Eating gar

[Polespear.diving]

I had the opportunity to go spearfishing in a river a few weeks ago. I have some friends who said they would never eat gar because it is a trash fish. I ended up spearing a couple and I have to say they are surprisingly good. The taste is similar to dove or some sort of game fowl. I really enjoyed it. There are very few bones and a lot of meat on the back. I just cut up the stomach, cleaned the fish. Then, I dropped him in the fire cooking it in its own scales. Afterward just use a spoon to knock the scales off.

 

[agbiv]

Here in Texas we bow fish gar, use live bait and snarl fish them (ball of frayed nylon rope towed as a lure). They are surprisingly good. It's what I imagine eating a dinosaur would be like. Great fighters. Some are huge--6-7 feet long! One of the favorite method of cooking is to cut the meat along the back into "chops" about 1" thick. Belly meat is discarded due to the amount of bones. The chops are marinated in the fridge overnight in ---orange soda. The cheaper the better. Then slap on a seasoned grill turning once. Place some sliced onion after 1st turn. Cover with foil--shiney side down and finish for about 3 minutes. Cooks fast.

 

[Polespear.diving]

That sounds incredible! How do you cut through the scales?

 

[agbiv]

Chainsaw off the head, use an axe from underneath to start the skin peeling on the back and then a large boning knife under the skin, flencing it awat from the meat. Leave the scales on--too tough to fight and waste of time. Takes some practice but learning curve is fast. Salt on the hands and inside skin inside and out helps the grip.

 

[Polespear.diving]

Sweet! Thanks I will have to try it out.

 

[Mr. X]

I take it you are in the USA Polespear.diving? In the UK Gar fish are smaller, slender and sea fish. Ours reputedly have green bones & taste/cook like mackerel. Tricky to spear though, they often hide in the thin silver band of water immediately below the surface, where they can just disappear.

 

[Polespear.diving]

Yes sir,

The gar here are fast and built like tanks. I got cut when I speared one because their fins have spines as well. I shot at a rather large one and watched as my spear (polespear) bounced of the scales.

 

[Polespear.diving]

They like deep dirty water where visibility is 3ft. It is kind of unnerving to be down there with them.

 

[Oldsarge]

Obviously I haven't been paying attention, here. Shame! I've been seeing a lot of pictures of bow-fishers down South shooting gar. Some of them are so big I'd be afraid to get in the water with them . . . and they have huge teeth. And like Polespear I'd always read that they were trash fish suitable only for burying in the garden as fertilizer. But when I raised the question I was told that no, when properly handled they're actually quite good. I guess I need to head down that way and give it a try . . . after I've gotten a new bow and equipped it with reel and such. Haven't pulled a string in more years than I want to admit having.

Mr. X, they look like this:

 

[Polespear.diving]

Haha, should be fun! Good luck my friend.

 

[agbiv]

Sarge:

That is disgusting you molesting that poor prehistoric aquatic species--typical Army.

 

[Oldsarge]

You got it! We have to live off the land and when water runs through it . . . fish and grill!

Uh . . . you got any good Tex-Mex gar recipes?

 

[slingshaft]

Also, Louisiana recipes? I've eaten 'Gar Balls' (no pun intended) which are literally meatballs cooked in a red sauce,
Cajun style.

 

[agbiv]

Uhm... other than what I listed no--but they do make nice thick pork chop shaped pieces too. I would think some soy/wooster/rice wine vinaigrette marinade and then grill would work well. And maybe a soy, wasabi, honey basting glaze????

 

[Mr. X]

Oldsarge, that is downright scarey!

Agbiv, heartened to see you write "wooster sauce", because that is what we call here in Old Blightly, I normally heard it pronounced fully & phonetically in the USA, i.e. "Woosester-shire sauce", quite a mouthful! We are writing, of course, of Worcestershire sauce (normally pronounced as "Wooster-shir" or simply "wooster" in the UK). Which to most means the Lee & Perrin product - although apparently you can make your own, tamarind being the distinctive ingredient. I usually add a splash to tomato sauces and/or mince, yum:

Apparently good in Bloody Mary cocktails and tomato juice too.

 

[agbiv]

Senior X! Exactamente! Funny--I didn't even think of writing out completely. I was dashing off a quick response. Also on of my roomies at USNA was from Wooster, Massachusetts. That's pronounced Wuuustah!

 

[Oldsarge]

Few things on the menu are not improved by a shot of L&P . . . or a half cup of dry sherry . . . or twice as much garlic . . . or . . .

 

[agbiv]

Or drinking the Sherry or wne like ol Graham Kerr used to do on the Galloping Gourmet. Made an interesting close of the show! No humping the gar!!!! Makes for strange hybrid species.

 

[Mr. X]

Came across an old English cookery writer recently (I forget her name) who reckons the British now use too much garlic in their food (i.e. too many cloves for a given dish). How times have changed: anyone who has seen the film Carry on Henry will understand how little garlic used to be used here when I was a lad.

USNA - Annapolis? Isn't that where Tom Clancy's character Jack Ryan character hails from?

 

[Oldsarge]

I am hard pressed to understand the concept of 'too much garlic'.