Mackerel

[KINGFISHER 9]

Do you eat meat or veg? Fields are often spread with manure.

Yes thank you and very nice they are too! What it really comes down to is that I don't really like fish much and it gives me a good excuse not to eat the stuff! …. :encouragement:

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

Do you eat meat or veg? Fields are often spread with manure.

I've never seen a bag of spuds in a feeding frenzy though... Mebby spuds and fish are different?

As for worms, in hundreds of fish I've gutted, I've only seen worms twice. From the ikky article linked above I guess if they aint in the guts, they aint in the flesh.

 

[rotrax]

I've never seen a bag of spuds in a feeding frenzy though... Mebby spuds and fish are different?

As for worms, in hundreds of fish I've gutted, I've only seen worms twice. From the ikky article linked above I guess if they aint in the guts, they aint in the flesh.

A lady fishing next to me on the town dock in Cedar Key, Florida caught a big-40 lbs-Red Drum or Redfish.

A passer by, a local fisherman suggested putting it back after taking a photo as the big ones always had worms in the guts and flesh.

The ladies husband declined and took the fillets off.

They were riddled with obscene almost transparent worms which appeared a few minutes after the fish was cut.

 

[[70521]]

I've never seen a bag of spuds in a feeding frenzy though... Mebby spuds and fish are different?

You've not lived!

 

[afterpegassus]

Well, I doubt you've never gutted a cod or coley from the Minch then? You'll be lucky to find one in fifty without worm.

As for makerel, three cuts with a decent knife : first from tail to head stripping the dorsals. Next, in behind the gill and follow the spine to the tail for one fillet and third cut, as previous but on opposite side for fillet no. 2. Rinse, dab in flour and into frying pan of hot oil.
Enjoy with fresh buttered bread and booze of your choice.

 

[Uricanejack]

Why on earth would you use rum or vodka to kill a fish. I don’t like vodka or gin. But I wouldn’t by it to kill fish.

A quick belt on the head with a small wooden club. Does the trick. I used to use a hand line with feathers as a kid but preferred the fun of a small spinning rod and spinner. Catch a few to have fresh rather than a hundred to freeze.

Split down the back and fried in oatmeal. Fresh caught and fresh cooked is best. I had a few from Loch Dunvegan last summer.
I like sushi and sashimi, the chances of parestites may be low but the consequences unpleasant. Blast frozen first.

 

[langstonelayabout]

Some chefs disagree, but as far as I know freezing such fish before eating is now mandated by European Law.

Ah. Suddenly it makes sense. The Greek fishing boats bobbing directly outside the Taverna where the menu says that all fish has been frozen before preparation. I didn't realise the law prevented us eating fresh fish...

 

[BelleSerene]

These parasitic worms: if you’ve beheaded, sliced gently from anus and mouth to open the body cavity, scooped out organs and washed inside, are there realistically any left? No-one eats the organs, and you have to have been clumsy to pierce an organ (the intestine, say) while opening it. Anyone know about these?

 

[Skylark]

Yuk! This thread has progressed from being interesting, amusing, helpful and informative to now being positively grotesque!

I made the mistake of clicking on the FAO link and read that European standards can allow up to 5 worms in 1 kg of flesh (although U.K. standards seem higher). Further that the little beggars can be up to 3mm dia and several centimetres long. They are killed by either freezing or cooking. So we have cooked worms on the menu. Not a delicacy to my taste.

It’s truly amazing what can be learned in a sailing forum.

We had salmon and prawn stir fry last night. My wife asked me why I was inspecting the salmon pieces before eating.

I sincerely hope that no one starts a thread about parasites in meat production or I may starve

 

[Tomahawk]

Keep it alive in a very large bucket.. until you are about to cook.
Send it to see it's maker and grill/fry straight away

A little lemon is good... but not necessary.

 

[Tomahawk]

Yes thank you and very nice they are too! What it really comes down to is that I don't really like fish much and it gives me a good excuse not to eat the stuff! …. :encouragement:

Then you have yet to experience some wonderful tastes.
The simple cooking rule with fish is .. fresh.
Kept alive in near freezing temperatures if it has to be transported the woken up and dispatched. Bones are a bother but they once you get the hang of cooking them right the flesh falls off the bones and you can easily take an entire skeleton out in one piece.

