Cooking fish is clear-cut, if you just follow a few basic rules and you will plate up dishes to contend with the best of restaurants. It is recommended that we eat at least three or more portions of fish a week, as the experts have proved that if you eat more fish you are less likely to suffer from heart disease and cancer.
The fat in fish is omega-3, which seems to keep blood from getting sticky and to reduce the chances of having a stroke.
Maureen and me-self well, we just like fish and seafood for its handiness, simplicity of cooking, taste and if it’s good for us well, that’s a bonus!
Fish and seafood is available to buy fresh, frozen, or cured, your fishmonger or supermarket fish counter should stock a large choice of each of the groups of seafood there are 3 main groups of fish;
White Sea Fish
- White Fish (wet fish) including Cod, Haddock, Plaice, Whiting, Pollack, Saithe (Coley), Hake, Monkfish, Dover Sole, Lemon Sole, Megrim, Witch, Brill, Turbot, Halibut, Dogfish, Skates, Rays, John Dory, Bass, Ling, Catfish, and Redfish
- White fish are divided into two types round and flat.
- Large round white fish such as Cod and Coley are usually sold in steaks, fillets, or cutlets.
- The small round species such as Whiting and Haddock are usually sold in fillets.
- With flat fish, the larger species such as Halibut and Turbot are sold whole in fillets and as steaks
- Smaller flat fish like Plaice and Sole are usually sold whole, trimmed, or filleted.
- Including Herring, Mackerel, Pilchard, Sprat, Horse Mackerel, Whitebait, Tuna.
- Oil-rich fish such as Herring and Mackerel are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which have been shown to have a lowering effect on blood fats; this decreases the chance of blood vessels clogging up with cholesterol.
- Oil-rich fish is also a good source of vitamins A and D.
Fresh Water Fish
Including Salmon, Trout, Perch, Bass, Bream, Pike, Arctic Char
Then there are;
Shellfish (Molluscs and Crustaceans)
Including Clams, Cockles, Whelks, Periwinkles, Mussel, Oyster, Lobster, Crab, prawns, Crayfish, Scallops, Sea Urchins, Shrimp, Squid, Octopus, Cuttlefish
Always ask for assistance when selecting your fish and shellfish especially if you are not sure how it should be prepared and cooked your fishmonger should be happy to prepare fresh fish for you in exactly the way you want, if what you want is not available, species of the same type can always be substituted and once again a good fishmonger can help you out.
We should be eating at least two portions of fish a week including one of oily fish. Fish and shellfish are good sources of a variety of vitamins and minerals, and oily fish is particularly rich in omega 3 fatty acids. But if we want to make sure there are enough fish to eat now, and in the future, we need to start thinking about the choices we make when we choose which fish we eat.
Anyway, enough of all that let’s get to the main point of what we hope will be a weekly or fortnightly part of our blog;
Catch of the Day is; Gilthead Bream (Dorade, Royal Bream)
In France, it’s the much sought after Dorade and in Greece, the Tsipoura, and it is a high-priced luxury food.
In the UK Gilthead Bream (also known as Royal Bream) can be found all around the shores, but mainly on the south coast of Wales and it feeds mainly on shellfish.
Giltheads are successfully farmed in the Mediterranean, giving year round convenience in steady sizes from 300 grams to 1 kilogram.
With its rose-pink opaque flesh, the recognition of Gilthead Bream continues to become trendy as a rather sweeter tasting alternative to Sea Bass, and it may be cooked the same way as Bass and the other Breams.
Gilthead Bream is usually sold whole or as fillets, ask your fishmonger to remove the scales for you; you can use instead sea bream, red snapper or sea bass if you can’t find Gilthead bream.
Put in the refrigerator as soon as you can after buying and use within a 1 day, or you can freeze them for up to three months.
Preparing and Cooking
All bream have a juicy and excellent flesh that is perfect for grilling, baking, poaching, and pan frying.
It is especially appreciated by chefs because it has a succulent, solid flesh and only a few easily removed bones. These characteristics make it suitable not only for a wide range of soups and stews, but as an epicurean dish when served whole, either grilled, pan seared, or baked.
It is by tradition used in Mediterranean dishes such as bouillabaisse and couscous.
- To grill gilthead (or just fry zander) (lethemboyle.com)
- My Favourite Dish: Thomasina Miers on baked sea bream à la Veracruzana (telegraph.co.uk)