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In article >,
(Victor Sack) wrote:
>Phred > wrote:
>
>> The point being that you wouldn't mince a good steak and, yes, you can
>> make a palatable presentation by mincing and seasoning lower quality
>> cuts.
>
>But they are not necessarily of lower quality, just different and
>requiring different methods of preparation. That's the whole point.

Hmm... If you really "get what you pay for" then this part of the
world clearly sees some cuts of beef (especially beef) as better
quality than others.

>> Exactly! But my point was that, where you have access to superb fish
>> for eating "as is" direct from the sea, why bother at all with lesser
>> species?
>
>Again, the species are not necessarily any "lesser", they just require
>different methods of cooking. You seem to be comparing apples and
>oranges.
>
>Methinks you are mostly talking about your personal preferences...

Of course! Wouldn't dream of speaking for others. ;-)

>nothing wrong with this. Yet, you seem to be restricting yourself
>unnecessarily - there is a whole world of cooking that is not limited to
>quickly frying or otherwise cooking supposedly "noble" whole cuts and
>pieces. Also consider, for example, foie gras. It can be pan fried
>whole, or it can be made into a pté. Which is better? Some people
>prefer the one, some the other, some like both equally well. And a
>minority, most of it located outside of Europe, it seems, will just
>recoil in horror, never even having tried either preparation, just
>because it is "liver". :-)

Actually, one of my favourite breakfasts is liver and bacon -- but I'm
buggered if I can make it properly. :-( [In truth, I don't think
*anyone* can make it properly since the days of steam on Queensland
Rail. Don't know how they did it, but the delight (the *only*
delight

of travelling by rail for two days down the coast of
Queensland covered in soot, was the dinning car breaky of liver and
bacon served at one point of the trip. I'm drooling with the memory!

>> I do poach haddock occasionally and I made fish soup once, but
>> probably won't bother again. ;-)
>
>What kind of fish soup? Given a choice, personally I can't even imagine
>preferring any kind of hot fish preparation to a really good
>bouillabaisse or bourride. But that's just me.
>
>> I'm not familiar with smoked eel or your Matjes. :-)
>
>Oh, what a crying shame and a great pity! :-(( If you ever visit a
>place where these fish are available and are of good quality, you owe it
>to yourself to try them at least once. Chances are, you won't regret
>it. I'd bet there are some places in Australia where they *are*
>available.
>
>> But, while I'm
>> partial to a bit of smoked haddock occasionally, I'm not really into
>> the "preserved" fish products in general. My "smoked mackeral" is not
>> made for preservation, but for immediate consumption -- pretty much
>> like a slow bake with smoke flavour. (Though it's not really all that
>> slow in time as the fish is usually done in finger-eating pieces; it's
>> just "slow" in temperature.)
>
>For such fish as eel or matjes (virginal young Dutch herring), smoking

As an early teenager who spent most of every school holidays in the
local creeks and streams spearfishing (now banned of course) I once
speared a "giant" eel -- weighed in at about 10 lbs and was probably
about 30" long. I could only see the head initially, and thought it
was a fish of some sort, so I got a hell of a fright when the bloody
thing fairly "exploded" out of the snag! Mate and I cycled around
town for an hour or more trying to offload the damn thing. We
eventually succeeded when we called on one of the "ethnics" from
southern Italy.

>or curing with a view of preserving them for any period of time is not
>really a major consideration nowadays, I think, any such result is just
>a side benefit. Those who buy and eat such fish do it entirely out of
>preference, not of convenience, usually. Matjes is really a seasonal
>delicacy, most of it produced and eaten in the spring.

Had a look around our local supermarkets this morning to see if your
"Matjes" had made it this far from home. But all I could find were
bottles of "marinated herring"; and something called "Rollmops" which,
I'm led to believe by a mate with most catholic tastes, are inedible!

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID