Her tripe steamed with beef bouillon and onion broth.Īfter my brother and sister push aside bowls of baby squid The smell of pig blood curdled on the stove, wished gone To taste her gizzards and hearts fried in fat, mocked That after church,Ī bucket of chicken soon became a blessing of wing gristleĪnd skin, dark meat no one else wanted to save. Of every delicate gift we have thrown away: tilapia stomachīest soured with vinegar, milkfish liver to meltĪgainst the dome of the mouth. She warns, Don’t waste what should be eaten. When I tell her that I have tried to make this stew from memory, See, this is why the three of youĬould never hide anything from me-as though these organsīrought her sight to be soaked through the tongue. Will spoon out their eyes with her fingers, These fish heads my mother cleans, whose bodies she scales, throwsĪll into salt water and crushed tamarind. Villanueva Yanked free at the gills from cartilage and spine, It’s struggle, joy, and so much more.įish Heads by R.A. Fish heads have more concentrated fat than the rest of the meat and it’s mainly the fat that improves flavor and helps tenderize the meat during cooking.This week, we’re featuring poems about food and all the many ways it sustains us. Button says that the fleshy part of the fish, the tail of a prawn, or leg of the crab is mild and sweet, but can be boring in comparison to the flavors found in the heads. In Bengali-style of cooking, this practice comes into play to champion zero wastage cooking, as they cook vegetables from seed to peel, too.īut, of course, it also comes down to flavor. This philosophy can be applied to Asian fish-head curries where fish such as sea bass, carp, red snapper, and sea bream are used whole. Part of the appeal of using fish heads is the idea of promoting less food waste. “Today, fish head is a delicacy, with even restaurants like Noma serving fish head tacos and cod head.” “But now, that’s not the case anymore,” Fernandes says. In Indian cuisine, organ-based cooking is often left for the disadvantaged communities, while the main meat goes to the rich. “My mom would sit for hours cleaning out each part carefully, it would be put into a bubbling East Indian-style gravy.” Spanish Turbot | La Bodega by Cúrate Spanish Turbot | La Bodega by Cúrate “While growing up, whenever my grandfather brought home a big fish, we would break it down into big chunks,” he says. Chef Gresham Fernandes, culinary director at Mumbai-based Impresario Hospitality, has childhood memories replete with eating fish head curry and rice. The same can be said about Bengali, Maharashtrian, and Goan preparations where fish heads are cooked in gravy. Button explains the result: “Fish head is full of an oceanic, briny umami flavor and incredibly sweet all at the same time.” In the book, he says that one of the reasons why they’re a culinary delight is that juices in the head of seafood cook along with the meat, leading to a perfectly reducedsauce. In chef Josh Nilard’s cookbook, The Whole Fish, he teaches you not only how to cut, clean, and choose a fish-but also sings the praises of fish heads. “Searing them to get that wonderful brown color then simmering them with water to pull out all the flavor.” “A prerequisite for flavor in rice dishes like arroz caldoso or a paella is finding use of the heads,” Button says. This included making use of the whole fish. Though it can be a discarded part of seafood preparation, this crowning glory is rightly considered a delicacy around the world.īe it the herb-boiled crawfish from New Orleans, the tender prawns of Portugal, the rich South Asian curries like Keralan meen thala or Malaysian and Singaporean curries, fish heads are full of flavor and should always make it to the plate.įor Asehville-based Katie Button, co-founder of tapas bar Cúrate, she honed her craft in the kitchens of leading Spanish chefs such as José Ándres and Ferran Adrià and that’s where she fell in love with Spanish culture and cuisine. We’ve all seen travel shows where the host (maybe reluctantly at first) sucks the juice out of a fish head and, eyes widening, is always pleasantly surprised with the result.
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