Superb Fish Sauces

Good cooks around the world trade recipes for their favored fish sauces. Since Europeans often are experts in handling fish in their kitchens, we sought their secrets in France, Spain and Portugal. The four sauces that follow are adaptations we made of sauces used in those countries to dress up fish and make it taste better.

You can use fresh or frozen white fish of any kind—fresh or salt water varieties from the supermarket or what the fisherman in your family brings home. Serve these sauces on broiled, baked or fried fish such as halibut, sea bass, butterfish, cod, haddock, sole, flounder, perch, mackerel, lake trout or catfish. If you use frozen fish, defrost it overnight or at least several hours in the refrigerator.