 

[[70521]]

Y
We had salmon and prawn stir fry last night. My wife asked me why I was inspecting the salmon pieces before eating.

Lets not get into the subject of salmon lice.

 

[KellysEye]

Different types fish take different coloured swimming lures, for example sailing to Gibraltar I had two swimming lures out one red and white and one blue and yellow the mackerel took the blue and yellow.

 

[Hydrozoan]

Yuk! This thread has progressed from being interesting, amusing, helpful and informative to now being positively grotesque! …

I sincerely hope that no one starts a thread about parasites in meat production or I may starve

Once whilst queuing in a delicatessen, Mrs H was idly looking at a large jar of coriander on the counter and observed that some of the seeds appeared to be moving independently. Whilst stationary, the beetles (?) concerned looked exactly like the seeds. We consoled ourselves that had we previously consumed any of them unknowingly, they had at least been living on coriander. :ambivalence:

 

[johnalison]

Once whilst queuing in a delicatessen, Mrs H was idly looking at a large jar of coriander on the counter and observed that some of the seeds appeared to be moving independently. Whilst stationary, the beetles (?) concerned looked exactly like the seeds. We consoled ourselves that had we previously consumed any of them unknowingly, they had at least been living on coriander. :ambivalence:

We used to buy delicious popadoms from an Indian shop in Watford. We enjoyed them greatly, until one pack made its own bid to escape from the cupboard.

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

Different types fish take different coloured swimming lures, for example sailing to Gibraltar I had two swimming lures out one red and white and one blue and yellow the mackerel took the blue and yellow.

And dont forget that fish prefer one side of the boat. Hang you line off the wrong side and you get nowt.
One day fishing, I was one side, 2 people off the other side, even swapping tackle... all day I got just one so small its a wonder it got on the hook, the others got a bucket full.

 

[BelleSerene]

European standards can allow up to 5 worms in 1 kg of flesh (although U.K. standards seem higher). Further that the little beggars can be up to 3mm dia and several centimetres long.

This is getting alarming! Do mackerel parasites exist in their flesh at all - or just in the organs and tucked away in the belly flaps but not penetrating the fish's meat while it is alive?

The UN's Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says [ http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/tan/x5951e/x5951e01.htm ]:

The 'herring worm' is often found in herring, mackerel, whiting and blue whiting, but it also occurs in many other species. Its scientific name is Anisakis simplex. It grows up to 2 cm long in fish, is almost colourless, and is found tightly coiled and encased in the guts and flesh, sometimes in considerable numbers, particularly in the belly flaps. Anisakis can migrate from guts to flesh in fish left ungutted after capture, notably in herring, mackerel and blue whiting.​

The Washington Post, that angler's bible, says [ https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...46c7c0e/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6d9f23ca59c6 ]:

If the fish is freshly caught and immediately filleted, however, you won't run into this problem. The reason is that the worms live in the intestines of the fish and would be removed by cleaning. But if you refrigerate a fish whole before cleaning it, the worms will have a chance to bore into the flesh of the fish.

​

So if you don't leave the fish after capture, and you remove the internal organs (slice from anus to where the head was before you removed it, sweep out with finger and wash) and cut away the 'belly flaps' [ https://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/fish-and-shellfish/how-to-bone-a-herring-trout-or-mackerel ] - and wash - does that make it safe? In other words, can the worms actually get into the live fish's muscle?

 

[GrahamD]

A cooking method told me by a Poole fisherman. Set a pan of salt water simmering on the stove, catch and gut a mackerel then gently poach the gutted fish for about 5 mins, or until the flesh easily separates from the bones.

Serve with lemon and bread and butter. The best bit is that there is much less smell left in the boat than when mackerel is fried or grilled.

 

[Cardinal]

I was told a good way to eat it is to roll the cleaned fish in oatmeal and fry it.

You were given good advice. In fact that is the best way to consume mackerel, only also requiring a light seasoning with salt and pepper and a squirt of lemon juice, preferably within a couple of hours of pulling it from the briny.

 

[gordmac]

I would normally break their necks as several here have suggested. I was talking to someone about that, they suggested breaking the neck could just paralize them but leave them alive, any thoughts?
My mother used to salt them and we are them through the winter.