Fish

[Deleted]

I love fish and can eat it any way, shape and form. I can even eat fish sticks (fish fingers in certain cultures). I like it raw, I like it baked, fried, marinated in lime juice. Canned tuna is fine, so are canned sardines, mackerel, smoked herring, whitebait...

Eating a fish with the head on does not bother me, and I don't mind dealing with the bones (within reason) or pulling the skin off.

Do you like fish?

[bixaorellana]

I love fish. Like you, I'll eat it any way I can get it.

One thing that has always puzzled me is how few varieties are considered "acceptable". In the late sixties I lived near the Monterey docks in California. Many of the vendors were of Portuguese descent. I remember one of them telling me that they caught over twenty edible varieties in the waters around there, but could sell less than half of that to the general public.

I remember when shark became generally available in Louisiana & I assume the rest of the country. There were all kinds of jokes about Jaws, which was released around the same time. Shark is a lovely fish, although quite delicate. Around here its cousin manta is commonly available & just wonderful.

Another thing available in Oaxaca is the smoked fish from the isthmus of Tehuantepec. Mullet is the most common, although not my favorite. People who have visited the Gulf coast of Florida may be familiar with it, along with other fish available smoked there. These smoked fish are eaten as-is, with perhaps some lime juice and salsa on the side. They can also be incorporated into salads, turned into hash, croquettes, or other dishes.

My favorite is the cocinero, a type of jack.

[Don Cuevas]

I love fish, too, as long as it isn't bony. Smoked is great, but dried I can do without.
Fresh and raw or ceviche rates highly with me.

Bixa; the "cocinero" reminds of of "Blind Robins", that salty but tasty bar snack.

[gringalais]

I like fish too in most varieties. I am not a fan of fish with a lot of bones. There is one here called sierra that seems to have more bones than meat.

Bixa - I went to college in Monterey for 2 years!

[Jazz]

I also love fish and can eat it in any way, shape or form. It has always been a staple of my diet. When I was a child growing up in the country in northern Ontario, I often ate delicious fresh caught speckled trout, pickeral, perch and bass. I live in Toronto now and continue to explore and appreciate different fish. So far, I most enjoy rainbow trout, salmon, tuna, swordfish, halibut, seabass, red snapper and pickeral.

Most of the time, I prepare my fish simply, grilled or lightly sauteed. But, I do love a baked whole fish (or, fillet), often stuffed. Here is a Jacques Pepin recipe, 'Stuffed Salmon in Flakey Pastry with Muchroom-Shrimp Stuffing and a Foamy Lemon Sauce'. It is simple to do, but very dramatic and delicious. My guests love it. Don't worry if pastry is not your specialty, you can use prepared pastry, I have done both.

www.recipelink.com/cookbooks/2002/0375412093_1.html

I find that varieties of fish are 'in vogue' for inexplicable reasons. When I was growing up, we had a lagoon a few hundred yards from our house with snapping turtles and catfish. To eat catfish was considered the lowest of the low and they were considered scum. Today, in Toronto, catfish are now often eaten and thought of almost as an exotic delicacy.

[auntieannie]

fish... can be delicious or horrible. quite unforgiving!

[Deleted]

I love almost all fish,I hate gelfite fish,am not crazy about monk fish,and fish with alot of bones,I got my gum lacerated one time a few years back and have been shy about it ever since.
The first time I had shark here in Louisiana I was real dissapointed besause I was anticipating Mako and it was I believe lemon shark,vastly different. I love,love swordfish and weakfish.I'll eat fresh fish over meat any day.

[happytraveller]

I love nearly all types of fish except from dried fish and those were not quite what we expected when we ordered it:

[Deleted]

That is wonderful whitebait. "Petite friture" in France. Clearly anybody who is holding a fork to eat it has never seen it before.

[happytraveller]

It was simply called "fried fish" and we really expected something quite different. We ate most of it but weren't too impressed.

