to year. The prospects of each season are eagerly discussed from week to week in thousands of little circles along the coast, and are chronicled by the local press.
At this time we will talk about the common mackerel, and later the other species of the mackerel family. Common mackerel is fusiform in outline, tapering rearward to a very slim caudal peduncle and forward to a pointed nose. Its body is about three and one-half times as long as deep, oval in section, thick, and firm-muscled, as are all its tribe. Head is long (one-fourth of total length) and its mouth large, gaping back almost to the eye. Teeth are small and slender but very sharp. The eye is large.
The scales of the mackerel are so small that its skin is velvety to touch. The color of the upper surface is dark steely to greenish blue, often almost blue-black on the head. The body is barred with 27 to 30 dark transverse bands that run down in irregular wavy course nearly to the midlevel of the body, below which there is a narrow dark streak running along each side. Average adult mackerel run from 13 to 14 inches in length. A mackerel a foot long weighs 12 to 16 ounces.
Mackerel swim in schools at the surface or near it, and in a rather compact body, sometimes a half mile wide, and several miles long. They are chiefly caught off Chatham and Nantucket Shoals, and are usually caught at night, when they cause a phosphorescent glow on the water.
Mackerel is a most important and numerous fish of many varieties, with a food value above the average. Broiled, baked, and sauted with the different garnitures and sauces are the general manner of serving fresh mackerel.
