Chef Forum banner

Fresh fish

3K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  chefross 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

Quick question... I have a small commercial kitchen that caters 80% prep for 6 houses 5 of those luxury.
Am I wrong to think that the fisherman who catches fresh fish for our guests should at least gut, gill and scale the fish before dumping them in the kitchen?

My worry is cross contamination be it a scale in other prepared food in a busy kitchen, sinks being block etc etc

what’s your thoughts on this?

thanks
 
#5 ·
No, the fisherman does not have to gut, gill or scale the fish. I suspect you are getting a pretty nice price for those fresh caught fish. If the fisherman has to do those things, the price goes up and probably by a lot.
There is no more problem with cross contamination here than with any other product. If you're messy, you have a problem. If you work clean, you don't have a problem.
Besides, you should be looking at this as a rare opportunity for learning a lot about fish: at least the ones you're buying and then I would want to know how many types of seafood can the fisherman get so I can say I know how to clean and gut those too. Plus, you can now recognize the fish as a whole fish, not just a filets or steaks as is delivered most commonly.
Having that kind of hands on experience in a kitchen these days is special and not to be dismissed quickly. I would also be researching various ways to prepare and present the fish. Served whole, head on, whole head off, stuffed/not, poached whole, smoked whole, etc.
I wish I were closer so I could come in and learn all that.
 
#6 ·
IMHO it should be the guy that catches the fish. Here in the great lakes region, many restaurants will accept your hand caught fish and will prepare it for you. They will only do that though if you caught it while on a chartered fishing boat. The charter boat captain is registered with the state and he/she will clean the fish for you. The restaurants recognize the charter boat captains as officials who validate the safety of the fish caught.
Now I question the OP in that are those fish coming from a licensed "source?"

chefwriter, I got that first hand experience and it has served me well for decades. It's so cool to be able to break down an entire fish from nose to tail, or take a living thing from the ocean and prepare it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top