You are right, we had never seen it before.

[mockchoc]

When we were on holidays my teenager picked our restaurant as we walked past it because it had whitebait on the menu outside but for his birthday he did ask only for mud crab and oysters.

Strange child.. lovely but with expensive taste.

[bixaorellana]

I like fish any way I can get it, including very plain. Here is something that must inelegantly be called "hash" in English. That's unfortunate, as this stuff is sublime. I'm thinking this would be one use for soaked bacalao.

Fish Hash (Minilla) SERVES: 4 TO 6

2 quarts water
4 unpeeled garlic cloves
1 small unpeeled white onion, left whole, plus 1 large white onion, finely chopped
6 bay leaves
Salt
2 pounds firm-fleshed white fish fillets, such as tilefish, red snapper or grouper, cut into 4-inch chunks
2 tablespoons pure olive oil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup coarsely chopped mint
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1/2 cup finely chopped green olives
1/3 cup chopped pickled jalapeño chiles
2 teaspoons Garlic Seasoning
directions
1. In a large saucepan, combine the water with the garlic cloves, whole small white onion, 2 of the bay leaves and 1 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil; simmer for 10 minutes. Add the fish in a single layer and simmer over moderate heat until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer the fish to a platter to cool. Break the fish into large pieces, discarding any bones and skin.
2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and vegetable oil until shimmering. Add the chopped white onion and cook over high heat, stirring, until just beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley, mint, thyme and the remaining 4 bay leaves and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until a thick sauce forms, about 8 minutes. Stir in the olives, pickled jalapeños and Garlic Seasoning. Add the fish and cook until warmed through and all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and season the hash with salt. Transfer to a bowl and serve.
MAKE AHEAD The hash can be refrigerated overnight and reheated gently.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Garlic Seasoning (Ajo Preparado) MAKES ABOUT 1/2 CUP
1/2 cup peeled garlic cloves (about 2 heads)
1/2 cup cold water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a food processor or blender, puree the garlic cloves with the water. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over moderate heat. Add the garlic puree and cook until the water has evaporated and small holes form on the surface of the puree. The garlic puree can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

[Deleted]

It sounds alot like Redfish Court Bouillion (pronounced here coo bay yun)

[bixaorellana]

It has many of the same ingredients, but because it's a dry dish and because of the way it's cooked, it's altogether different.

[mockchoc]

That would go wonderfully if you have bacalao.

Drooling..

I wish I was landing in Sydney on Thursday so I could go to the Spanish deli and get some (oh and some jambon serano and 3 yr old Manchengo as well, maybe some Tio Pepe... woah!). Not sure I can find any in my home town unless new shops have opened.

[gringalais]

I have some good fish recipies from my dad. My parents live on the coast and he goes out fishing almost every morning. I don't have them in electronic format, however, so I will type them in when I have some spare time.

[gringalais]

Pesto Flounder:
2 flounder filets (skinned)
olive oil
fresh basil pesto
1/4 onion
1 plum tomato
1 stalk celery
several fresh basil leaves
fresh juice from 1/4 lemon
salt & pepper to taste
parmesean cheese

Place aluminum foil on broiler pan, coat with a thin layer of olive oil and place flounder filets on foil. Spread pesto on each filet. In blender or food processor blend tomato, celery, onion, basil and lemon juice and spread over the flounder. Add salt or pepper as desired. Sprinkle a little parmesean cheese on top and bake at 375 degrees until flounder is flaky and still moist.

[gringalais]

and another compliments of my dad

Feta trout:

1 4 oz containter smooth feta cheese
2 cloves of garlic, put through garlic press
6 slices of sun-dried tomatoes, soaked and chopped
2 T olive oil
4-5 oz fresh baby spinach leaves
1 T butter
4 trout filets (skinned)
salt and pepper

With a fork, blend the feta, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper and enough olive oil to make a smooth paste. Sautée spinach briefly until it is just wilting. Add feta to spinach and mix. Place the trout on a lightly oiled sheet of aluminum foil. Spread the spinach/feta mixture evenly over the filets. Place in a hot oven (375-400 farenheit) for no more than 15 minutes, until the trout just starts to flake.

