Comments on: How to Grill Fish: Grilled Branzini

By: luis

luis — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 03:19:09 +0000

I am not sure how you can tell farm raised from wild. At least for the average joe. Last night I stopped at a gas station convenience mega store here and asked… Where is the “Clamato” “tomato juice” or any other juice section…. Long story short they pointed to a freezer chuck full of chemically flavored crap….I took a look around and looked at the counter and there were all these chemistry spawned caffeine drinks…and I felt like the teary eyed Indian in the old old… pollution comercials…
I just hope they don’t abuse the critters in the process like the factory farmers….that gave the country salmonella eggs recently.

By: Jeff Forward

Jeff Forward — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 22:44:39 +0000

I find it very, very hard to believe you did not eat fresh fish growing up in Cleveland – IT’S ON LAKE ERIE!
I grew up on the lake and like most other lake people, we fished and ate fish. Perch, Walley, Bass, etc…Not to mention as a grill cook on PIB, I was cooking stuff from all over the fish map. So, don’t say you can’t get good fish.
Don’t tell people there is no fresh fish in cleveland. There was and has been for a long time.
Otherwise, cool post.

By: Cali

Cali — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 13:31:33 +0000

Oh, Ruhlman. *slowly shakes head and looks at the floor.*

To those of us OVER 40, “thongs” are sandals. To the UNDER 40 crowd they are that strange sort of underwear (or bathing suit bottoms) that are sometimes also known as “butt floss.” I’m afraid you have given people a mental image you may not have really wanted to project.

By: Cali

Cali — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 13:23:36 +0000

If you have a Trader Joe’s in your area you can get reasonably priced and *sustainable* fish there. It’s really important to only eat sustainable varieties of fish so as not to contribute to the overfishing of preferred species and the eventual death of our oceans. One can download and print wallet-sized sustainable fish guides for all regions of the U.S. at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium website.

By: Tags

Tags — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:52:59 +0000

When I first saw this post, I had just come home from the library with a copy of “The Italians,” a book that disappears every time I buy it.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the word “Barzini” as soon as I went to your site. Of course, there is no Luigi Branzini, but it was close enough to fool me. Excellent book, btw, as much as I’ve been able to read, but then again, I’m Italian.

By: amber

amber — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:33:09 +0000

I am going to expose my ignorance here and ask a stupid, stupid question…..

I had two for dinner last night. I made them al cartoccio with julienned veg (potatoes, zucchini, carrots and a just a bit of onion) a splash of white wine and a bunch of good olive oil, s and p.

I thought it came out very good. Something about steaming ( if that’s even right?) in the parchment seemed to lock in all that good flavour. The veg were awesome too.

However, my husband said that he could tell they were farm raised.

Is he being a snot?

They were farm raised in fact, in the sea not too, too far away from where we live. I thought about doing a taste test, side by side. But who knows when I’ll get to that.

So besides wondering if hubby is a snot, here is the stupid question. Is it really all that bad to eat farm raised fish? Your post seems to indicate that there are better and worse conditions in which to do it. So what are the bad factors? We buy it all the time. Should I stop? (We are big fish eaters!) Yes, I know I could consult Chef Internet, but sometimes a real chef’s opinion is best.

By: melissa

melissa — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 15:14:01 +0000

There is a lovely Greek man at our farmer’s market that gets fresh fish in from the Gulf of Mexico the night before the market (this is one of the few things I LOVE about living on the Gulf Coast). When my boyfriend is in town I’ll buy a whole fish instead of fillets (I can’t eat a whole fish myself, those snapper he gets are huge). We grill or bake them in the oven and oh, they are so delicious.

By: jti

jti — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:34:12 +0000

Along with grilling, I like rubbing down the skin with olive oil, then salt & pepper and cook under the broiler, typically 10 minutes per side. When the skin looks crispy, it’s done. Heinen’s Rocky River has excellent quality Rainbow and Golden Trout, head and tail fin on.

By: Fbf System

Fbf System — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 09:08:03 +0000

Those grilled fish looks really good… I can tell it taste better then it looks!

