"Red Pompano" my butt!

Post #388,042 by Andrew Grygus 3/29/14 9:08:27 PM Reply	"Red Pompano" my butt! Went out to the Philippines today to buy three whole tilapia, because I need skin-on fillets for a fish soup recipe. Only bought two, because they were way big this week, over 3 pounds each. While I was there I spotted a very nice looking fish I didn't have on my fish pages - labeled "Red Pompano". Bought two, and when I got them home Fishbase assured me there is no such thing as a "Red Pompano". Clearly research was warranted - as usual with practically any new fish I buy. Fortunately it didn't take long this time - one distributor selling "Red Pompano" included the Genus and species names. As with Patagonian Toothfish, renamed "Chilean Sea Bass", and Slime Fish renamed "Dover Sole", they apparently felt people were more likely to buy the fish if they saw a familiar name and didn't know it was actually a Piranha. Oh, but those customers will learn - a Piranha is nothing like a Pompano - except it's a similar shape. Of course, for me, it would work the other way around - I very much like Piranha, at least the Pacu varieties, and have a hard time finding it. But now, having two different piranhas, I had to make up a Piranha Family page (and spend about 5 hours preparing and studying the fish). http://www.clovegard...ed/sf_piranz.html Warning, using Slime Fish for a European recipe calling for Dover Sole will result in total disaster - the fish will turn into mush. Trader Joe's sells Slime Fish fillets as "Dover Sole" but includes cooking instructions that make sense for Slime Fish - unfortunately the instructions can't help with the no flavor aspect.
Post #388,048 by a6l6e6x 3/30/14 8:29:31 AM Reply	And no relation to Pompano Beach either! :) Alex ÂThere is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.Â -- Isaac Asimov
Post #388,052 by Andrew Grygus 3/30/14 10:48:22 AM Reply	Well, at least there they have Pompanos . . . . . not far from the beach. There's not much in real pompanos in the Piranha river. "Yum! tasty"
Post #388,055 by boxley 3/30/14 11:33:31 AM Reply	its related to the grouper family looks very similar to a dolphin, fish not the mammal Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 58 years. meep
Post #388,060 by Andrew Grygus 3/30/14 1:06:39 PM 3/30/14 1:11:13 PM Reply	Huh? Groupers are a family of large sea bass - very unrelated to Pompanos, which belong to the Jacks and Pompanos family, and even more unrelated to Piranha, which are much more closely related to carp. None of these look at all like a dolphin fish. Or, are you saying there is something called a "Red Pompano" thats like a grouper? Haven't seen such a critter referenced anywhere. Fishbase lists 302,900 common namesfor fish, but no "Red Pompano". Edited by Andrew Grygus March 30, 2014, 01:11:13 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #388,057 by hnick 3/30/14 11:59:45 AM Reply	Well, color me green then... I am totally envious of your fish mongers. In the Cleveland area, we have Euclid fish, and State fish and I think State fish folded. 99% of the fish I get are flash frozen filets in a bag in the freezer or occasionally a fresh piece, already cut, from the grocery store. As far as I can tell, we don't have real Asian markets here, outside of the Indian owned convenience stores, and they don't count unless you are in the market for cheap beer or rubbers. During the summer I'll catch a few fish for the practice of skinning and filleting them, but I'm a little leery about eating fish I catch around the power plant and the fish I get at the cottage are perch that are usually rather small and I tend to throw them back. Oh well. It could be worse. I could think that fast food deep fried fish is actually edible... "Religion, n. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable." ~ AMBROSE BIERCE (1842-1914)
Post #388,069 by drook 3/30/14 5:32:13 PM Reply	Westside Market has some fishmongers Nothing fresh, but decent variety. Wait, there's one that does have live lobster. -- Drew
Post #388,062 by crazy 3/30/14 2:05:35 PM Reply	missing cap on new sentence in description paragraph

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