[auntieannie]

put here what you know about fish. I'll add stuff later.

[Deleted]

My attraction to raw fish is growing, either as sushi/sashimi or just served as is with lemon or lime juice.

My body is probably ravaged by heavy metals from pollution, just like the Japanese.

[bazfaz]

We did once have a friend come for a meal who hated fish because, he said, he had lived above a fish and chip shop in England. The problem was that we had invited another friend who was a non-meat eater. Oh the problems of being a host.

When I was a boy nin Canada we rented a log cabin on a lake 100 miles north of Toronto. My mother and I went up for 2 months in summer, joined by my father and brother and granny at weekends. Thursday was when our food ran out. My mother used to send me out in the rowing boat on the lake, aged 9, to catch our supper. This would probabblty be a criminal offence now.

A few years ago in Costa Rica we went up into the mountains and found a small hostal to stay in. When we asked what we could eat the owner looked momentarily taken aback. Then he asked if we liked trout. Yes. Would be like to catch our suopper?Yes. He took us to a stream he had dammed, gave us fishing rods, showed us a bank where earthworms were abundant and left us to it. His final word was: Don't catch more than ten. After we had caught ten we returned to the hostal. He selected the 2 biggest for our supper. Normal price according to his menu was $4 but because we had had to catch them it was $2. In other coutnries you would be charged for the pleasure of trout fishing.

[Don Cuevas]

Other than tuna salad and fish sticks, I hated fish as a kid.
My Mom would make gefilte fish from whole carp and the like, it was smelly and there were swim bladders with which my little sister would torment me. Bleahh.

I could on occasion eat gefilte fish from a jar. The best part, next to the extra-sharp horse radish was the cold, jellied stock. Now, I can take it or leave it.

In my adult years, I've become a big fan of fish. I prefer simpler preparations, if the fish is a tasty one. Locally, the favorites are mojarra (cheap) or huachinango (red snapper, costly), served "Al Mojo de Ajo", that is, a sauce of oil in which loads of garlic has been fried; OR Al Ajillo, which is almost the same thing, except that rings of chile guajillo is added to the garlic for an even greater taste sensation.

The better seafood restaurants often specialize in Pescado a la Talla, a split open fish often coated with a chile paste and grilled/broiled. I have a picture somewhere, taken at the excellent Restaurant Marco Polo in Oaxaca.



The next year, same place, I had a version of filete de pescado coated with mustard, mayo and chipotle, and while it was o.k., it didn't please me as much as the version pictured above. That restaurant, by the way, doesn't actually grill its fish. It has a wood-fired oven of great heat in which the food is cooked, so it comes out with a nice, smokey char around the edges.

[bixaorellana]

I grew up eating all kinds of fish and seafood, and learned from an early age to "pick" my own fish. The table would look as though a family of cats had been there after my family finished eating, each plate sporting at least one of the classic cartoon fish skeletons.

A bit of trivia -- one of the time-honored ways of knowing whether the oil was hot enough to fry your battered fish was to drop a wooden kitchen match into it. If it ignited, it was ready.

I really love fish, and tend to prefer the simpler preparations, although I have occasional yens for stuffed flounder or red snapper a la veracruzana. My mother used to make poached fish for herself, and I follow suit enjoying it as a solitary pleasure: put some water to boil in a shallow pan, adding a little butter or olive oil, some salt, maybe a bay leaf, & some parsley &/or celery leaves. Gently place the fish in the pan, then cover it. The second one side is done, carefully turn it over & let it poach another very few minutes on the other side. Serve with lemon and salt and pepper.

