Wanda Reynolds from Baltimore was looking for a recipe for baked shad. She remembered seeing a recipe for making the fish some years ago in a local newspaper. She thought the recipe called for a long baking time that helped soften the bones.

Pamela Green from Arnold, Md., sent in a recipe that she says she found in either The Washington Post or the Capital in Annapolis in the 1980s that calls for wrapping the fish in foil and baking it for six hours at a very low temperature.

Shad, a true harbinger of spring, is notorious for having many small bones that are difficult to remove before cooking. This slow-cooking method softens the smaller bones to the point that they can be eaten along with the meat, like the bones in canned salmon or sardines.

Although there are purists who argue that cooking the fish for so long diminishes the shad’s delicate flavor, there are those who feel that the absence of bones is adequate compensation for any minor loss of flavor. If you like the taste and texture of sardines, you probably will enjoy this preparation.

Recipe requests

Florence Martin, originally from Paris and now living in Baltimore, would like to have a good recipe for making a traditional Jewish-style brisket. Janet Whitman from Randallstown, Md., is looking for the recipe for what she calls Breakfast Rice. Back in the 1960s she found the recipe in a booklet put out by Minute brand rice. It was made with Minute rice, milk, raisins and vanilla.