I sent this letter to The Post just now. Please excuse the various forms and uses of "weight" but this is going to the masses (people version).
Carleton From: Carleton MacDonald [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2008 00:27 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Fish Story (March 22 Free For All) Donald Polk would have found his calculations even easier if the United States had joined the rest of the world and used the metric system. Given the instructions to cook the fish in boiling water weighing three to four times as much as the fish, and given that one liter of water weighs one kilogram, it would have taken no effort at all to calculate that a 2 kg fish would need 6-8 liters of water. Carleton MacDonald Gaithersburg, Maryland Fish Story Following your advice ["Poaching, With Particulars, Can Handle Fish Perfectly," Food, March 12], I was eager to try to cook fish by immersing it in boiling water weighing three to four times as much, then taking it off the stove to cook as the water cools. However, it would have been helpful if you had said how to determine the amount of water to use, e.g. by simply including the weight of a cup of water. I assume you did not mean to suggest one should use three to four liquid ounces of water for each ounce of fish, which would actually be much easier to do. - Donald Polk Washington
