Fishy Friday

 

 

A fresh catch has arrived at a local poissonnerie.

 

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Look (and ask) for:

 

lieu noir - pollack

lieu jaune - yellowtail

bar - sea bass

saumon - salmon 

rouget - red mullet 

daurade - sea bream

églefin - haddock 

bulots - whelks  

cabillaud - cod

 truite - trout

thon - tuna 

 

The fishmongers' services include:

 

 écaillage - scaling

vissage - gutting

nettoyage - cleaning

désossage - de-boning

dépouillement - skinning

filetage - filleting

papillonnage - butterflying 

 

Custom cuts fall under coupes personnalisées.

Some will even package the fish for freezing or transport.

 

Shell game

Mussels and prawns with homemade aïoli and chilled white wine, en confinement.

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In Paris, most of our fish and shellfish arrives fresh daily from the rich waters of Brittany, which is not that far away. And almost always, giant gambas from Madagascar, Alaskan king crab and salmon along with other fishy imports comfortably share space on the fishmonger's counter. As with fruits and vegetables, some seasons are better than others (case in point: oysters) and right now we are on the cusp of the moules (mussels) season. Reports that restaurants, brasseries, bistros, cafés and other establishments that make up a huge part of the demand are still closed, creating a surplus, translate into bargains at local poissonières. So yesterday, grabbing my basket early and armed with my attestation de déplacement pour effectuer des achats de première nécessité (in short, documentation stating that my reason for being outside is to buy life/death items only), I ventured to a local poissonnerie to see what I could find. And I found lots. - BPJ

Just enough

Seafood apéritif standing at a counter inside a Marais fish shop open late.