Things to remember at the fishmonger's

[andygates]

When the nice young lad says "do you want me to do anything to it?", that includes gutting.  Ah well, Beltane gets fishbits tonight

Blood and innards everywhere, it's like having the Pikes over...

[geraldc]

Gutting fish is easy. Knife in the anus, slice up the belly to the gills, rinse out under the tap...

[Chris S]

Gutting fish is easy. Knife in the anus, slice up the belly to the gills, rinse out under the tap...

And after that description, you want me to EAT it? 

[andygates]

It was delicious.  The head's still watching me from the cat bowl.

Jerk mackerel.  One of my new faves.

[Wowbagger]

When the nice young lad says "do you want me to do anything to it?", that includes gutting.  Ah well, Beltane gets fishbits tonight

Blood and innards everywhere, it's like having the Pikes over...

Why, what do you do to them? And do you grill them?

[redshift]

If you don't like gutting, simply run a filleting knife (you do have a filleting knife, right?) round the back of the gill cover (J-cut), hold the tail, go in just forward of the tail, down to the spine, turn the knife through 90° and run it up the the gill cut, keeping the knife against the bone all the way.  Flip the fillet off onto the chopping board and clean off any clingy bits.  Flop the carcase over, and repeat for the other side.  It's not quite as efficient, and leaves some meat behind, but if you don't like the gutting, it saves the hassle. 

An alternative method is cut the belly from the anus up to the head, cut through the spine behind the head and gills, and pull the head off.  The gills and guts come with, and you can just give the cavity a quick rinse.

[andygates]

I'm fine with gutting, I just thought it was gutted and was about to flop mister fishy in the pan guts 'n' all. 

[redshift]

Ah.   

[rafletcher]

I'm fine with gutting, I just thought it was gutted and was about to flop mister fishy in the pan guts 'n' all. 

Wouldn't have hurt I guess - I recall seeing locals on the beach on the Algarve barbequeing whole fish without gutting them, then munching the flesh off as they dangled them by the tail.

Descaling is something I tend to forget too! Too used to supermarket fish, when the guy at the local market has them "entire" so to speak.

[Pete]

While on the subject of fish and gutting thereof - we had mackerel on Saturday - rather less of it than originally planned, seeing as my wife found that one of the fish she'd bought was infested with nematode worms and threw it out.  These are quite common and an unpleasant thing to find - albeit harmless - in herring and mackerel.

She's now saying that herring and mackerel are not worth it.  I'm inclined to agree.  A shame really, because they're not endangered species, wild and hence totally organic, and healthy eating.  And I'm extremely partial to the flavour - herring especially!

Back to farmed salmon and trout, and white fish, I reckon.

[goatpebble]

While on the subject of fish and gutting thereof - we had mackerel on Saturday - rather less of it than originally planned, seeing as my wife found that one of the fish she'd bought was infested with nematode worms and threw it out.  These are quite common and an unpleasant thing to find - albeit harmless - in herring and mackerel.

She's now saying that herring and mackerel are not worth it.  I'm inclined to agree.  A shame really, because they're not endangered species, wild and hence totally organic, and healthy eating.  And I'm extremely partial to the flavour - herring especially!

Back to farmed salmon and trout, and white fish, I reckon.

I am rather puzzled. Why could mackerel be 'not worth it'?  I have never, ever witnessed the problem you describe. I buy locally caught mackerel, usually choosing smaller fish, and have always found them to be an easy and cheap way of eating some healthy stuff.

Perhaps you need to change your source.

[TimO]

...
Blood and innards everywhere, it's like having the Pikes over...

Why, what do you do to them? And do you grill them?

I think Andy was refering to the Zombocalypse ride, where bits of Bun Bun were notable hacked up and distributed over too large an area.

Ultimately baking in beer was involved rather than grilling.

[andygates]

I should try that with mackerel. 

Pete - just get your fish cleaned by Mr Gill the Fishmonger.  No guts heads or risk of worms.  And all that lovely big flavour and omega threes and a clear eco conscience!

[goatpebble]

I should try that with mackerel. 

Pete - just get your fish cleaned by Mr Gill the Fishmonger.  No guts heads or risk of worms.  And all that lovely big flavour and omega threes and a clear eco conscience!

Andy, mackerel catch themselves! They are the most stupid fish!

