If you’ve already read the earlier version of this post on March 29, 2023, you can skip right down to the entry dated 10/19/2023.

I’ve been trying to recreate my experiences with small fish. The first was grilled sardines at Leo Maniaci’s old restaurant on Clyde Park and 36th in Wyoming the other was on an open air terrace overlooking the Mediterranean in Spain. In both instances, the sweet flavor of the fish with minimal preparation or spice just put me into culinary heaven.

3/29/2023

When I walked into Whole Foods today for a loaf of bread, of course, I surveyed the seafood case. To my surprise there was a neatly arranged row of fresh anchovies. Knowing we were having sloppy Joes for lunch, I knew a small seafood bite would fill the bill for an early evening snack. It set me back a whole 84 cents for four of them. I asked the seafood staff how to cook them. One said he prefers to fillet them and the other said he cooked them like smelt. You’d need to be pretty adept with a razor sharp knife to fillet these little buggers so I opted for the later. I took a pair of scissors and cut off the head, slit the belly and pushed out the innards. They are way too small to worry about skin or bones. I then rolled them in flour and fried them in olive oil. I set them on the plate and garnished with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon. To my amazement, Alice wanted to try them too. She said they were okay but wouldn’t encourage me to make them for her again. I had mixed feelings. They were certainly not like Leo’s sardines or the fish we had in Spain but, I’d say I definitely liked them more than smelt. They just seemed fresher and cleaner tasting than any of the smelt I’ve purchased in a store or restaurant; more on a par with fresh caught smelt which is a very distant memory. They are not sweet like perch, walleye or branzini nor as flavorful as sardines. But, good nonetheless. With them, we had a bottle of Members Mark (Sam’s Club) Asolo-Prosecco Superiore Brut DOCG ITALY; it was a gift so I don’t know the price but probably around $8. Asolo is a sub-region of Prosecco like Viodiabenne that seems to have suddenly become very popular. I can’t say it is any different from simple Prosecco or Prosecco Viodiabenne but we did enjoy it. It is water white in color with a quickly dissapating mousse and a slow rising effervescence. There is lots of citrus in the nose along with plump white fleshed fruit like honeycrisp apples. The palate is refreshingly carbonated with a long lasting zippy mouth-feel.

If you love to try new things and have not had fresh anchovies, I’d recommend checking out your local Whole Foods.

4/24/23

We stopped at Randazzo’s off of Metro Parkway the other day and I spotted a couple of small fish that I have never tasted before. They had Porgie as well as Whiting. I had heard of both but never had cooked or tasted either. So I filleted both and marinated them with a little seafood spice, a bit of crushed dill, a titch of garlic and a lot of cracked pepper. After about a half hour, I rolled the fillets in a cracker crumb and flour coating and fried them in butter. Both were absolutely delicious. The Porgie is a red meat fish, but the meat turns white after it is cooked. The Whiting is a really light clean tasting fish sort of like Perch but not as sweet. Both Alice and I preferred the Whiting. They are a very small fish. Next time I’ll get a half dozen of them. With that we had a bottle of 2020 Chateau La Vernede Pech Cabrio (70% Syrah / 30% Grenache) Languedoc AOP, FRANCE (15% abv) around $10 at the Village Corner. This may seem like an odd wine for very delicate tasting fish, but, in Southern France the Syrah is rarely tannic, just loaded with supple fresh black fruit and the Grenache tends to offer a slightly mentholated sort of palate refresher. And no, the 15% abv was never even noticed until I wrote this blog post. It is my kind of wine because it stayed fresh and lively on the palate while cleansing any trace of fishiness.

10/19/2023

My friend David Creighton from Ypsilanti swears by Whole Foods seafood department because it is “dry pack” vs “wet pack” which means it has no preservatives and shipped ship to shore to store in a matter of hours. Being that the majority of the seafood in Whole Foods is “previously frozen”, I’m not sure if I can swallow the hook and worm, but, I do make a point of seeing what they have available. Surprisingly, it isn’t expensive probably no more than Busch’s and only marginally more than Meijer. So, while Alice was shopping at Barnes and Nobles, I stopped into David’s preferred store to see what was in the case. Speaking to the seafood specialist, I took her suggestion with the Sable Fish which is previously frozen. I decided to try a couple of “fresh” items too. I bought some Petrale sole which from what I can ascertain is simply a Dover sole/flounder from the Pacific vs Atlantic. What they had in the case was also larger than the Dover sole and the Dover sole was previously frozen where as the Petrale was fresh. I also spotted another small fish that I had never cooked fresh. They had whole Spanish mackerel which look like giant sardines. So, for $6 I bought one of those for myself knowing that it would not be a good choice for Alice. For lunch I cooked up one filet of the sole, one half of the mackerel and froze the Sable Fish. I cooked both very simply just seasoned with salt and pepper, very lightly dusted with flour and browned in butter with lemon wedges and parsley to garnish. No surprise that the sole was delicious, but I was surprised at how delicious the mackerel turned out. I absolutely loved it! It had more flavor than typical ocean white fish but not as rich or as fat as sardines. I can check off another small fish that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Of course, we enjoyed a delightful bargain from Trader Joe’s. 2022 Révélation ( Badet, Clément & Cie.) Chardonnay Vin de Pays d’Oc FRANCE (13.5% abv) $6.99 was just right. As you’d expect, plenty of fresh, crisp citrus so typical of French Chards but with a note to the new world with a touch of butter, oak and lush fruit.

Enjoy in Good Health,

A Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner