Asymmetrical Information

Alfio's in Chevy Chase has a great baked filet of sole with a small side dish of spaghetti in tomato sauce. Back in grad school, I went there once a week.

Filet of sole francese (francaise) is very good too.

See the underrated Tom Hank's comedy The Burbs for a hilarious scene involving sardines.

Fish are better caught that 'et. Only the mildest, whitest, non-'fishy' smelling fish go down this gullet.

I definitely don't want to sound like a know-it-all, but just in the interest of precision, fish have a bony or cartalaginous inner skeleton. Like sea bass, halibut, shark, rays, skates (even the energetic ones). However, those crustaceans are of the Anthropods, and are in the same animal phyllum as scorpions, spiders, etc. They just have those hard outsides, and are, indeed, quite delicious.

I enjoy catching fish of many types, but the release is just as enjoyable as the catch.

You think sardines are nasty, try some anchovies.

I thought that growing up. Now I know at least seven ways of preparing fish that are pretty darn tasty. It's mostly in choosing the fish you start with. If you've tried all the following, then you've done your duty, and you really *don't* like any fish:

1) Trout almondine (broiled or pan fried sport fish)

2) swordfish steak and/or shark steak (broiled or grilled big game fish)

3) fresh salmon grilled with rosemary (add lemon if it's too fishy, but it's better to pick salmon that isn't.)

4) Baked cod (baked coldwater whitefish)

5) tilapia escabeche (mild fish in spicy latin red wine sauce)

6) hamachi and/or maguro (raw tuna sushi)

7) southern fried catfish (Fried catfish. Results depend entirely on the type of dredge and type/condition of fat - you could also substitute your favorite tempura or beer batter)

The above covers all the basic types of non-oily fish. While you're testing the sushi, have some barbequed sea eel (unagi), which isn't technically a fish. And there are three types of oily fish that you can skip, since you clearly don't like sardines.

There's also stuffed sole, finnan haddie, florentine, ceviche, bearnaise, hollandaise, thermidor, various curries and chutneys, but if you have tried the seven listed and not liked any of them, then it is unlikely that any of the latter will appeal either, since they share characteristics.

Hint for trout almondine - don't eat the skin, it's just there to hold the flesh together.

Shark and swordfish steaks are generally very good, and very easy. It's like a light steak or a meaty fish.

Salmon is very iffy. Sometimes it's awesome, but a difference of one or two days in freshness can make it very fishy. Cultivate a relationship with a butcher so that you can be sure you are getting the un-fishy kind.

For baked cod, just go to a Luby's or Furr's or other cafeteria-style restaurant. Perrennial favorite, and it'll be mild and consistent. If you find there's nothing there to like, then so be it.

Escabeche is an awesome dish. I have a chicken version from an old Sunset magazine that I use. Any mild white fish will work, but again get your butcher's assurance that it isn't a "fishy" kind. You can also soak "fishy" fish in milk for an hour to cut down the fishyness. Discard the milk or get a recipe for finnan haddie. Escabeche cuts fishiness naturally with wine vinegar. Other dishes can use lemon.

For sushi, find a sushi snob friend to hang with, order vegetables tempura or chicken teriyaki for yourself and don't forget to buy drinks for the chef. Barbeque sea eel and california rolls are mild intros. Avoid sea urchin.

Catfish you probably have to go out west to get done right. Don't try it anyplace where it has time to sit under the lights. You want a buffet where it's going as fast as it comes out. Or a friend's house who has the proper equipment to feed you straight out of the deep frier. Don't try it with less than 1-2 inches of oil, or it jest aint right. The alternative is a fusion chef doing upscale southwestern fare - tempura catfish with mango-juniper ragout...

I didn't list curry as a must-try, because if the escabeche doesn't work for you, a curry probably won't either. But there are some pretty famous combinations that come from south asia that are different enough to warrant some experimentation, if any of the above ring your bell.

But me, I don't know nothin bout cookin no fish.

Tuna parmesan ... Nanny's recipe. When I was growing up, in the 1940s, my uncle had a small ChrisCraft berthed on the South Shore of Long Island, in Freeport, and he'd go a few miles offshore and land tuna.

