Fishing For Something Tasty

With all these holidays a happening it's nice to try something more refreshing like fish. Unfortunately most home chefs stick with the familiar, salmon, tuna, and cod. Some adventurous home chefs will try a bluefish or striper that caught by a friend or neighbor  however that's the extent of it. Yet there are some other types out there that might be worth considering.

Jeff Gordonier wrote about this in last Wednesday's New York Times Food section.(I had wanted to write about this earlier but got waylaid by Christmas and all the good food and recipes that come with it). Most fish have been over eaten and overfished by us  which leads to screwing up the ocean's environment. Not only do we live by the aforementioned species. we also gobble down way too much - close to 85 percent. shrimp, followed by pollock and tilapia.It;s time to try the lesser known  fish and many chef's across the country are doing just that.Many of them are looking to their child
hood fishing trips with dad or grandpa for inspiration. At Rose's Fine Foods in Detroit, the traditional Great Lakes Fish Fry is made, using a pan fried lobe of brook trout with a large blueberry pancake, a nod to the blueberry pies served as dessert at lake front fries. The trout along with the lesser used bluegill and smaller fish is what the chefs, cousins, Lucy de Parry and Molly Mitchell serve. Chef Michael Psilakis uses the porgies he grew up with in his restaurant MP Taverna.He cooks them in the delectable Greek style with lemon and herbs. He also cooks whitebait, a fish he and his dad used to catch , keeping them fresh n seawater and then dredging them in flour before a quick fry up

Some fish can be downright exotic. Home chef's should not worry about this though. The end result is still a tasty dish., this  philosophy,  make the Village island themed restaurant Norman's Cay popular. Chef and owner Ryan Chadwick takes the demon of Caribbean waters, the lionfish , removes it's venomous spines and the simply grills it in oil. It even has a following, so much so that there is a supply problem with them. Chaya, a trendy Los Angeles Japanese restaurant is where
 outliers and the exotic reign . Their sashimi is made from beltfish and  red cornet, standing in for the over fished cod. another Los Angeles Japanese restaurant N/naka , chef Niki Nakayama sources local California waters for the elaborate and traditional Japanese ten course tasting meal, kaiseki. SoCal's Huntington Beach's Slapfish offers just that  - slapfish, in the most common of dishes  - fish and chips; entrepreneur and chef Andrew Gruel  wants to take other lesser known fish such as hoki, a fish in the hake family and California rockfish, a prehistoric looking creature with Betty Boop eyes and make them more common than scrod.
.More and more of these exotic local beauties will be coming to a fish market nearby thanks to Dock To Dish, a coast to coast organization that helps fishermen come to chefs with lesser known species. This proves to be a boon to those on a budget.because these are usually cheaper than their more popular cousins.,

Treat yourself to lighter fare with the more cost effective lesser known seafood. You'll get to experiment with different varieties of fish. any of these work perfectly in tried and true dishes.