Wrasse

[spaghetti]

Labrus turdus (tordo in my language) and Labrus Bergylta (marvizzo) are different species but you can use them both for the sauce recipes. The marvizzo (Bergylta) tastes better and has an average much larger size.
Over here it's rated as a "poor" fish, only good for soup or for pasta sauces. But you know, I love soups and sauces, so that when I see one that's big enough I have no hesitation to sling my steel shaft on it and bring it to the kitchen.

 

[podge]

Now I’m not saying go out and slay every Wrasse you see but I’ve tried the smoked ones that Foxfish does and they’re better than any Bass that I’ve had. (foxy smoked Wrasse that is).

 

[omega3]

With the way you lot have built them up consider them toast!!!!....or smoked,poached fried with garlic, put in sauce, curry ,bbq .....

I have biiiigggg expectations now....is this a wind up??rofl

 

[James T]

Hmm - seems a bit individual to me. There do appear to be a few Wrasse fans appearing. I won't wax lyrical cause I haven't found a form of the fish that really appeals to me for taste, but for firmness I agree a larger fish is absolutely fine.

All this wrasse love, at least to me, is just polishing the turd(us) roflrofl

 

[azapa]

we have something too similar to be a coincidence, a Jerguilla. Easy to shoot too.

Guia de Peces, Jerguilla.

It is (was) also looked down on but the flesh is white and firm and IMHO tasty. I don't like too oily a fish. It eats weed almost exclusively and its intestine is extremely long to aid the digestion: hence on gutting it smells of old cabbage! (actually, more of farts, not to be too subtle). If you gut them quickly and by the ocean, rinsing abundantly, the farty smell is no problem.

The shame is, that as the "better" fish are over exploited, these "second class" fish start to look more appealing. SAD.

 

[omega3]

The wrasse are safe for now untill this weather dies down....nice and sunny though. Is that a catfish relation Azapa? Its not a wrasse.
Its just the lobster fisherman where I am mention there used to be catfish where I am which were good eating. I have not heard of catfish living in salt water, maybe brackish, and not seen one around here...yet.

I am not sure I agree with the shame you write of, don`t be so hard on yourself . I would say the shame is that the fish were over exploited to start with and that can be largely down to beurocracy, especially over here where over quota fish are dumped so as not to incur loss of fishing licence/prison sentence and loss of livelyhood(Black fish is another story). But tell that to someone who is hungry. It is all fashion, lobster was once poor mans turkey etc etc... I am not classing any fish except tasty and awful and available. This topic for example may encourage the consumption of a few more wrasse. And at the weekend when the Queen comes round for her usual afternoon tea (she does that all the time, parking her Roller on the street without paying for a permit is most enviable)and enjoys the wrasse I cook her. Well next thing you know "Queen eats wrasse" is in the press and then they all want it.......but with the sea state the way it is I may have to go to Markies for her tea!

 

[azapa]

no cat fish my friend. it has no barbs for one. It lives in the shallows, up to 8m, between the rocks and breakers, on the coast. Pretty sure it is a distant relation to wrasse, in a Darwinian sorta way

 

[Old Man Dave]

The wrasse are safe for now untill this weather dies down....nice and sunny though. Is that a catfish relation Azapa? Its not a wrasse.
Its just the lobster fisherman where I am mention there used to be catfish where I am which were good eating. I have not heard of catfish living in salt water, maybe brackish, and not seen one around here...yet.

I think you'll find they are refering to wolf fish or wolf eel as they are sometimes called catfish. Big head , even bigger teeth and an eel like tail. Only found well north in the Uk but commoner in Norway etc.

That you in your avatar? You a rig diver by profession?

Dave

 

[omega3]

Ahhhhhh its all clear now. Thanks!
I know "wolfies" see a few at work often holed up in a bit of subsea equipment, and know someone who had their finger mangled by one. Fool was taunting it after the divers had been feeding it for a few days!
Yes that is me, I was younger, had more hair. "Rigdiver", not heard that in a while, now you are showing an age!

Darwin, now there was a great man.


Cheers
James

 

[Old Man Dave]

James, was going to say "that you in the Kirby Morgan?" but that really would give away my age.

Dave

 

[omega3]

Dave, am I going to be reading about you in my new book I just bought "the history of oilfield diving" ???

I have just got to the chapter "Libya" and its 1963. I will start looking now shall I?

Great book!!

