We live in South-West France; our garden has a large river at the
bottom of it. At this time of year (April) lots of fishermen come to
catch Shad (Alose) and on many mornings, we find a present of a bucket
of freshly caught shad. We tried once or twice to eat them but they
are FULL of bones so my husband used them as bait. Only recently I
heard though that the flesh of this fish is very delicate, and that it
makes super eating. One French recipe book advised that you open the
fish and remove all the little bones with a pair of eyebrow tweezers.
Well, if life it too short to stuff a mushroom, it is as sure as heck
too darned short to pluck bones out of a fish. Alose season is here
again now - the fishermen are pitching up in full force and the buckets
are beginning to appear. Any suggestions, PLEASE??

"Susan" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> We live in South-West France; our garden has a large river at the
> bottom of it. At this time of year (April) lots of fishermen come to
> catch Shad (Alose) and on many mornings, we find a present of a bucket
> of freshly caught shad. We tried once or twice to eat them but they
> are FULL of bones so my husband used them as bait. Only recently I
> heard though that the flesh of this fish is very delicate, and that it
> makes super eating. One French recipe book advised that you open the
> fish and remove all the little bones with a pair of eyebrow tweezers.
> Well, if life it too short to stuff a mushroom, it is as sure as heck
> too darned short to pluck bones out of a fish. Alose season is here
> again now - the fishermen are pitching up in full force and the buckets
> are beginning to appear. Any suggestions, PLEASE??

I have no idea how it would affect the taste, but marinating the opened fish
in vinegar or lemon juice, in the refrigerator so it won't spoil, would
dissolve the bones. Might take a day or so to work.

Susan wrote:
> We live in South-West France; our garden has a large river at the
> bottom of it. At this time of year (April) lots of fishermen come to
> catch Shad (Alose) and on many mornings, we find a present of a bucket
> of freshly caught shad. We tried once or twice to eat them but they
> are FULL of bones so my husband used them as bait. Only recently I
> heard though that the flesh of this fish is very delicate, and that it
> makes super eating. One French recipe book advised that you open the
> fish and remove all the little bones with a pair of eyebrow tweezers.
> Well, if life it too short to stuff a mushroom, it is as sure as heck
> too darned short to pluck bones out of a fish. Alose season is here
> again now - the fishermen are pitching up in full force and the
> buckets are beginning to appear. Any suggestions, PLEASE??

Susan, I've only eaten bone-in fish (sole) a couple of times but I can say
this. Yes, it was split and gutted. Heat and tail removed.

When fully cooked, the fish should be very flaky and tender. It should
simply flake off the bone so that you can use a fork to scrape off the
tender meat and leave the bones behind. Still, be careful for the errant
fish bone, but you shouldn't have to pick out the bones with tweezers. That
would be *very* annoying!

Jill

Thanks Jill. Anyone who hasn't come to grips with a shad hasn't lived
yet :-) I have heard it described as a porcupine turned inside out,
its THAT bony! Apparently it belongs to the herring family and they've
got lots of little bones too. We often eat bone-in fish - rainbow
trout for instance just doesn't taste the same filleted. Sole too is
no problem. But shad have bones going off in all directions.Enjoy your
seafood - with or without bones.

Susan wrote:
> We live in South-West France; our garden has a large river at the
> bottom of it. At this time of year (April) lots of fishermen come to
> catch Shad (Alose) and on many mornings, we find a present of a bucket
> of freshly caught shad. We tried once or twice to eat them but they
> are FULL of bones so my husband used them as bait. Only recently I
> heard though that the flesh of this fish is very delicate, and that it
> makes super eating. One French recipe book advised that you open the
> fish and remove all the little bones with a pair of eyebrow tweezers.
> Well, if life it too short to stuff a mushroom, it is as sure as heck
> too darned short to pluck bones out of a fish. Alose season is here
> again now - the fishermen are pitching up in full force and the buckets
> are beginning to appear. Any suggestions, PLEASE??
>

When I was a kid my uncle lived right next to a river that was famous
for shad so we had it frequently and it was usually cooked by steaming.
Usually people just cook it and carefully deal with the bones. Don't
discard the roe either which is also tasty and also usually steamed.

