Buying / Cooking / Eating Fish

meatmonger said:
(avoid supermarket vac packed and farmed fish (all salmon, sea bass & sea bream)
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Is this because you feel they arn't good value or that tasty or is their some other horrible reason why.

I like fish and have been trying to eat more cause it's so good for you, but i would never be able to get a whole fish and cut it up. I cant even walk past the fish counter without freaking out. Alive fish i have no problem with, it's just when they are dead, the head and those beadie little eyes that seem to follow you, the tail and the scales......makes me squirm!!!

I got 2 salmon fillets the other day from the supermarket and i thought they were ok. Dropped one on the floor when i went to take it out of the packet cause i didn't think the scales would still be on them. ( dont worry gave that one to the bf lol )

Never even heard of a lot of the fish people have mentioned, but a few of them sound really nice, usually all i eat is the frozen fish, or tuna.

If i phoned a fish monger would they be able to fillet all the fish for me? and i'd get the bf to pick it up? Or would it not be worth their while to do all of that?
 
Caveat said:
Great info meatmonger.

Now I'm really getting interested - how widely avaialble is gurnard? I've certainly heard of it but I don't think I've noticed it for sale before.

Never even heard of megrim - do you happen to know what they call it in Spain? Also, if you know of any other fish little known here but widely eaten in Spain or France I'd love to know!!
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Gurnard is a by-catch, so if a boat lands about 300 hundred boxes of fish, 3-6 might be boxes of gurnard (depending on where boat is fishing - south of dunmore east is good for the white fish, west towards Rockall is the best for prime / varieties). Up to a year ago, gurnard was sold as lobster bait. Now there is slightly improved demand, but its still cheap. Good fresh fishmongers will have it if you keep your eye out for it. Needs to be big enough to make it worthwhile as it requires pin-boning after filleting (chefs don't like work like this!). But its gorgeous.

Renaming pollock is senseless. Although BIM have the idea of renaming Megrim as Rockall Sole which i am in agreement with (not sure what it is in spain sorry). Megrim is not a bargan as the spanish love it.

will be down at the pier on thursday am and find out the other varieties that go to spain. there are several.
 
samanthajane said:
Is this because you feel they arn't good value or that tasty or is their some other horrible reason why.


If i phoned a fish monger would they be able to fillet all the fish for me? and i'd get the bf to pick it up? Or would it not be worth their while to do all of that?
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farmed salmon is a start and good intro to fish. but there are questions over nutriants as compared with wild fish. Problem is there is half decent farmed salmon, and terrible farmed salmon and very little to tell the difference.

wild fish are tastier and a goodfishmonger will fillet there and then or over the phone.
 
We would be fairly frequent fish eaters in our house, eating fish probably three out of seven nights in the week ( or more depending on circumstances). The variety available in Ireland is so poor compared to France- when you go over and back on the Ferry you see the Artic Lorries going over with fresh fish, it's really incredible how much we export. We were just over in France for 10 days a few weeks ago and ate fish every day- the supermarket fish counter would be bigger than the meat counter here. Although fresh is best we would buy quite a bit of frozen fish for the freezer, making middle of the week cooking easy. Aldi are good for value on frozen fish. I find it's easier to buy frozen prawns, crab claws, wild salmon and white fillets than to find really good fresh stock. And speaking of stock, has anyone ever tried to find fish stock in Ireland? Very difficult! Although we are big fish lovers I don't like monkfish at all. Wouldnt recommend it to someone a bit iffy about fish! Maybe just a personal thing.
 
Thanks for the info meatmonger.

@mathepac - yeah, I'd forgotten about pike - renowned for being easy to catch here too, even by amateurs I hear? Might just take the oul fishing up if pike is that good!

...mind you...the French? sure they'd eat anything :p
 
Hi Meatmonger. As the gurnard are small fish, would fish mongers be happy to fillet these normally? Also, how many fillets would make a main course?
Thanks for the info. As Vanilla mentioned, it's a pity we don't have the same selection of fish in our super markets as the French do, but maybe if we ate more of what was available the selection might improve - kind of catch 22
 
What's the crack with Grouper meatmonger?

