Whole Fish

    Who doesn't enjoy preparing a whole fish every now and then? My family and I recently got into the practice after I received a little inspiration from Kitchen Confidential. Whole fish requires one to partake in the visceral process of gutting and scaling the thing, a process I am too happy to leave up to a proper fishmonger. I know, I know, I probably won't ever indeed be a man until I do it, but that's a bridge I don't feel like crossing in my immediate future. I did, however, enjoy the process of seasoning the fish both inside and out, stuffing aromatics and garlic into its chest cavity and then seasoning it with a plethora of spices, including some Urfa Pepper I recently discovered at a nearby spice market. I'm sure there's some obscure recipe out there that calls for seasoning whole fish with Urfa, so if most people consider that a mistake, hopefully, I will be vindicated. Our initial undersea organism of choice was a Red Snapper, but after being presented with an absolute unit of a fish at the fish market, I wisely chickened out and opted for a Black Bass instead. Preparing the bass ended up being a group effort (or rather a GROUPER effort, tee hee); I seasoned and stuffed, Dad grilled, and Mom gently took the fish apart once we had gathered around the table. Learning to eat our way around the fish bones was easier with Black Bass compared to a fish with more elusive bones like Whiting. Eventually, we got our hands on a more reasonably sized Red Snapper, which made for a very enjoyable Fourth of July dinner. Hopefully, once summer ends, we can attempt more complicated recipes that involve less grilling and more oven action. Here’s to trying new things!