The First of Many Fish Tales

I am sitting at my kitchen table surfing the net, answering email and pondering about my next blog post when there’s a knock at the door. It’s Patsy, my next door neighbor, dressed in standard fisherman’s rain gear so I know this is going to be good. He tells me to get off the computer and go grab my filleting knife. I have an impressive scimitar I purchased, many, many years ago, specifically for filleting large whole fish, a daily ritual, in every good restaurant kitchen. There is something very peaceful, satisfying and artful about the act of cleaning a fish. It requires patience and skill. Or perhaps the cooks are wise enough not to bother the chef who has a 24 inch Arabian sword, double edge, sharp enough to glide through skin, flesh and bone. I love this primeval aspect of being a chef; sword, bones, fire, water, earth.

One of the many benefits of nose to tail eating is the extra bits and pieces you normally don’t get or even see, not even at a good fishmongers. The collars are a delicate treat simply roasted with good extra virgin olive oil (XVOO) and sea salt. The Japanese have long been hip to this. Don’t forget the liver which could be salt cured, in many fish. The Sicilians grate sun dried bottarga over pasta. You can also carefully fillet off scrap meat from the spine and make your kids (or yourself ) some real fried fish sticks. Then there is always fish stock to make and freeze from the bones when needed for that soup or risotto in the near future. I like to go to the town fishing pier to clean my seafood for the less obvious reason. Everything we don’t eat gets thrown back into the river, so the bones or shells continue on down the food chain as they should. Nothing is wasted. The gulls are hovering over our heads. Back to my fish……..

Patsy has a fishing boat he launches from the shore of the Navesink River, down the road. Its striper season and he has 2 beauties in the hull of the bow of his boat. I always get the second fish. It has beautiful smoky silver and black amour. The scales have hints of lavender and a luminous shade of green moss which almost looks golden under the dull light on this gray day. I curiously open the fish’s mouth and its gills heave its’ last few breaths. He tells me he caught them near the shallow coastal waters. Stripers are anadromous by nature, like salmon or shad, migrating from the ocean to brackish waters when spawning.

As we eat the fish I am thankful for what this early spring brings to our table. At the beginning of yet another fishing season here on the river. I can’t help myself and think of all the clams, blue crabs, weakfish (sea trout) and more stripers to come. I always reciprocate by sharing my baked goods from my endless recipe testing. A perfectly symbiotic relationship; a fisherman who prefers chicken who has a sweet tooth and a chef without a restaurant who loves to cook and eat everything local and in season.

Simple Fried Fish Sticks
Any good fresh white fish will work, cut into strips, not more than ½ inch thickness
1 egg, lightly beaten
all purpose flour
Panko Japanese bread crumbs
sea salt
3-4 T. XVOO
1 T. butter

Method
Pat the fish dry with a paper towel and season lightly with sea salt. Dredge in flour, then the egg, finally bread crumbs. That’s it. Heat your pan up. Add XVOO and the butter. Cook until golden brown. These are so crunchy and delicious you don’t even need tartar or remoulade sauce.
Enjoy!