Friday 22 April 2016

Monkfish, king of the plates

This is the birthday meal I had yesterday in a local restaurant: monkfish. I first tried it a few years ago, again on my birthday (I usually have fish on my birthday), in the same local restaurant and really loved it, so I could not wait to have monkfish again. Yesterday was my second time. Good things come to those who wait, I guess. In any case, it was worth the wait.

The thing you need to know about monkfish is this: as a fish, in the ocean, it's ugly as sin, even by fish standards. Do a Google Images search and you'll see what I mean: they are scarier than sharks. It has more fitting names: fishing-frog, frog-fish and sea-devils. It would not sell so well if you would see one of these names on the menu, obviously. But once it is cooked and on a plate, it is truly the king of dishes. It truly has no bones to speak of (bog enough to easily separate the fish from it), it has plenty of flesh and is absolutely delicious. Especially accompanied with capers and olives like this one was. I adore olives and capers, so this monkfish dish seems to have been made for me. One of my cousins told me his gastronomic theory about fishes: "The uglier the fish, the tastier it is." My experiences with monkfish proved him right, so it deserves to be a great unknown line. In the ocean, it may be the ugly duckling, but in a plate, the monkfish is king.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I hope you had a great birthday,, I will remember that about this fish,,

Cynthia said...

Joyeux anniversaire en retard ! Voilà un vrai repas de fête :)