A name for the spanner crab, a bright orange or brick-red crab, so-named because it has claws which look remarkably like spanners. Like many things in Australia, what you see is what you get. It has shorter hind legs than other crabs and is found around the upper half of Australia. Mainly males are sold as they grow to a greater size than the females and are more likely to reach beyond the size restrictions. The sofrt white flesh is quite different in flavour from that of other crabs.
Monkfish (US: angler fish). A fish with a sweet flavour and succulent firm flesh but with the ugliest appearance imaginable. It is found in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, in coastal waters of north western Europe. It can be recognised by its large head and fan-shaped fins. The fins and the operculum are spiny. It can be eaten fried or in soup. The larger fish often have better flavour. It has a hideous head, which is why it is usually displayed without it, and a muddy colour. It is known as the anglerfish as it bears on its head a 'rod' and 'lure' which attract its prey. The meat of the tail is sweet and succulent - almost like lobster meat, entirely compensating for is appearance. The flavour may well be assisted by its own diet which is high in shellfish. The best monkfish are Lophius piscatorius and the similar Lophius budegassa, the favourite of the Spanish. American monkfish or goosefish (Lophius americanus) is considered inferior, while New Zealand monkfish (Kathetostoma giganteum) is related to the stargazer and is only fit for soup.
A name in New England for an American hake with a range from southern Newfoundland down to North Carolina traditionally landed at Gloucester in Massachusetts. It is often called "whiting" for market.
Tomcod. A small version of a cod, close to a codling in appearance but with a rounder tail, this fish is found from Labrador to West Virginia along the American Atlantic coast. They are good either fried, poached or baked.
Icing for a cake. It is crusty on the outside, but should not be hard throughout. It is made by mixing icing sugar and water boiled with a little cream of tartare, slightly cooled and then whisked into stiffly beaten egg white. Exactly the same process is used to make Italian meringue.
As a general term fruit refers to sweet fruits which appear in a fruit bowl, in a dessert or jam (US: jelly). In fact it can be applied to any fruit of a plant such as a tomato or pumpkin, However, more commonly the meaning is applied to sweet fruits.
