Just a quick note: I'm sorry it has taken so long to write and post part three of this series. I have already written 3 papers for my English class alone this year, so my writing time and skill is usually taken up by those. One I am writing right now is about the Florida Skunk Ape, and I may post it on here when I finish. I'm still aiming for at least one post per week throughout the school year, though. Now, let's get started on part three of our series on the mullet.
So you have your mullet and you're wondering what to do with them. Many people at this point will take this great food source, butcher it in many horrible fashions, and use it for bait to catch other fish. My very resourceful family does not see the logic in this...Why catch fish to bait other fish when you can just catch fish and eat those fish instead of going through the trouble of catching the other fish? Know what I mean?
Many people will argue that mullet tastes bad. These are the same people that will tell you catfish tastes bad. I believe that they are just judging the fish on the people that eat it: The mullet (along with the catfish) is widely considered a "poor man's fish." This is partly true, as I have never seen a rich man order the fried catfish or smoked mullet at Singleton's Seafood Shack. Well I guess I've never seen a rich man at Singleton's Seafood Shack, but that is beside the point...You will be hard pressed to find a rich man anywhere who will lay their soft hands on this fish. This does not mean the fish tastes bad! Mullet is not nearly as powerfully fishy-tasting as tuna, and I know you will be hard-pressed to find an American who has never eaten tuna before. Mullet simply suffers from a bad image, this does not mean it's a bad fish!
Getting away from that rich man/poor man spiel, the point is, DO NOT USE THIS FISH FOR BAIT.
COMING SOON: Mullet Part Four: A Recipe for St. Johns River Mullet
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10 comments:
Yes! Please post about the skunk ape! I'm pretty sure I saw him once down in Big Cypress. 8-]
Hard to imagine anybody not liking mullet or catfish. Fried catfish and grits is one of my favourite breakfasts. And smoked mullet... Mmmmm, does it get any better?!
Every Floridian's seen him at least once down in Big Cypress! ;-)
oooooh, you're making me so hungry by mentioning fish and grits. I just got home and I have not eaten since noon (it's now 10:15) And the smoked mullet was the last straw.
I am waiting with "baited breath" to find out how to properly prepare mullet!
And YES, I agree with SophieMae...you HAVE got to put your SkunkApe paper on here! That's great Florida stuff that needs to be read by all!! Personally, I have yet to encounter the big smelly one, even after camping out more than once in Big Cypress, and making many drives down every conceivable road in the area.
School work always comes first, but keep posting when you can!
Nobody in my English class knew about the Skunk Ape! The NERVE!!! I'll be sure to post it on here when I'm finished.
Dude,
You make me so glad I'm done with school. And the skunk ape doesn't have anything on the lizard man of lee county, one county over from the Carolina Bay I used to work in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard_Man_of_Scape_Ore_Swamp
Glad we don't have the Lizard Man down here! He seems like an angry creature. Our Skunk Ape is shy and peaceful :)
HT, have you ever been to the Skunk Ape research center on Tamiami Trail in Ochopee? Interesting place. And I got to hold an alligator there.
rcw - I'm really sorry I have fallen out of reading your blog. I really enjoy it, but time is not on my side this year. I'll be sure to stop by again soon. I'm working on this darned paper right now, but I'll be sure to check out your lizard man soon :-D
swampangel - You know, I have only been south of Tampa once in my lifetime, so I have never had the chance to make it down there. It's one of my goals to hike the Florida Trail through Big Cypress before I go off to college, though...Maybe I'll see the skunk ape and pay the research center a visit while I'm down there!
HTeen,
Sorry bud, they are the primo bait for flounder and other tastier than mullet fish, but you are right in defending the mullet's flavor reputation as they are exquisite if skinned and fried fast in hot oil.
That goes for their gizzards too.
Hey! If they didn't taste good they wouldn't be such a fine bait fish.
FC - Do worms taste good? Crickets? ha ha. I still have problems with killing a perfectly good-for-eating fish and wasting it on bait. But that's just me.
I'm an American in Moscow, just figured out that the "kefal" my Russian husband bought and cooked last night is mullet, which I had never eaten before. He bought a whole one, about 7-8 lbs, cleaned it, and cooked about half in the microwave with onions and carrots (basically like poaching or steaming). It was delicious!! And very few bones, easy to find and avoid. I had no idea what I was eating, only that it was delicious! From head and tail and maybe more parts he's making fish soup - an old Russian tradition (called "ukha" in Russian), kind of like clear chowder with onions, carrots, and potatoes. I went Googling just now to try to find out what "kefal" is, found Latin "mugil", which then led me to "mullet", which had been only a word to me. (I'm an nth-generation Yankee.) And after some bare bones biological info on other sites, I found yours, and it's a delight to read! I've told my husband all about your 15000?-knot casting net - impressive! congratulations! - and about the low regard mullet is often held in in the US (he was shocked! but then we recalled that the early American settlers disdained lobster as Indian food, and lots of Americans throw away the caviar of a lot of fish.) (And I never knew that chicken cartilage was good until hosts in China a couple of years ago served us as a special delicacy a dish that was almost all cartilage. Now I eat it. Just had to sort of flip my attitude.)
Anyway I love your blog, and wish you well! Glad the mullet led me to it!
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