One of my favourite bloggists is my mate Baby Chou @ Le Moulin. As she's always very foody, I thought two could play at that game so I give you ...
... some sort of fish. I spent ages pulling their guts out of their cavities (my fingers are still honking) but there they are looking photogenic, stuffed with fennel and drizzled with pretentiousness. Much longer in the oven than is desirable when you're hungry, the result was this:-
And that was actually the high point of the meal. Carol did a very nice potato and onion bake thing and a home made tartare sauce and, of course, there's nothing finer than a bottle of Malaquias Branco (retailing at €0.97 a litre on this island). But the fish were rubbish. Very fresh but if there's one thing I can't abide it's a mouthful of fish bones. Come back Captain Birdseye, all is forgiven. Still, the cats had a nice night. Biccies and cheese for us later, though.
5 comments:
I emailed an amigo on Terceira (who has long done most of his family's cooking), who replied, "Garoupa. Excelente para grelhar, ou mesmo cozer ou em caldeirada." In English, he said it's Grouper, adding that it is excellent grilled or pan-fried or in a stew.
Do you suppose the species is perhaps an acquired taste? I suspect that historically the Azoreans, given the abundance of free fish in the ocean for the taking, aren't as particular as folks who have to pay for their fish! Of course, I'm just glad to be a vegetarian, so I don't have to eat them. My only vegetarian "cheat" is to have Sopas broth at the occasional festa over bread, cabbage or kale, and (if served) boiled potatoes -- but I don't eat any of the actual animal flesh.
Same amigo just sent the following online guide to fish of the Azores for your viewing pleasure (text is in Portuguese, but the photos are of course in the universal language, so just surf through it to familiarize yourself with their ugly mugs):
http://www.lotacor.pt/utilidades/ver_especies.php?letra=G
(set on the letter "G" for "Garoupa," but you can look up other species by clicking on the appropriate initial letter)
I think a "Garoupa" may also have been what your kitty was inspecting in your photo "Big fish, small cat":
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24718842@N04/3272872685/in/set-72157612759668115
Ack! Let's try the photo URL again:
Big fish, small cat: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
24718842@N04/3272872685/in/set-
72157612759668115
Kathie - that's a good website which I think leaves little doubt the fish in question were garoupas. Don't get me wrong, the taste was great just that there was too little flesh amongst the bones.
I think the fish in the "Big fish small cat" pic was a cherne.
Cherne -- I'm pretty sure you're right. Of course, as a longtime vegetarian, my favorite fish are the living kind :-) But to each their own (husband likes to eat fish).
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