Jane Brody's Good Seafood Book

Her ``pectoral fins flapping with excitement,'' Brody (Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet), working here with veteran Flaste, sets out to prove that seafood cookery can indeed be simple, and to overcome what she calls American ``pescaphobia'' in this consumer-conscious overview. Ever health-minded, she comes naturally to low-fat fish cuisine, eschewing deep-frying in her recipes; substituting nonfat or low-fat dairy products, where appropriate; and cutting down on oil as well. This is a more than usually comprehensive, conscientious and trustworthy cookbook, stocked with information not only on ways of cooking and serving fish, but on how to buy it and what equipment to use. It's enlivened, too, by Brody's easy personal touch, never hard-sell or self-conscious. What recipes are the strongest? There's the warm swordfish salad, which makes use of the microwave; the chilled corn and crab chowder; the scallop seviche. Brody, with Flaste, delivers the goods, as always. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Oct.)