Wolf fish at Browne Trading

[CSASphinx]

Gang,

I know that some people feel priced out (understandably) of the fine fish they have at Browne Trading, so I thiought you might like to know of a deal my wife brough home this weekend.

2 pounds of wolf fish @ $2.99 pound.

If you've never had wolf fish you deeserve to give it a try. White fleshed and firmer than a lot of the other white fleshed fish we see in markets around here, it is really a great fish for grilling...which we did with a simple lemon-herb sauce slathered on each side.

As an added bonus you'll get to see the mongers take the fillets off the whole fish...one of the ugliest you'll see in a fish case anywhere.

[johnnyd]

Also one of the most dangerous. While diving in Jonesport years ago, a colleague got a nasty bite almost through his forearm in a drysuit. It had no intention of letting go so it was quite a struggle.

We identified holes in the rocks where they lived by the piles of mangled crabs, urchins and fish debris strewn around it. Nasty!

[Adam Balic]

I assume that you are talking about this Wolf fish, if so it is a really delicous fish and relatively unknown. He in Scotland and the North-East Atlantic it is relatively common, but ask most people about it and they will never have heard of it. My fishmonger sells it as "John Dory", what sort of an idiot buys 60 cm long John Dory fillets.

Delicious, boneless fillets of a excellent size, a really terrific fish. I also get the heads for free and use them in Singapore fish head curry.

[CSASphinx]

Yes, that is the one...looks very eel-like.

The only possible reason I can think of anyone selling it as John Dory would be to make a huge premium on the sale, since John Dory is of very tight supply.

Of course, I'm also wondering why you would go to a fishmonger that perpetrates this deception. Don't you ever worry about other little fibs?

[Adam Balic]

This is the best fishmonger in Edinburgh and the quality of their fish ranges from the amazing to the mediocre. I don't have any problem with fish identification and rarely buy fillets, so I don't worry about tricks of the trade. If I see a problem I tell them as well, at another fishmonger I paid a small fortune for some pilchards (now popular as sardines, they are infact the same fish species, one name says "Holidays and Sun", the other says "Cat food"). Half of these turned out to be Horse Mackeral, a revolting fish. I noticed before leaving the store and told the fishmonger wat I thought of that.

"John Dory" is considered a bit of an English fish in Scotland according to a fisherman I spoke to, so even if they catch it tends here it tends to go South. This is a problem in Edinburgh where there are many English, some of which proberly want John Dory. The fishmonger could sell "'Seacat' (local name for Wolf fish):it's like John Dory", but no body would buy it. In effect the consumer gets a very superior fish for a cheap price, the problem with the names is I see it is as much an issue with the general ignorance of the buying public as with the practices of the fishmongers.