Handling Delicate Flesh

Its delicate and sparse connective tissue means that most cooked fish is troublesomely fragile to work with. It’s best to manipulate fish as little as possible during and after cooking, and to support the whole piece when moving it, small ones with a spatula, large ones on a rack or a stretcher of foil or cheesecloth. Neat individual portions should be cut before cooking, when the tissue is still cohesive; after cooking, even a sharp knife pulls flakes and shreds from the weakened matrix.