Where did this phrase even come from? It’s not from a fancy cookbook. It’s from butchers and fishermen. These are practical people who hate mess.
They learned that showing the skin side up on a tray keeps the meat moist. It’s a lid. A natural, edible lid.
Bacterial Infection Names
Imagine a cod fillet. The skin side is slightly rough, like a chalkboard. The other side is soft and tears easily. Which one do you want exposed to the hot, dry air of an oven? The tough one, obviously.
You’re protecting the fancy stuff. That’s the whole secret. The skin is the armor.
Wait, What About Fish Fingers?
Okay, this gets funny. Frozen fish fingers? They don’t have real skin. But they fake it. The breaded side is the “skin side.” The flat side?
That’s the “scared, naked fish side.” You always put the breaded side up on the baking tray. It gets crunchier that way. You’re a genius.
Even the artificial world fears the “skin side down” rule. It’s a universal law, like gravity, but tastier.
