Fish recipes - Garfish & Cod tongue

Minder

I had a visit to my local fish market yesterday morning - it was everything I had hoped for and more. Prices were 1/3rd of those in fishmongers and supermarkets and it was all very fresh. I went to buy hake and salmon but we agreed that we should also get something we've never had before. So I also bought garfish. Now I have a few recipes for garfish but I would love to hear if anyone has had a knockout meal of garfish - either something you have cooked or a restaurant dish.

So after the third circuit of the market I was buying some scallops when I saw a box of small cuts and I asked the trader what they were. Cod tongues he says. What do I do with those? Haven't a clue he says, looking like he can't quite believe anyone would eat them. 1/2 a kilo was 3.50 so I thought why not. I had caught the tail end of Rick Steins new show on Spain on Thursday evening. He was in a Basque restaurant and I'm sure they showed a dish of delicately cooked fish tongues. Anyone catch that?

I see from google that cod tongues are a delicacy in Newfoundland - cooked in flour or breadcrumbs and fried. Anyone ever eaten them? Or and other fish tongue recipes? I'm going to try iPlayer for that Rick Stein programme.

CJhaughey

I have eaten them many times, they are a delicacy as the muscle texture is different to other parts that are used more frequently.
IMO they are best breaded and fried, and maybe put with a nice sauce Viscaya or something like it.
They aren't actually the tongue of the fish but the isthmus which is the triangular piece that sits between the gills under the head.
They remind me of the piece of chicken with the T shaped cartilage in the breast section.

Garfish have green bones, its weird but normal for garfish.
For smaller ones I like sticking the tail in the mouth and out one gill, dredge in seasoned flour and deep fry.
When you straighten them out the meat falls off the bone.

Alun

Your 2,000th post, congrats!

Anyway, never had garfish before so can't comment on that, apart from the fact that they apparently have green bones, but I recorded that issue of Rick Stein's program and according to him what they were cooking was cod or hake throats, not tongues, although something could have gotten lost in the translation. Plus I'd have thought that removing a cod's throat without the tongue coming with it would be a bit tricky, and if the tongue is also such a delicacy, a bit pointless too.

BTW where is this fish market?

EDIT: Just seen CJHaugey's post .. looks like they may have been the same thing after all. Do fish even have 'tongues'?

Minder

2000 posts - I hadn't spotted that.

I watched the Rick Stein show on iPlayer this morning. The hake throats looks very like the cod tongues so I guess they are the same cut. As per Mr M's suggestion, I think they will go in panko and the deep fat fryer.

The garfish are going on the bbq as they are too big for the fryer. Both Tom Atkins and Hugh Fearlessly Eats-it-all describe a japanese snack of deep fried garfish bones, so that's on the menu too.

Billingsgate - a bit difficult from Bray, it took me 24 years to get there.

Alun

Minder wrote: »

Billingsgate - a bit difficult from Bray, it took me 24 years to get there.

Thought it sounded too good to be true! :mad:

Minder

Garfish is often compared to Mackerel and I wouldn't freeze mackerel as I feel it damages the flesh. Any opinions on freezing garfish?

Also how about freezing smoked haddock? Fresh haddock freezes fine, but for some reason I have a mental block about freezing smoked haddock. Is it commonly frozen?

CJhaughey

Minder wrote: »

Also how about freezing smoked haddock? Fresh haddock freezes fine, but for some reason I have a mental block about freezing smoked haddock. Is it commonly frozen?

Most of the large smoked haddock fillets are frozen in Scotland and sent down here where they are thawed and sold.
They should be labelled as frozen and thawed.

neuro-praxis

I have frozen smoked haddock on several occasions and the integrity of the fish seemed pretty uncompromised, although I usually use it to make smokies or fish pie, where it's less important.

CJhaughey

What makes frozen and thawed fresh fish not as nice is when the freezing process allows the cells to burst, this loses moisture but also some of the amino acids that flavour the fish, drip loss is the name for it.
Smoked fish have already been brined or dry salted as part of the process of smoking and don't suffer as much moisture loss as fresh fish, as a result freezing doesn't change their texture as much.