By: Carri

Carri — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 04:49:32 +0000

Living and cooking by the coast and ultimately marrying a commercial fisherman has given me a definite appreciation of the finer points of cooking all kinds of seafood. In fact at a recent local chef challenge I participated in, I thought ‘what could I get that I am not familiar with?’ Sure enough, it was Mako Shark. Shit.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 03:26:09 +0000

Great lesson Michael – thanks! Last night I pan seared fresh King salmon with a “rub” on the cooked side of almonds, parsley, granulated garlic, curry, paprika, thyme, parsley, and chili powder. Deglased the pan with fresh lemon juice and some sherry and a spot of cream at the end to give it some mouthfeel. It’s a recipe from a restaurant on the Washington coast that closed some time ago. Great cooking tips and pics – always enjoy your site. For the folks who don’t like the smell of cooked fish in the house – find someone who sells fresh fish – it should not smell fishy! I always use my fan when I cook – that helps a lot too (with many cooking odors!)
Cheers,

By: Marc C.

Marc C. — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:46:06 +0000

My wonderful fishmonger gets branzino flown in several times a week and he’s taught me much about grilling fish. One of his first lessons was: When you have a roarin’ hot fire you don’t need to scale branzino. The little scales on this fish are quickly burned away, but help crisp up the skin!

By: Erik @ Food Night

Erik @ Food Night — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:22:35 +0000

Was just reading “Ad Hoc at Home” last night, and came across this beauty….. “How well you cook fish depends on how well you buy fish”.

Soooooo true.

By: Barbara | VinoLuciStyle

Barbara | VinoLuciStyle — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:52:07 +0000

I can’t remember when I cooked a fish except on the grill; best way in my book to not have the house smell fishy. Got to watch those thongs though if cooking outside; neighbors might object!

I love salmon on the grill and would love to try more types of fish but I’m in Colorado and unless I head to a mountain stream and catch some trout (like that will ever happen), our choices are all flown in from afar and pretty doggone pricey…if not also flash frozen. Means I eat a lot of chicken!

By: chef4cook

chef4cook — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:43:22 +0000

Branzini is a fish I serve a lot in restaurants. It’s my favorite to grill whole, on the bone. It has a great presentation and eats beautifully. Sure, some guests request the head be removed but, hey, at least they are learning how to eat a good fish that isn’t a fillet!

By: Kelleigh kaplan

Kelleigh kaplan — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:39:11 +0000

A lot of the Fish at other grocery stores come from fisheries that are over fishing the waters and relying on underpaid employees. There is a real danger in cheap food… Farmers and producers being underpaid, slave labor, unsustainable practices, etc.

Having said that, there are options that are sustainable and less expensive. Try black bass or trout.

By: Jessika

Jessika — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 02:22:23 +0000

Skip the bbq until you feel more comfy cooking fish. I mean, really. Cook under low temperature in the oven. There are specified times based on height of fish (when it’s laying flat). LOW temperature. You can fill it with whatever but just start off with not overcooking. I used to suck doing fish until I managed to develop some patience with the poor fish AND not overcooking it. A minute can turn a delicious fish into chewing gum. Leave fins and tail on, remove head, fill with nothing more than a dab of butter and lemon — listen to Donna

By: bunkycooks

bunkycooks — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 02:17:57 +0000

We smoked some salmon tonight and then then put halibut right on the grill after it with a spicy seafood seasoning and basically smoked it, too. I thought it would be dry, but it was quite moist. We weren’t up for cooking the fish inside with the smell and the mess, so this worked in a pinch. Shockingly tasty with a spritz of lemon and I’m not much of a fish fan either.

By: Eric Van de Velde

Eric Van de Velde — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 01:17:28 +0000

Now, that’s a picture that’s etched into my brain…

For penance, I will walk on my knees to the Cathedral of Holy Homonyms.

By: Rhonda

Rhonda — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 01:05:02 +0000

Ruhlman,

I too suck at cooking fish. I cook it for myself and better than my mother, so that is good enough for me. Not on my menu.

However, the little I do know is that TONGS ARE BAD. BAD! VERY VERY BAD!

My God, Brother, you wrote a book with Eric Ripert!

You Forrest Gumped your way through this which is impressive. Donna ate it which is more impressive.

Tongs — Bad. Eric Ripert….

- R

xxx