Seafood and fish have been popular for centuries. That is because of the taste as well as the great variety available. Considering fish, for example, one can choose fresh water fish or from among nearly endless varieties of saltwater fish. Another aspect of eating fish involves how to cook them.
Some Oriental cultures sometimes eat fish without cooking them. There are different styles of sushi, uncooked fish. The Japanese are high on the list of sushi eaters. In fact, about a tenth of the fish eaten by humans are eaten by Japanese people. This article, though, is about cooked fish rather than fish which are eaten raw.
Actually, fish is very easy to cook. That is because fish does not have much connective tissue so it is easily made very tender with a minimum of cooking required. Methods of cooking fish include frying, baking, grilling, broiling, poaching and sautéing. You know the fish is cooked enough when the flakes easily break apart or when the internal temperature of the fish is at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
In island cultures, grilling fish is probably the most common method of cooking it. The local island peoples always have lots of tips for grilling fish, their own favorite suggestions. Almost always, they express their favorite saltwater fish and why it is the best species to cook. Usually, they include either lemon or lime as a necessary ingredient for perfectly cooked fish. Beyond these tips, the recipes vary greatly.
After consulting many local island people, you will probably notice that some of them suggest that you buy a fish grilling basket. They are usually available at local hardware stores and some department stores where barbeque supplies are sold. These baskets are designed to hold the fish so that they can be turned from side to side for grilling on both sides of the fish. Some of them are large enough to hold several fish at the same time to make the grilling more efficient.
Various cultures have differing recipes for grilling fish. Some fish have more bones to watch out for than others. These fish require a different recipe than those which can be easily filleted and have few bones to irritate the eater of the fish. The island people of the Caribbean often use rum in the recipes for grilled fish while Australian fish eaters do not always want alcohol as part of the recipe. Hawaiians and some oriental peoples often decide to use pineapple in their fish grilling recipes.
Of course, some people prefer to grill fillets of larger fish. The salmon and other larger fish are more easily cooked as filleted fish. Large tuna are also often sliced across the grain of the meat to form great steaks to grill.
Since fish are reported to be so good for humans, we should carefully study various methods of cooking them, especially looking at grilling recipes. There are surely recipes which will appeal to each of our tastes, from rum favorites to pineapple tinged grilled fish.