[existentialcrisis]

I grew up with fish and have always loved it. Strangely, not all Nova Scotians love fish. But my dad works for a big seafood company that processes and distrubutes fish products to much of North America (and elsewhere I think, since he's always travelling abroad). Unfortunately, his company doesn't employ as many fishermen these days, because of obvious problems with the fishing industry, so business is often taken to Asia.
I grew up eating fish sticks, fish cakes, and LOTS of haddock. Mostly pan-fried, or baked in cream of mushroom soup or lemon herb butter. Atlantic salmon was something we started eating as I got a little older, always poached with dill on top. In North America, I think you are more likely to be served a fillet - no bones. Only in meal hall in university were we served these tedious salmon steaks full of bones. But in Europe, I hear fish is usually served with the bones, and I also experienced this in Paris when I tried turbot for the first time.

In Nova Scotia you are most likely to find haddock, cod, atlantic salmon, tuna, sole, tilapia, rainbow trout, sea bass, ocean perch, swordfish, shark, and halibut. And of course, I also enjoyed the two varieties of smoked salmon, smoked mackeral, solomon gundy (jarred pickled herring), artificial crab (made from pollock), and canned tuna, sardines, and kipper snacks (smoked herring). In restaurants you may also run into monkfish and arctic char, among others...
Here in Alberta, the selection is lacking... you can find cod, halibut, tilapia, sockeye salmon, sad looking atlantic salmon, and RED SNAPPER which is exciting because you really can't get that out east. Oh, and rollmops - my new love. And I did try Manitoba pickeral since I've been out here. I also notice that on the east coast, if you order fish'n'chips it's always cod or haddock. But go to BC and it's undoubtably halibut.

I would love to go down south and try all the exotic fish varieties. A few years ago in Halifax, I was all excited that a Bermudian restaurant had opened up. But all the dishes involved haddock and salmon! Then it was explained to me that it's too expensive to import fish from central america, so the dishes were made using local fish. Also, up north we have only a few types of fish, but many of them (well, that's changing), whereas down south there are many different species of fish, but smaller populations of each. Neat.

[hwinpp]

I ate fish last Saturday.

This is what was swimming in the tanks, groupers:



This is what we got served, I suspect tilapia:



Felt a bit 'stung', even though I like tilapia...

[lagatta]

It sure looks like a tilapia. They are for sale pre-fried as well as uncooked at Marché Oriental near here.

Food looks lovely.

existential, lovely account. Do you not get real crab in NS? There is snow crab in eastern Québec, logically it would be in adjacent Atlantic Canadian areas as well.

[Deleted]

I like the photo there hw. It reminds me of the time I used to take my kids fishing for trout. The only thing was, the fish were held in several large holding 'pools' owned by a local person. So we were certain to come back with several of them. It was a lot of fun. And there was no chance of them being laden with metals etc.

Nowadays we fish in the local lakes, there are so many of them and so easy to catch that we usually end up throwing most of them back in lake.

[Deleted]

In another ten years, the only fish available might be industrial tilapia, industrial salmon and industrial panga.

[bixaorellana]

Feb 3, 2010 9:13:27 GMT existentialcrisis said:

I grew up eating fish sticks, fish cakes, and LOTS of haddock. Mostly pan-fried, or baked in cream of mushroom soup or lemon herb butter.

Existentia, is haddock sort of the all-purpose, economic "chicken" of Nova Scotia? That would work for me!

Your list there reminded me of salmon croquettes. These were a once or twice a month feature in many homes when I was growing up, although I believe from a couple of generations before mine, at least. The ones I knew were made from canned salmon in a sort of rounded pyramid shape, fried and served with a cream gravy. They were also to be found on Fridays in cafeteria restaurants. The tuna version was a staple of struggling students and young marrieds. Anybody else remember these?

[imec]

Love fish. A memorable one was this whole Wolf Fish served at Benny the Fisherman in the Port of Tel Aviv...