Each year, around Thanksgiving, radio and newspaper commentators remind us of the fact
that Benjamin Franklin originally proposed the turkey as our country's national symbol.
Franklin held - the commentators remind us - that the wily, quick-witted wild turkey was
more symbolic of the American character than was the fish-stealing, nest-fouling bald
eagle.
Unfortunately, the tough, smart turkey that Franklin admired so much has deteriorated as a
role-model over the past 250 years or so. The domestic turkey that we are familiar with
today is a pretty representative symbol of many of our national traits - it is
over-weight, over-sexed and dumb as a post - but not the ones that we'd particularly like to
advertise. What we really need is a different animal symbol - one that shows us off in a
slightly better light. What about - hold onto your hats, now - the rainbow trout?
Think about it - what North American animal is more like us? The trout is flashy,
aggressive and full of life. He is beautiful. He's not all that bright, but has a tremendous
fighting spirit. His heart is bigger than his brain. Isn't that what being an American is all
about? (Of course, the Europeans would have trouble with the trout symbol. You can just
imagine what the French would have to say - "Yes, yes," they'd sniff. "All that is true, but
unlike an American, a trout has taste.")
All of this is a round-about way of making a simple suggestion - why not eat some
trout?
Oh, there will be objections - there always are: "My kids won't eat it", "I don't like trout -
all those little bones annoy me" and "I just can't cook a trout that's laying there in the pan,
looking up at me; I feel too guilty." But remember, this is a potentially new national
symbol that we're talking about here. Don't be sidetracked by petty distractions. Let's look
at the objections one by one:
1) "My kids won't eat it" - You're right. They won't. So don't cook it for them. A
beautifully prepared trout is undeniably an adult food. Make it for yourSELF.
Some evening soon, give the children frozen dinners or take-out and make an adult dinner
for the
grown-ups, complete with the sorts of things that you would really like, but never make
because of the complaints from the other end of the table - asparagus, wild rice, fire-
roasted vegetables and a really seedy desert, like fresh raspberries. And, of course,
trout.
2) "It makes me guilty" - Get over it.
3) The "bones" issue - There are two fairly simple ways to deal with bones in small, fresh-
water fish, says Bryan Burroughs of the New Hampshire Fish & Game Fisheries
Department. The first is to prepare only very small fish. "Personally," he says, "If I'm
frying a trout, I like the smaller ones, because you can eat the skin and the bones cook out
of them. It makes for a very delicate and delicious meal." If you are preparing a larger fish
- 8 inches or longer - the secret to dealing with the bones, he says, is to become more
familiar with the way the fish's body is put together. "A trout has 2 major muscle groups ,"
Burroughs says, "- the thicker, Epaxial Muscles along the back, and the thinner Hypaxial
Muscles that run along the belly. When you cook the trout, in most cases the bones are
going to separate themselves from the flesh. When you start to eat it, look for the 2 muscle
groups - there will be a groove or crevice where they meet. Put your fork in right there
and you can pull the meat of the fish right off the bones."
According to Burroughs, there is a difference in the taste between the little trout and the
larger ones. "Salmonids like trout start out their lives eating mainly aquatic insects. Once
they start reaching a larger size, they begin eating other fish. We call them 'piciverous' at
that point. When they get to that size, the meat gets darker and takes on a wilder, more
distinctive taste. The change in flavor must be affected by the change of diet, but I don't
think there's ever been a study done on the relationship."
Burroughs points out that each species of trout has its own distinctive flavor. "There is a
general consensus out there, that brook trout are the best tasting," he says. "Lake trout
tend to be a bit oilier. I try to tell people not to eat them so much, though that's more from
a conservation point of view - they restock themselves naturally and we like to keep the
populations as high as possible. The brown and rainbow trouts have a slightly different
texture and, I think, a slightly milder taste."
There used to be a distinct difference in taste between commercially raised trout and their
wild cousins. In recent years though, that difference has diminished significantly,
according to Theresa Ward, a Fish Culturist at the Milford Hatchery in Milford New
Hampshire. "There really haven't been any formal studies done," she says, "but there is a
lot of anecdotal evidence from fishermen that the wild trout had firmer flesh, were redder
in color and were tastier than the ones we raised here. So over the past few years, we've
been feeding the fish a pigmented feed that includes a higher proportion of 'fishy solids'
and it's becoming more and more difficult to tell the difference."