Thats a delux Kirby modified by Divex. Good for at least another 30years I`m sure!!!

oooooooooooohh I hear you all say

James

 

[sunfish]

Hi Omega 3, don't eat Sunfishrofl. They may seem big but I believe they're mostly bone and cartilage. We see them occasionaly here on the South coast of Ireland. They're recognisable from a distance by the way their large dorsal fin waves from side to side above the water surface. I think they come on the gulfstream and they're mainly seen in summer.
A couple of years ago I photographed a pair of lumpfish in their mating/nesting behaviour. The pics didn't come out well due to milky water conditions and the camera wasn't digital so I couldn't do much to them at that time. I can say that the female was a lot bigger than the male and she was slatey blue grey, whereas he was pinky purple with pink eyes. They almost looked like different species.

 

[omega3]

Sunfish are safe! lOl!
Well i went out yesterday and got these two.
I found filleting them a bit tricky but ended up with 4 nice "j" fillets as described by OMD. There was a fair bit to discard so I reckon cooked on the bone might be better to get every bit out of it.
I pan fried them to get a good idea of what they taste like.
The meat was firm and flakey. The taste was very very mild but started to come through after the 3rd fillet. It was nice enough!
I will have the odd one of these now and again to try in the suggested recipes.

 

[Old Man Dave]

I took a 5lb wrasse the other day http://forums.deeperblue.net/718952-post1088.html. Gave the fillets to my brother and the frame to my mate for pot bait. Yes the ratio of fillet to whole weight isn't too high but you still get a good meal from a decent fish.

Dave

 

[omega3]

Very nice!
I wish we got the bass. I love bass. The shop bass is all farmed and so I guess at the restaurant too around here.

 

[Mr. X]

I commend your desire to get more off each fish but OMD is wise -- convert the leftover carcass to tasty lobster via a lobster pot (mine is collapsible & cost about £6/7 off eBay - and could also be used to catch fishing bait or American Signal crayfish).

Otherwise, consider making fish stock with the head & skeleton (freeze it for later use), which can be used in other recipes, inc. boulabaise. Alternatively cutting a real big one one into steaks cross-sectionally will get most of the meat on the plate.

Saw a very big (deep rather than wide) ballan wrasse at the weekend & several other quite large ones. Not as big as those seen round the Lizard though.

 

[omega3]

Hi X
No point for the lobster pot for me .Its the only thing I have in abundance where I am. Parton crab as well. I can pick up as many as I need in a few minutes they are like rats up here, 10-20 in an hour easy if I wanted but I am happy with 6-8 all good size 4-5 lb and the odd monster. I will be putting one in the bag and looking at the next usually. The freezer is loaded with em! And they make great gifts. Its going for them that I see the wrasse which got me thinking about them. The stock pot is the answer or like you said BBQ....Yum!

PS even the local lobster guy doesn`t hate me or the others that come for them. He is using an all new pot from Canada which is supposed to be the mutts. Its quite a lot bigger and is baited really easily. He is often getting 7 in a pot he reckons! He says it is £54 to us lot but he gets em a lot cheaper.

 

[Mr. X]

roflYou've got lobsters like rats & we're talking about wrasse?! I guess the novelty must wear off. I bet you're a popular guest.

 

[Old Man Dave]

The Old Foodie: Dialectical Difficluties.A parton (partan, partane, perton, perten, pertine, pertein, pertian) is, apparently, Gaelic for crab. Ain’t linguistic trivia grand?

Common edible brown crab (cancer cancer or something)?

Not so long ago (10years approx-ish) boats were travelling all the way from Guernsey to Scotland to fish for lobster. They would take their own pots and transport their catch back live in their vivier tanks after a month or so and then on to France to land them. We had the expertise and the experience to exploit a far away resource but it's no longer profitable as others with less overheads and less than a near 2000 mile round trip to make, have taken over. Lot of lobbies up there though, just not much of a market.

Dave

 

[podge]

Hi X
No point for the lobster pot for me .Its the only thing I have in abundance where I am. Parton crab as well. I can pick up as many as I need in a few minutes they are like rats up here, 10-20 in an hour easy if I wanted but I am happy with 6-8 all good size 4-5 lb and the odd monster. I will be putting one in the bag and looking at the next usually. The freezer is loaded with em! And they make great gifts. Its going for them that I see the wrasse which got me thinking about them. The stock pot is the answer or like you said BBQ....Yum!

PS even the local lobster guy doesn`t hate me or the others that come for them. He is using an all new pot from Canada which is supposed to be the mutts. Its quite a lot bigger and is baited really easily. He is often getting 7 in a pot he reckons! He says it is £54 to us lot but he gets em a lot cheaper.

Lobster’s running around like rats……..
Wife pack the bags and drag the kids out of school, we’re moving to Scotland.rofl