Choose fresh Lake Superior whitefish fillets. Place skin side up on a broiler ban approximately eight inches from an electric broiling element (which heats gradually). Broil for seven minutes. Flip over and broil for six minutes more. If the fillets were fresh there will be practically no drippings under the broiler rack. The delicious juices stay in the flesh of the fish, which should flake apart easily when done. Time carefully so as not to overcook until dry.

These whitefish fillets are delicious eaten plain without sauce, especially if complimentary vegetables are chosen. Say we choose some members of the nightshade biological family:

Dice the potatoes. Pour spring water to cover the bottom of a pan. Bring to a boil and add the potatoes. When boiling resumes, reduce the heat to a simmer. Let the potatoes cook approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Meanwhile, cut the peppers in strips and the tomatoes in sections to make a colorful dish of crisp raw peppers and juicy tomatoes as a centerpiece to be enjoyed by the whole family. Dice one large red pepper (for each of three small potatoes). Add when the potatoes are soft and stir thoroughly to incorporate the liquid. The Yellow Finn potatoes with the red pepper give us lovely textured, red-and-gold cooked vegetables to go with the whitefish, which is rather pale. We have complemented the fish with saucelike vegetables and vibrant colors.

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"Chemical analysis showed [Lake Superior whitefish and other fish] to be at least the equal of – and in some cases better than – cold-water marine fish as sources of n-3 fatty acids,". . . . the amount of [PCBs and mercury] in the fish studied was well below the maximum limits set by the Food and Drug Administration.

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Now for a comment on choosing Lake Superior whitefish. NOHA NEWS readers know the virtues of having a good source of the n-3 (omega-3) fatty acids that are found in cold-water ocean fish. They also know that many fresh-water fish are low in n-3 fatty acids. However, Ya-Jane Wang and colleagues at the University of Minnesota, realizing that Lake Superior is frigid, studied a number of variety of fish from that lake, including whitefish, deep-water lake trout, lean lake trout, chub, herring, and smelt. "Chemical analysis showed them to be at least the equal of – and in some cases better than – cold-water marine fish as sources of n-3 fatty acids," Wang reported at the 196^th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, in Los Angeles on September 27, 1988.

More good news: PCBs and mercury are pollutants commonly associated with the Great Lakes. These investigators found, however, that the amount of these pollutants in the fish studied was well below the maximum limits set by the Food and Drug Administration.