On Food and Cooking

(Barry) #1

several days after harvest.
The most prized flatfish is Dover or
English sole, the principal member of a
family found mainly in European waters
(lesser U.S. flatfish are often misleadingly
called sole). It has a fine-textured, succulent
flesh said to be best two or three days after
harvest, a trait that makes it an ideal fish for
air-shipping to distant markets. The other
eminent flatfish, the turbot, is a more active
hunter. It can be double the size of the sole,
with a firmer flesh that is said to be sweetest
in a freshly killed fish. Thanks to their ability
to absorb some oxygen through the skin, small
turbot are farmed in Europe and shipped live
in cold, moist containers to restaurants
worldwide.
The halibut is the largest of the flatfish and
a voracious hunter. The Atlantic and Pacific
halibuts (both species of Hippoglossus) can
reach 10 ft/3 m and 650 lb/300 kg, and their
firm, lean flesh is said to retain good quality

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