Norman Levitz, Executive Chef at the Putney Inn says that fresh, local trout is a seasonal
favorite with his diners. "One of the special things about it is that it is
local," he says. "It's native to the rivers around here. It's important to us to use locally
fresh ingredients whenever possible. Trout has a wild, outdoors flavor that a lot of game
fish are missing. It's not over-fished like a lot of the more commonly prepared fish, so it
represents a good value." He says that the best trout is available only occasionally, so it
makes for a special treat when he can get his hands on it.
All three experts have strong opinions on how trout should be prepared. Levitz says that
he prefers to pan-sauté it. "I like to prepare it with brown butter and hazelnuts," he says,
"or picatta-style with lemon and capers." Burroughs is a big fan of smoking fresh trout. "I
use what's called a 'hot water smoking technique'," he says. "I like to use hickory, though
mesquite is really popular and a lot of people say to use apple wood. Smoking the fish
changes the texture of the fish and gives it a tremendous flavor." Ward is of another
opinion. "I don't go out of my way to eat trout," she says. "When you work with them all
day, all the time, they become much less appetizing."
Her attitude is certainly understandable, but it doesn't seem very patriotic.
Here are 3 trout recipes that will be the hit of your next adult dinner party:
Trout Amandine:
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
6 large trout fillets
Salt and pepper to taste
Dried thyme leaves to taste
Milk
All-purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
Lemon wedges
Sauté almonds in butter in a large heavy skillet until golden brown; do not let butter burn.
Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Sprinkle fillets with salt, pepper and thyme; dip in milk
and dredge in four. Fry fillets in hot oil (360 degrees F.) in skillet over medium heat until
golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Transfer to a serving platter; sprinkle
with almonds and parsley and drizzle with any remaining browned butter. Serve with
lemon wedges. Yield: 6 servings.
- from Fannie Flagg's Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook
The following is a VERY ambitious bit of French Cuisine. The language that Escoffier
uses is a delight just to read, however.
Trout Cambaceres (Truite a la Cambaceres)
Select a male trout in preference; clean him, and remove his gills without opening him in
the region of the belly.
Skin him on one side, starting at a distance of one inch from his head and finishing within
two and one-half inches of the tail.
Lard the bared portions with truffles and the outside part only of carrots, cut into
rods.
This done, spread out a napkin, lay the trout on, belly down, and with a sharp knife,
separate the two fillets from the bones, beginning in the region of the head and proceeding
straight down to where the body converges toward the tail.
The spine being thus liberated, sever it at both ends; from the tail and the head, and
withdraw it, together with all the rib bones. The intestines are then removed, the inside of
the fish is well cleaned, the fillets are seasoned on their insides, and the trout is stuffed with
a mousseline forcemeat of raw crayfish. The two fillets are drawn together, and the trout,
thus reconstructed, is covered with thin slices of bacon and laid on the drainer or trivet of
the fish-kettle and braised in Sauterne wine.
When the fish is done, remove the slices of bacon, glaze it, and put it on dish. Surround it
with alternate heaps of morels (French if possible) tossed in butter and milt a la Meuniere.
Send to the table, separately, a fine Bechamel sauce, combined with the braising-liquor of
the trout, strained and reduced and finished with crayfish butter.
- from The Escoffier Cook Book
Trout Stuffed and Garnished with Fiddleheads
1/2 pound fiddlehead ferns, cleaned and trimmed
4 scallions, including some of the tender greens, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons chopped fresh savory, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
4 trout, gutted and boned
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Garnish: lemon wedges
Cook the fiddleheads in boiling salted water to cover for 7-8 minutes, until just tender.
Drain, rinse and pat dry. Set aside about 20 fiddleheads (more if very small) and chop the
remaining fiddleheads, and mix these with the scallions. Heat the olive oil or butter in a
small skillet and add the bread crumbs, stirring and tossing over medium heat until they
turn golden brown. Mix with the chopped fiddleheads, season to taste with salt and
pepper, and add the savory. Dry the trout thoroughly and spoon equal portions of the
fiddlehead-bread crumb mixture into the cavities (you do not need to skewer them closed if
you are careful when handling the fish). Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a large pan
and when foaming, lay in the stuffed trout. Cook over medium heat 3 minutes, then
carefully turn the fish and cook on the other side 3 minutes more, squeezing on the lemon
juice and basting with the pan juices. Half a minute before they are done, add the reserved
whole fiddleheads and let them heat through. Serve each fish with fiddleheads scattered
around and lemon wedges on the side. Serves 4.
- from The L.L.Bean Book of New[italics, please] New England Cookery