The river was also a good place to catch fresh water eels. My uncle
would usually smoke those.

"Susan" > wrote:
> Thanks Jill. Anyone who hasn't come to grips with a shad hasn't lived
> yet :-) I have heard it described as a porcupine turned inside out,
> its THAT bony! Apparently it belongs to the herring family and they've
> got lots of little bones too. We often eat bone-in fish - rainbow
> trout for instance just doesn't taste the same filleted. Sole too is
> no problem. But shad have bones going off in all directions.Enjoy your
> seafood - with or without bones.

I've heard that too about shad, and it has scared me away from it so far...
in terms of eating the fish itself. But I do so look forward to shad season
each year for the roe.

--
( #wff_ng_7# at #verizon# period #net# )

Thanks so much, everyone, for all the good advice. I am going to try
out each and every suggestion. A French lady whose husband is an avid
angler told me that she marinates shad overnight in olive oil, garlic
and a little lemon juice and they eat them as hors d'oeuvres. Sounds
like bony rollmops to me, but they probably taste delicious. We too
have eels in the river as well as a creature called a lamprey. When I
saw one hooked up in someones line, I thought it was a visitation from
a Space Alien. Dreadful looking monster. We also have salmon at
certain times of the year, when they come in from the sea and swim
upriver to spawn. What a shame my husband is a lousy fisherman and has
never caught anything in all the years we have been married. Once
again, merci bien et bon appetit.

"Susan" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Thanks so much, everyone, for all the good advice. I am going to try
> out each and every suggestion. A French lady whose husband is an avid
> angler told me that she marinates shad overnight in olive oil, garlic
> and a little lemon juice and they eat them as hors d'oeuvres. Sounds
> like bony rollmops to me, but they probably taste delicious. We too
> have eels in the river as well as a creature called a lamprey. When I
> saw one hooked up in someones line, I thought it was a visitation from
> a Space Alien. Dreadful looking monster. We also have salmon at
> certain times of the year, when they come in from the sea and swim
> upriver to spawn. What a shame my husband is a lousy fisherman and has
> never caught anything in all the years we have been married. Once
> again, merci bien et bon appetit.
>
Lamprey eels appeared in Lake Michigan when I was a child. They came in
through the canal system with the ocean-going ships. In a very short time
the lamprey had destroyed almost all the native fish in the Great Lakes.
They latch onto the side of other fish with their sucker mouth. They are
very unpleasant looking.
Janet

In article .com>,
says...
> We live in South-West France; our garden has a large river at the
> bottom of it. At this time of year (April) lots of fishermen come to
> catch Shad (Alose) and on many mornings, we find a present of a bucket
> of freshly caught shad. We tried once or twice to eat them but they
> are FULL of bones so my husband used them as bait. Only recently I
> heard though that the flesh of this fish is very delicate, and that it
> makes super eating. One French recipe book advised that you open the
> fish and remove all the little bones with a pair of eyebrow tweezers.
> Well, if life it too short to stuff a mushroom, it is as sure as heck
> too darned short to pluck bones out of a fish. Alose season is here
> again now - the fishermen are pitching up in full force and the buckets
> are beginning to appear. Any suggestions, PLEASE??
>
>

Shad is a very bony fish and if there's a quick way to bone it (not
"debone") I have never heard of it. Sometimes great food requires
effort, and this is one of those cases. You can always buy fishsticks.

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

"Susan" wrote

> We live in South-West France; our garden has a large river at the
> bottom of it. At this time of year (April) lots of fishermen come to
> catch Shad (Alose) and on many mornings, we find a present of a bucket
> of freshly caught shad. We tried once or twice to eat them but they
> are FULL of bones so my husband used them as bait. Only recently I
> heard though that the flesh of this fish is very delicate, and that it
> makes super eating. One French recipe book advised that you open the
> fish and remove all the little bones with a pair of eyebrow tweezers.
> Well, if life it too short to stuff a mushroom, it is as sure as heck
> too darned short to pluck bones out of a fish. Alose season is here
> again now - the fishermen are pitching up in full force and the
> buckets
> are beginning to appear. Any suggestions, PLEASE??

