rudolph_hart
Well-Known Member
The usual recommendation is cook until the brick begins to soften then throw away the mullet and eat the brick...
That's the one!
Is it safe to eat fish caught in a marina?
- Thread starter Oscarpop
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That's the one!
Robin
Well-Known Member
Years back I had baked whole (grey) mullet regularly in a restaurant in Swindon
eek called 'Frogs' run by a (very good French Chef, the Mullet came from Brixham I was told. I suspect there is an element of the Emporer's clothes that downgrades mullet and upgrades bass which is delicious but then so are many other fish not so fashionable.oldgit
Well-Known Member
I suppose I should have had a go at these chaps in Dover in May, which I presume in my ichthyological ignorance are bass, but I don't have the gear, though I could have dangled my mackerel line I suppose. Last year we saw some sturdy catfish in Laboe around the boat.
Thems is Mullets
simon barefoot
Well-Known Member
Utter rubbish, at least in any of the hundreds of bass and mullet that I've caught. Take a mullet from the head of the Penryn River, and a bass from a mile or so futher down, and simply fry a fillet of each, or roast the whole fish and you would have a hard job to tell the difference. I have NEVER had a mullet that tasted of mud. Ever. Total fallacy in my experience, and that comes from 35 years fishing, 10 years of that commercially.
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
Don't sell mullet by any chance do you?
My experience is based on 40 years of catching and eating fish from the Solent area. I eat anything in the way of seafood and fish but wouldn't waste time cooking a mullet, it's only purpose would be to fill out a fish stew if I couldn't get a decent bit of Conger.
doug748
Well-Known Member
I detect a difference of opinion here.
But I have never even seen a Frenchman fishing for mullet, not like our maritime brothers to ignore a tasty, free food source.
Maybe I should stop throwing them back?
PS,
I am darkly starting to suspect I was fed mullet this summer - see my post on Pub, bar and restaurant recommendations page.
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Robin
Well-Known Member
There are lots of fish out there that are not fashionable in smart restaurants. Monkfish was once only used for cheap imitation scampi now is an expensive gourmet treat, how many Brits mind have tried Monkfish cheeks from the ugly head bit or even cod cheeks, both a delicacy in Spain. Then there are elvers, baby eels loved in Spain raw, even alive. How many have eaten goose barnacles, again loved in Spain where they are keenly sought amongst breaking seas over the rocks on the Atlantic coast.
Anyone like crab? Scavengers that eat dead fish and stuff on the sea floor, yet still very expensive in restaurants. I love them too and we used to buy one each for a dinner option two or three times per month.
Time to open the minds guys!
Anyone like crab? Scavengers that eat dead fish and stuff on the sea floor, yet still very expensive in restaurants. I love them too and we used to buy one each for a dinner option two or three times per month.
Time to open the minds guys!
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
Years back I had baked whole (grey) mullet regularly in a restaurant in Swindon
Unfortunately most "Sea Bass", as it is now fashionably called, is farmed and to a portion size; it in no way matches the quality of a decent sized wild fish.
RobBrown
Well-Known Member
Both delicious!
I have had grey mullett a no of times, most notably a large whole baked one all to myself in an Emsworth pub back when I was doing my very first dinghy sailing tuition at Crab Searle's establishment. It was excellent, but I would agree it probably benefits from more robust cooking styles than Sea Bass, which I eat a fair amount of now that commercial farming has reduced the prices. All fish should be cooked simply- baking, pan frying or grilling the best. Yum, yum!
I have had grey mullett a no of times, most notably a large whole baked one all to myself in an Emsworth pub back when I was doing my very first dinghy sailing tuition at Crab Searle's establishment. It was excellent, but I would agree it probably benefits from more robust cooking styles than Sea Bass, which I eat a fair amount of now that commercial farming has reduced the prices. All fish should be cooked simply- baking, pan frying or grilling the best. Yum, yum!
Robin
Well-Known Member
Plenty of French anglers fish for Mullet, even in dirty harbours like Concarneau by the fish market where they also fish for conger. Mullet is sold in most French fish markets too, look in La Trinite market too, as well as the covered market in Concarneau by the marina.
Robin
Well-Known Member
We used to catch bass sometimes, bought it maybe three times a month from our local fishmonger caught from local day boats, bought and caught wild bass in France and we also had occasional farmed bass from our local fishmonger in Poole, large ones not supermarket tiddlers and they were every bit as good as the wild ones, just £5/kg cheaper. The fishmonger himself could not tell the difference other than in his till as collected from customers.
Time for a blind tasting maybe????
johnalison
Well-Known Member
Actually no, they baint. I'm used to our own Essex mullets and these were much smaller, shinier, scalier and more active.
Sequoiah1
Well-Known Member
Most of the mullet caught here are shipped to france!
doug748
Well-Known Member
And I have found out what they do with them.
They boil the buggers for three days and flog them to unsuspecting British yachtsmen.
chartnavigator
Well-Known Member
I still say mullet taste muddy, at least the ones I caught and ate in Portland harbour did. If you really must try to catch them though they are not as easy as they look. They have soft mouths and only suck and play with the bait, you can't strike them on the hook and have to patiently wait until they swallow it whole. bread dough mixed with cotton wool to stop them sucking it off the hook works well. If all else fails drop a large try barb among them, wait a bit then yank it out. You may also snag one on the way up. This is not nice or sportsman like though, so I would not go to the bother having had a disappointing meal 50 years ago, which I have still not forgotten.
Regards Chris.
Regards Chris.
VO5
Well-Known Member
Only a small minority of people (for statistical reasons) will immediately concur with the following statement, which has stood the test of time:
"Consumption of fish that do not have scales is not suitable for human consumption, on the basis that scaled fish discharge absorbed poisons via their scales, whereas shell fish and sea creatures that do not have scales retain all or some of them".
"Consumption of fish that do not have scales is not suitable for human consumption, on the basis that scaled fish discharge absorbed poisons via their scales, whereas shell fish and sea creatures that do not have scales retain all or some of them".
maxi77
Well-Known Member
I must admit my answer depends on the marina. Some have a very good water exchange every tide, whilst others have a very small water exchange. I suspect most of you can guess which ones provide the healthiest food.
Searush
Well-Known Member
Only a small minority of people (for statistical reasons) will immediately concur with the following statement, which has stood the test of time:
"Consumption of fish that do not have scales is not suitable for human consumption, on the basis that scaled fish discharge absorbed poisons via their scales, whereas shell fish and sea creatures that do not have scales retain all or some of them".
Isn't that H&S advice 2,000 years old & aimed at Middle-Eastern dwellers?
Lobster, Crab, Cockles, Mussels, Winkles & Jellied Eels all seem OK to me & even the Eastern Med like their Calamari - none of which meet your requirements.
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
More than 3,400 years old. It's from Leviticus which is believed to have been written by Moses between 1440 and 1400 BC
Leviticus 11 V 9-12:
9 Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales.
10 But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean.
11 And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean.
12 Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.
chartnavigator
Well-Known Member
I'd say 3000 years old at least, if it refers to Leviticus. Mind you, 3000 years ago, in the middle east, inland, where shellfish might be 3 or 4 days on a camel across a desert or two, would you risk eating oysters or lobster in Jerusalem or Damascus?
