smell with their own. Acidity — whether in a
poaching liquid, or in a buttermilk dip before
frying — also mutes the volatility of fishy
amines and aldehydes, and helps break down
muddy-smelling geosmin that farmed
freshwater fish (catfish, carp) sometimes
accumulate from blue-green algae.
Preparing Fish in Ancient Rome
In summer in their lower rooms they often
had clear fresh water run in open channels
underneath, in which there were a lot of
live fish, which the guests would select and
catch in their hands to be prepared to the
taste of each. Fish has always had this
privilege, as it still does, that the great
have pretensions of knowing how to
prepare it. Indeed its taste is much more
exquisite than that of flesh, at least to me.
— Michel de Montaigne, “Of Ancient
Customs,” ca. 1580
Simple physical treatments can also