Fish with pale flesh are inferior to salmon and trout. Catfish from muddy waters taste like mud. Bony fish are useless.
There are many myths and misconceptions regarding fish flesh, just as with terrestrial critters.
Often they are wrong, but sometimes they contain a kernel of truth as well.
White king salmon, also known as ivory Chinook, illustrate the fluctuating cultural beliefs about fish flesh.
In contrast to most Chinook, whose meat is cherry red, about one in 20 kings have musculatures that resemble white fish or walleye.
An alternative diet perhaps squid instead of shrimp was considered inferior fare by generations of anglers, who regarded it as inferior.
According to a 1986 paper published in the Canadian Journal of Genetics and Cytology, white flesh in Chinooks is the result of a genetic mutation that prevents the uptake of color pigments from crustaceans into muscle cells.
Their pale meat has nothing to do with diet, in other words.
As high-end New York restaurants such as Le Bernardin, Picholine, Alain Ducasse and others began treating white king as a delicacy around 2000, prices skyrocketed.
In September 2000, the New York Times extolled the gourmet virtues of white king and noted its surprising popularity.
Amanda Hesser, food critic, acknowledged that the success of white king salmon was not solely due to its novelty.
It has a distinct taste and texture different from the usual red variety.
Its flesh is softer and buttery, while the flavour is sweet like a freshwater fish but with hints of perch and Chilean sea bass.
In comparison, farmed salmon and red king salmon tend to be oily and fishy in taste, making white king salmon’s delicateness unparalleled.
In David Foster Wallace’s famous essay, “Consider the Lobster,” the clawed crustaceans quickly moved from prison cafeteria menus to expensive delicatessens a century earlier, similar to the rise of the ivory Chinook.
In the same vein, many seafoods have risen and fallen out of favor, but many others retain undeserved antipathy from anglers and fish eaters.
European immigrants who missed their favorite fish for sport and food introduced carp to the United States during the mid-19th century.
People started associating the barbeled bottom feeders with polluted waterways and plummeting native fish stocks in the 1970s, which led to a steep decline in popularity.
Carp retain their negative reputation as food even among the most adventurous wild food connoisseurs in America today.
“Some people say that carp aren’t that good, but it’s entirely true,” Steve Rinella said. “
They’re not going to be great, but they’re not inedible either.”
In the opinion of MeatEater contributor Ryan Sparks, “I cooked my carp royally.”
I scaled, filleted, and removed the mud vein, then grilled the fillets with salt, pepper, and butter.
My wife and I hesitantly ate the fish after it had been cooked. We both agreed it was delicious after the first bite.”
He has worked and eaten fish all over the country, with a special emphasis on catfish.
He just shakes his head when people say muddy water catfish taste bad.
In Hall’s opinion, catfish fat has a strong flavor, but there are many myths surrounding it, as well as people who don’t know how to properly clean it.
“Mud isn’t a good indicator of water quality. Fish’s age and what they eat are more important. If you eat bluegills all day, you’ll taste like bluegills. A blue cat eating mussels would taste different than one that ate shad.”
Because flatheads do not scavenge, unlike their cousins, they are widely considered the best-tasting catfish.
Unlike channel and blue cats, catfish will eat whatever they can get, resulting in greater flavor variance.
He also says that catfish can sometimes pick up the flavor of algae blooms in contained environments, turning off fish eaters.
However, the same fish will taste different a month later.
Besides bottom feeders, bad taste has a long history.
As a result of the rise in catch-and-release ethics among their pursuers, rainbow trout and largemouth bass have steadily declined in popularity as table fare.
It is common for die-hard anglers to mention, without a hint of irony, that they dislike the taste of their favorite fish.
“Up north, largemouth bass are looked down upon for eating.
I grew up eating them in Georgia and I think they’re delicious,” Hall said. “
I love eating smallmouth bass, too. They’re both delicious, too.
It seems that catch-and-release bass guys started the rumor of them not being good to eat.”
As anglers have gradually learned how to properly treat boney species such as pike and whitefish, it seems that they have gained in popularity in recent years.
By using alternative filleting techniques, removing bones with pliers, pickling them, or smoking and flaking off the meat, inconvenient bones can be avoided.
There are a number of fish species that can be processed to become quite edible by adding just a few steps.
It is important to consider a few other factors before passing judgement on fish quality.
The first is the water temperature. A trout that tastes like sockeye salmon in January can become barely edible in July if the water temperature rises.
The most notable example is salmonid fish, but other types of fish have softer meat and taste worse as their environment warms.
The spawning cycle of fishes is important to keep in mind.
Prior to breeding, most fishes consume a lot of food, but will often fast as they travel to breeding grounds, compete for mates, dig nests, and defend the young.
According to USFWS fisheries biologist Danny Rinella, upstream migrating salmon burn through fat and protein in their cells and replace it with water. The result is softer, less flavorful flesh.
Just like with terrestrial creatures, proper meat handling makes a big difference as well.
Fish that are promptly bled, gutted, and chilled eat much better than fish that have marinated in their own intestinal juices for several hours in the bottom of the boat.
As soon as a dead fish enters rigor mortis, any attempt to bend or straighten the body will break cells and impact the meat.
Freezing causes muscle cells to burst as they expand and contract.
The MeatEater Cookbook is an excellent visual and informational resource for handling and butchering fish.
There are many myths about fish palatability that have persisted for too long, but old timers’ theories about run timing, weather impacts, and lure or fly selection remain indelible parts of the American angling experience.
It’s important to catch one, kill it quickly, handle it properly, cook it respectfully and decide for yourself next time someone says you can’t eat fish.
Sources: Themeateater