Try a day out fishing. You will have more than you can eat!

They are easy to gut. Don't even bother asking a fishmonger to do it for you. Learn how to do it. It's summer, so just put them on the barbeque with lots of rosemary. Have good Greek oil and loads of lemons to hand. Mackerel is an oily fish that really can take some frazzling.

I like grilling smaller mackerel. I gut them, and often stuff them with aromatic herbs, before subjecting them to a fierce heat. I anoint them with good Greek oil, lemon, and sometimes sumac. I am very generous with the black pepper.

[pcolbeck]

Goaties right Andy. If you get into a shoal of Mackerel you can heave them out of the sea so fast its ridicules. You can put five or six hooks on one line and bait them with silver paper and within a minute you will have a mackerel on each hook.
Don't be tempted to catch too many though as they are best very fresh and don't keep well at all.

[goatpebble]

Goaties right Andy. If you get into a shoal of Mackerel you can heave them out of the sea so fast its ridicules. You can put five or six hooks on one line and bait them with silver paper and within a minute you will have a mackerel on each hook.
Don't be tempted to catch too many though as they are best very fresh and don't keep well at all.

Mr Colbeck Sir! With you 'ridicules' I think you are drinking the same local wine as I am!

The best supper I can think of, mackerel on the grill, lemon, rosemary, good oil, and a glass of hyper chilled stuff from your neighbour's vines.

On the table is a big dish of roasted vegetables. Green peppers, artichokes, potato, courgettes, etc.

There is a big white plate, with tomato sliced thin, olives, capers, feta, and wild herbs.

It's not that complicated.

[pcolbeck]

And my mackerel have become capitalised too. It must be a most important and unique fish.

[FatBloke]

I just thought it was gutted and was about to flop mister fishy in the pan guts 'n' all. 

That's the best way to eat sardines!  Run 'em under the tap, a good sprinkling of sea salt, onto the BBQ for a couple of minutes each side and serve with a Greek salad and a couple of lemon slices.
Nom!! Nom!! Nom!!  

[andygates]

Sardines and little fishes yes - mackerel no

Best mackerel I ever had were caught in a lemming-run.  Bash on the head, gutted and under the grill and still flopping about as they cooked.

Nom nom ohyeahbaby nom.

[Hot Flatus]

While on the subject of fish and gutting thereof - we had mackerel on Saturday - rather less of it than originally planned, seeing as my wife found that one of the fish she'd bought was infested with nematode worms and threw it out.  These are quite common and an unpleasant thing to find - albeit harmless - in herring and mackerel.

She's now saying that herring and mackerel are not worth it.  I'm inclined to agree.  A shame really, because they're not endangered species, wild and hence totally organic, and healthy eating.  And I'm extremely partial to the flavour - herring especially!

Back to farmed salmon and trout, and white fish, I reckon.

I am rather puzzled. Why could mackerel be 'not worth it'?  I have never, ever witnessed the problem you describe. I buy locally caught mackerel, usually choosing smaller fish, and have always found them to be an easy and cheap way of eating some healthy stuff.

Perhaps you need to change your source.

Changing the source of your mackerrell won't prevent you from buying a worm-infested one!!   They all come out of the sea.

I had a Gurnard with worms in it once and it did put me off a bit... it's pretty disconcerting when you are preparing a fish and it is full of wriggly things.

[Pete]

I should point out that our choice of wet-fish sources, local to us, is quite extensive: there's:

• Waitrose wet fish counter
• Tesco's wet fish counter.

errr... that's about it. 

And buying wet fish is something yours truly is unequivocally banned from doing.  Mrs P. wants to personally scrutinise the fish herself before buying: she's very particular.  Even then, as with the mackerel last week, a bad 'un gets through sometimes.  The worms are just off-putting, not harmful if the fish is cooked.

(*sigh*) Things are so much better in France.  You can trust the fish there.  And the choice!  What wouldn't I give to turn up a nice tasty daurade* in a UK supermarket?!

*Sea Bream.  The grey variety is better flavoured than the rosé.

[Hot Flatus]

Daurade is gilt-head bream, I think.  Far superior to black bream.

[Pete]

Daurade is gilt-head bream, I think.  Far superior to black bream.

I'll take your word for it (I'm no fish expert).  Certainly tastes delectable if really fresh!  We like to grill them or bake en papillotte.