Susan, this state of Maryland has a lot of shad at this time of year
(they're running now), so I know exactly what you mean by the bones.

The tried and true method I have used is to put them on oiled aluminum
foil in an electric frying pan (where the heat is controlled) and set if
for very low, say about 225 - 250 degrees F., then let the fish cook
slowly for several hours, say five or more. (I know - it sounds like a
very long time.) You can even bake it in the oven, in a pan with a lid.

At the end of the time, the pesky little, sharp bones will have
disappeared. Good eating!

Here's a method similar to the one I use.

Dora
Six-Hour Baked Shad with Onions and Bacon
serves 5 to 6
1 whole shad, about 3 pounds
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme or marjoram
4 slices bacon
Have the fish cleaned and scaled. The head and tail may be removed if
necessary to fit your roasting pan. At home, cut open and remove the
strip of red flesh lying inside the cavity along the backbone. Rinse the
fish thoroughly inside and out until no traces of blood remain.

Preheat oven to the lowest setting it will hold; 200 to 225 degrees is
ideal. Lay out a large sheet of aluminum foil shiny side up and oil the
middle of the sheet lightly. Season the fish inside and out with salt,
pepper, and lemon juice. Spread half the onions in the middle of the
foil, lay the fish on top, and stuff the cavity with the remaining
onions and herbs. Lay the bacon strips on top of the fish and seal the
foil tightly around the fish.

Place the fish in a roasting pan and bake 5 to 6 hours. Transfer the
wrapped fish to a deep platter and slit open one side of the foil (it
will release a lot of juices). Carefully slide out the fish and discard
the foil. To serve, use a fork and spoon to pull pieces of meat away
from the backbone and ribs; the remaining bones are edible. Spoon the
juices over each portion. Serve with steamed new potatoes or French
fries.

Susan wrote:

> We live in South-West France; our garden has a large river at the
> bottom of it. At this time of year (April) lots of fishermen come to
> catch Shad (Alose) and on many mornings, we find a present of a bucket
> of freshly caught shad. We tried once or twice to eat them but they
> are FULL of bones so my husband used them as bait. Only recently I
> heard though that the flesh of this fish is very delicate, and that it
> makes super eating. One French recipe book advised that you open the
> fish and remove all the little bones with a pair of eyebrow tweezers.
> Well, if life it too short to stuff a mushroom, it is as sure as heck
> too darned short to pluck bones out of a fish. Alose season is here
> again now - the fishermen are pitching up in full force and the buckets
> are beginning to appear. Any suggestions, PLEASE??
>

See the middle of this page

http://wdfw.wa.gov/outreach/fishing/shad/shad.htm

--
Reg

Susan wrote:
> We live in South-West France; our garden has a large river at the
> bottom of it. At this time of year (April) lots of fishermen come to
> catch Shad (Alose) and on many mornings, we find a present of a bucket
> of freshly caught shad. We tried once or twice to eat them but they
> are FULL of bones so my husband used them as bait. Only recently I
> heard though that the flesh of this fish is very delicate, and that it
> makes super eating. One French recipe book advised that you open the
> fish and remove all the little bones with a pair of eyebrow tweezers.
> Well, if life it too short to stuff a mushroom, it is as sure as heck
> too darned short to pluck bones out of a fish. Alose season is here
> again now - the fishermen are pitching up in full force and the buckets
> are beginning to appear. Any suggestions, PLEASE??

I'm am so envious! I love shad and we don't get it around here -- last
time I had it was about 9 years ago.

My favorite way to cook it is to bake it, stuffed with a simple bread
stuffing (bread cubes, onions, summer savoury, salt & pepper). I lay
strips of bacon on top and cook in 350 oven.

Yes, it's incredibly bony, but the taste is worth the work. It's just
a matter of being careful when you eat it -- picking out the bones as
you go.

Gabby

Thanks everybody for all the great ideas. My husband was particularly
taken with the best ways to catch them, in the link to a wa.gov site in
Reg's posting. Ugly as they are, lamprey are eaten here in France.
Who was the British king who died of "a surfeit of lampreys"? He
probably got scared to death- more by the sight of them lying on his
plate than getting too many into his tummy, I would think.