Never seen it for sale or in restaurants here but it's fairly common in the Canaries. I loved it, but it is pretty ugly which is possibly another reason why it mightn't be popular here - my impression is that Spanish/Canarian restaurants and diners are far less precious about presentation than we are.

Angler fish is common there too - nice enough, but big boned and not much meat - reminded me of shark.
 
Mackerel is lovely on the barbeque with a bit of mustard for days like this. At least it's easy enough to buy here! Also full of those fish oils that are supposed to be good for you.
 
Nothing like very fresh mackerel, we used to sail a bit when we were younger and would drop a line outside. By the time we'd get across to where we were going (30 mins only) we'd have lunch. Gutting thte fish on the back of the boat and throwing mackerel heads to the gulls brings back very fond memories
 
Caveat said:
What's the crack with Grouper meatmonger?

Never seen it for sale or in restaurants here but it's fairly common in the Canaries. I loved it, but it is pretty ugly which is possibly another reason why it mightn't be popular here - my impression is that Spanish/Canarian restaurants and diners are far less precious about presentation than we are.

Angler fish is common there too - nice enough, but big boned and not much meat - reminded me of shark.
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Grouper is well tasty alright....I had it in Mexico last year, never even heard of it before! Also red snapper is pretty tasty though I lament a lack of fish knowledge as I do like fish and try to have it at least once a week...
 
Firefly said:
Hi Meatmonger. As the gurnard are small fish, would fish mongers be happy to fillet these normally? Also, how many fillets would make a main course?
Thanks for the info. As Vanilla mentioned, it's a pity we don't have the same selection of fish in our super markets as the French do, but maybe if we ate more of what was available the selection might improve - kind of catch 22
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filleting a gurnard (and most fish) takes juts a couple of minutes even for someone not used to it. Pin-boning (set of tweezers, just rub your figers over fillet under you hit the bones, then pluck out) takes 10mins per fish (novice time). a v big one will give you two fillets, one each ebing enough. Medium size ones you might need a fillet and a half to keep you going.

far as i know. Grouper and Red Snapper are warmer water fish.

Mackerel is briliant. nothing like dropping a line with several hooks and catching a bucket load for the craic and cooking on barbie.

The general rule in ireland is that demand is needed to create markets, otherwise the fish goes off. but fish sales have rocketed in last 18 months and now more interest in different types. Supermarkets are taking it more seriously, good fishmongers are hard to find.
 
sandrat said:
any ideas for someone who hates fish but wants to eat more?
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Try starting with making say salmon or crab fishcakes but using a lot of breadcrumbs or potatoes to start with so you gradually get used to the taste of fish. Helps with starting off children on fish as well. Another way is having fish pie that has a lot of cheese/potatoes. Or try this really easy receipe, cod, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, couple of slices of lemon, parsley, drop of olive oil wrapped up in tin foil and baked in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Samanthajane that's very funny you droppng the salmon steaks to the ground because of the scales............
 
Yeah dont think the bf would laugh if he knew he got the dropped one lol.

If i had known that they were there i wouldn't of even picked them up from the supermarket, it was just the shock of feeling the scales when i was taking them from the packaging to put them in the tin foil and cook them.

I dont even know where the fear/hate what ever it is has comes from. I wont even walk past the fish counter where the whole ones are i'll go back down and walk around. It's weird i know.

I haven't phoned anyone yet but god knows what there going to think when i ring one and ask them to get rid of the head, tail and scales for me and then the bf will be in to pick them up.......poor lad will think i'm a right freak lol (mmmm maybe i am )
 
Hi All,
Was wondering if it was possible to buy fish cheaper from the boats etc on the piers???? heard that the markup on fish from the boat to the shop is 3x, 4x 5x times what the fishermen get for it... so it is possible to buy from fishermen direct??? where and what's the best time????

I am living around dublin, but am around Dunmore East a lot too???

Thanks !

M.
 
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