[terrarich]

Hello,

I am stuck in the American Mid-west and I can not find any fish markets that sell red mullet in my area. Is there a mail-order source for this fish?

Thanks,

terrarich

 

[kimmie]

If you can't find red mullet, good substitutes would be orange roughy or sea bass or ocean perch.

 

[terrarich]

Yeah, I know that most fish can be substituted by others, but I have just wanted to get my hands on the red mullet. I strongly associate it with the Mediterranean, romanticizing it to a degree. I guess I should just stick with what is available.

Thanks,

terrarich

 

[risa]

Try asking the folks over at Plitt (this forum's sponsor). They usually have a very good selection. I didn't see any red mullet on their website at this time, but that could just be due to current availability.

www.seafoodbynet.com

 

[josh shuffman]

Give up.

Here, on the east coast, we still have to get them from europe, which means they have a few days on them before we even get them. In the mid-west, I imagine that would be more like a week and through another purveyor's (or wholesaler's) hands (if anybody is going to bother to ship them that far.) All this for a fish that most Americans think is "to bony", "too small", and "too fishy". As I said, give up. And while you're giving up, take the word of someone who always buys them when they're available, and has gotten really fresh ones on many occasions, *******, that's some good fish. Marinated in garlic, lemon olive oil and rosemary and grilled with breadcrumbs (a la Romagna) or with fennel, orange zest, raisins, pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes (a la Siciliana), they're as good as it gets. Fillet them (if you're into zen mind control excercises-it's a tedious process) and put them in papillotes, or just go ahead and deep fry them. They're great. But you've got to move somewhere that has them, first. I'd suggest Sicily, or Bologna, or Napoli, or perhaps the South of France or any one of the Greek Isles. Otherwise, if you MUST stay in the mid-west, consider the catfish.........

 

[bob s]

If you are a restaurant call Jon Novak @ the Plitt Company in Chicago........Plitt sells Rouget......in addition to other Euro specialties.

 

[terrarich]

It sounds like you are familiar with Plitt. Do they sell retail? I suppose I could just call them or check out the site. I am only a few years removed from Chicago, but was still in college and not cooking a lot of seafood then. I long for the days when I had access to almost anything in my hometown.

Thanks for the advice,

terrarich