James Silverton wrote:
>
> That may well be the case but "poaching in oil" is favored by a lot of
> fashionable, many-star chefs!


I agree with the others who have said that poaching in oil would produce
a greasy mess, so I googled and see that you're right. It seems to be
the hot new thing (lukewarm new thing?) at trendy restaurants. Here's
one explanation:
http://archive.seacoastonline.com/ne.../it/100836.htm


-From what I can tell from reading several recipes online, the chefs are
riding on the popularity of olive oil. They're depending on people
liking the flavor of the oil itself. I have to guess they're using one
of the flavorful green ones, not the blander lighter yellow ones.


Also, many of the recipes call for a larger than usual acid element:
lemon, vinegar, or tomatoes. The idea may be to create a sort of
ceviche salad. After all, large amounts of oil go into salad dressing,
but we don't usually say that it makes the salad greens greasy. That's
because there's a fair amount of vinegar also. We're used to the
combination. Combine that notion to that of eating seafood rarer and
rarer, and the idea of "poached in oil" sort of starts to make sense.


In one of your recipes, the idea was to bread and deep fry briefly. I
guess that's to make the breading crispy before poaching. I'd recommend
starting with the second idea which is to cook on lemon slices.
Actually, if it were me, I'd let someone else at the table I was dining
with order the oil poached fish. That way I could try a bite if it
looked appealing, but I wouldn't be stuck if it turned out to be the
greasy mess we're all predicting. ... But that's just me. I admire your
spirit to experiment.


--Lia