Fork and Gobble It: Summertime Blues

A recent discussion with one of my dog park buddies led to the joys of grilled bluefish. That brought up the question of where does one get fresh bluefish? An East Coast thing, and to be sure, a Jersey thing, bluefish are a species that are the quarry of dayboat fishermen. They put up a great fight and are plentiful. Because their flesh is very oily and thereby quick to spoil, they are not a good commercial catch. However, when cut and eaten the same day they are caught, they are meaty, toothsome, and delicious.


On the way home that day I stopped by a new Korean/Asian supermarket. Hmart is a supermarket like I have never seen. The fish counter, which boasts a daily catch brought from Fulton Fish Market, is amazing. There are tanks of live fish that you may choose your dinner from, and long counters of fileted and whole fish that appear to be just hours out of the water. As I walked the length of the counter there they were whole bluefish that, by their appearance, could have still been alive. I asked the attendant behind the counter to show me the gills of the fish. If they are bright red that would confirm that they were indeed very fresh. Those gills were very bright red and I chose a pair of those blues to take home for dinner. Hmart will filet the fish for you, but I was all about doing it all myself I took them as is.

Waxing creative that night, I decided to grill the filets with a little bit of mesquite smoke, and then flake the meat for fish tacos. I prepared a salsa fresca from plum tomatoes, onion, cilantro, sea salt, and habanero pepper.

I diced some fresh avocado, finely shredded some white cabbage and proceeded to filet the fish. To the right, you will see the gills - this is the color that the gills should be when you purchase whole fish like this.

Fileting a fish is a skill you learn from your Uncle or your Dad, or as I did, in culinary school. If you aren't familiar with the technique, you can take advantage of the attendants at the fish counter if they avail themselves. Once I had the filets cut I could again see from the bright color of the fish's flesh and bloodlines how fresh they really were.

I got my grill going and added a couple of chunks of mesquite wood to give the filets just a kiss of smoke. A few minutes on the grill and they were done. I allowed them to cool for a minute or two and flaked the meat off the skin. Those were some mighty fine tacos.

We paired them up with a rose. The 2010 Bandol rose' from Domaine Tempier was a perfect match. A fuller style of rose' made from 100% Mourvedre, it had the enough fruit while still being perfectly dry. It also showed good acidity, and a really nice mineral note. Tempier roses are also known for their ability to age. We chose to drink this one young and fresh to match up to our fish. The perfect foil for these summertime blues.