steams rather than bakes. The dry oven air is
also useful for concentrating the fish juices
and any moist flavoring ingredients — wine,
or a bed of aromatic vegetables, for example
— and it can also trigger aroma-producing
browning reactions.
Low-Temperature Baking In one extreme
version of baking, the oven is set for
temperatures as low as 200 or 225ºF/ 95–
110ºC, and the cooking is gentle indeed.
Because the fish surface is simultaneously
warmed by the oven air and cooled by
evaporation of its moisture, the actual
maximum temperature of the fish surface in
such an oven may be just 120–130ºF, the
internal temperature even lower, and the fish
ends up with a barely cooked, almost custard-
like texture. The appearance of fish cooked
this way is often marred by the off-white
globs of solidified cell fluid, which is able to
leak out of the tissue before it gets hot enough