Fish has become increasingly popular in recent years for taste, health, and convenience reasons. Most types of fish are quick and easy to prepare.

You can purchase fresh fish as drawn, pan dressed, fillets, or steaks. The most important issue when buying fresh fish is that the fish is as absolutely fresh as you can obtain.

Dressed means the fish is whole except the internal organs have been removed. Pan dressed means the fish has been eviscerated and scaled if necessary. Often the head and fins have been removed and the fish is ready to cook.

Fillets are the strips of flesh from the sides of fish. They are boneless and may still have the skin on one side. The fish dealer will usually remove this skin for you if asked.

Steaks are cross section slices of large dressed fish such as salmon or halibut. A piece of the backbone is usually still present in the steak, but easily removed after cooking.

Do not hesitate to ask the fish dealer to allow you to smell the fish before purchase. It should smell fresh and mild, with no strong fish smell. If the head is present on the fish, the eyes should be clear and bulging; the gills should be reddish and the scales very shiny.

With fillets or steaks the flesh should be shiny and firm; if pressed with your finger it should spring back if it is fresh.

Before cooking any fresh fish rinse completely in cold running water and pat dry. Fish can be sautéed, grilled, broiled, poached, or baked. The cooking method usually reflects the fat content of the fish, but all methods can be used satisfactorily.

The best advice on cooking fish is to use what is called Canadian Cooking Theory, as it was developed by the Canadian Department of Fisheries. This cooking theory says fresh fish should have a total cooking time of 10 minutes for each inch of thickness. The fish is measured at its thickest part.

For example, in grilling a halibut steak that is three quarters of an inch thick, the total cooking time is seven and one-half minutes. (Four minutes on one side, and three and one half minutes on the other side.) If you are sautéing a fillet which is six tenths of an inch thick it should be cooked three minutes on each side.

Do not neglect frozen fish in your menus. There are excellent products available, and you can use Canadian Cooking Theory with them. Don't even bother to defrost the fish. Instead of 10 minutes total cooking time per inch of thickness for the fresh fish, use 20 minutes total cooking time for frozen fish. If you have defrosted the fish use the 10 minute rule.

There are also excellent recipes and uses for canned fish. Adding a can of crab meat or tuna to a macaroni salad, for example, can make it a very satisfying lunch.