Mrs. Pash and I are traveling to Paris in a few weeks for vacation. The last time I was in Europe, whenever I ordered fish at a restaurant, the fish came served with head, tail and bones included. What is the best way to work around the bones in this situation?
Thanks!
Pash
Eat the top, rip out the spine and then eat the bottom.
Uh, yeah - that’s what I do. Go down the lateral line pulling the top meat off upwards, bottom meat (along the ribs) off downwards with a fork (eat it). Half the skeleton should be exposed, so just break the backbone just back of the skull and gently “peel” the whole thing back to the tail holding the remaining slabs of meat down. Also be sure to pull the skin off the head to look for meat there; depending on the species there’s often a good bite of very nice meat around the cheek area.
Excellent post, mmmiiikkkeee. I can only add to search out the “collar” as well. This neck region just aft of the gills receives the least workout (like the cheeks) and remains the most tender.
Alternately, to filet a whole fish you may also break the flesh around the back end of the fish and gently pull upwards on the tail. Lift off the top filet and spine together as one. You eventually flip this first half over and then pull loose the spine and ribs in a piece.