Trout
Trout is a fresh water (river) fish. It comes in brown, rainbow and salmon or sea varieties. It's quite commonly farmed now. If you buy in a shop it will probably be farmed rainbow. It has a purple or violet band and black spots - it's quite beautiful to look at. If you're lucky enough to find some, it's wonderful to watch in clear river water as it darts around. Brown trout is the river fish that you would most likely catch. It is quite brown, with black or rusty spots and an orange stripe towards the bottom. Sea or salmon trout spends part of its life at sea, returning to the rivers to spawn. The flavour depends on what it's been eating - freshwater shrimp, crayfish, small fish and the like will give a lovely orangey pink flesh and a delicate taste. There are other variations, but they're only likely to be of interest to the fisherman as they are very similar in appearance and taste. Farmed fish has a tendency to have flabby flesh - but it normally has a fairly reliable flavour. Trout farms tend to concentrate on a particular period in the life cycle. Hatcheries produce ova from brood stock and sell on to fingerling producers who grow fingerlings and fry from the eggs. Fingerling producers supply Re-stockers and Table producers. Table producers in turn provide fish to Processors, while Re-stockers will supply Fisheries. Some farms may undertake several of these business activities and in addition may have a shop, a smokery and processing unit. Others allow anglers to fish in artificially stocked lakes and are often open to the public. They are allowed to keep what they catch after paying a fee for fishing for the day. Wild fish is far superior if you can find a good source. The flesh is firm and meaty - the muscle has developed with swimming freely, but the flavour can be variable, depending on where it's caught - some fish can taste a bit earthy. Trout needs very little in the way of sauces as it has a delicate flavour of its own. Pan frying in butter is a simple way of cooking. There are links for recipes on the Freshwater Fish page, but one of the easiest ways of cooking it is in newspaper. Simply wet a sheet of newspaper and use it to wrap tightly round the whole, cleaned and gutted fish. You can put some herbs and a slice of lemon in the cavity. Season with some black pepper and maybe a pat of butter. Bake in a pre-heated oven (180 C, 350F Gas Mark 4) until the paper dries out - this will take around 10 minutes. When you remove the paper, it will take away the skin with it. Serve with some buttered boiled potatoes and vegetables.
Coronary Heart Disease is a major killer. Click here to read about the health benefits of fish and how easy it is to increase the amount you eat. How fish in your diet helps you avoid coronary heart disease
50 Fish and Seafood Soup Recipes
Trout - to Freshwater Fish Recipes
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