Nobody ate it then -- it was a sport fish -- so if he didn't catch any, he'd buy it for next-to-nothing at the end of the Woodcliff Canal, after the sport fishermen had had their pictures taken.

Cut and trim thin steaks of fresh-caught tuna, soak in salted water, bread it as you would veal scaloppine (seasoned flour, dipped in beaten egg, bread crumb crust) -- actually, Nanny used plain bread crumbs she rolled herself from stale bread, but I use Italian-style bread crumbs and throw in extra oregano and grated Parmesan. Saute until nicely browned, and then simmer in your favorite tomato sauce until your hungry guests sit down.

Aunt Ann and Uncle Dolph kept their freezer well-stocked with tuna, and when I came home from grad school for a visit they'd give me a going-away care package because they knew (it was 1960) that I couldn't buy tuna in Chicago except in cans.

Full disclosure I hate any and all forms of cooked fish, except the milder-tasting crustaceans.

As we say in New Orleans, poor you.

I can make a red snapper in a creole sauce I bet you'd eat. Presuming you like food =8^]

yours/
peter.

There is nothing better than sardines grilled on a BBQ with simple butter and lemon. Nothing.

The critical thing about sardines - like mackerel and other oily fish - is to get them completely fresh. Catching your own is fine. Buying them from the fisherman is good. Buying them from a fishmonger whom you can be confident bought them from the fisherman that morning is perfectly acceptable. But if the supply chain is any longer than that, do something else instead.

Then all you need is something simple and sharp to complement the fish. Mackerel with gooseberries, for example, is one of those combinations made in heaven.

Colon Cancer, Not as Bad For Your Health as You'd Think.

Agree with John, 5:22 pm.

One of the best things I ever ate was fresh sardines from the Adriatic on a Greek island, brushed with olive oil, grilled outdoors, and eaten like little corn-on-the-cobs.

Accompanied by homemade (no preservatives) retsina, salad with tomatoes and cucumbers just picked, and fresh bread.

Unbelievably good.

Accompanied by homemade (no preservatives) retsina

Ah, Retsina...after the first bottle you don't even notice that it tastes like Pine-Sol.

But I also like Sardines, grilled is wonderful. But then again, I really like fish.

MMMMM...fish. Good stuff. The game fishes are generally only good when eaten fresh, though. A rainbow trout straight out of the pond and into the frying pan with a little butter is simply amazing. The flesh is delciate and flaky, and the taste is not particularly "fishy".

The problem with all seafood, including shrimp, is that it doesn't handle the freezing process well, and tends to turn rubbery and odorous. Even so, a filet of salmon grilled on a cedar plank with sweet terriyaki glaze is too much of a treat to pass up, frozen or not...and here in Colorado, that's how fish arrives. (Well, unless you're really good with a rod and line, but I'm not.)

Wait--there are people who don't like sardines in oil, on saltines dipped in the oil?

Even though my wife makes me eat them outside, I still eat smoked kippers. Wonderful things.

If you don't like fish, you should at least consume fish oil supplements. Fish oil (which have the Omega-3 fatty acids) provide a number of health benefits for the brain and the heart.

I suspect there’s a much wider distribution of opinion about the tastiness of sardines than about the fun caused by Cancer.

I suspect there’s a much wider distribution of opinion about the tastiness of sardines than about the fun caused by Cancer.

Did someone say fresh fish?

http://www.okienoodling.com/

Well, damn.

Thanks for smashing my dreams, Jane - obviously we're utterly incompatible.

No cooked fish? Good lord.

Sardines are pure fishy goodness in a can. (And the little wiggly spines!)

Hey:

remember a while back that Jane posted something about lying about being allergic to seafood?

Well, this is why.

You tell someone you HATE any and all forms of cooked fish, they will, "oh no, not MY cooked fish. Just try it. Oh just try it!! You'll LOVE it!" They just WONT..STOP..BUGGING..YOU...You try it, then.... Barf.

You tell people you are allergic, and they leave you alone.

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