Nancy Young wrote:

"Blinky the Shark" wrote

I'd never even heard of muddy fish taste until this thread kicked off.
And I've fried plenty of (Mmmmmmm...) catfish.

People here mention it often, that's why I posted it.

I don't know about "muddy" but either catfish or tilapia can
be a randomly inferior fish, texture-wise ... too soft and mushy.
I can't reliably get fish I really like with either species,
so I've more or less quit buying them.

Steve

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...
Blinky the Shark wrote:
Kathleen wrote:


I haven't eaten catfish in years, neither wild nor farmed. I just can't
get past the image of them being some sort of aquatic possum...


Not to worry. Catfish aren't as hairy and their tails aren't as ugly.

But they can't cuddle up next to you, or be transported under your
t-shirt, and they certainly can't hang from your finger by their tails.
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=okbaxg&s=3

Catfish, on the other hand, can nail you with the barbs on their fins and
the bacterial slime they carry on their skin pretty much guarantees an
instantaneous infection.


But mmm, mmm mmm, that tasty meat. Good stuff. All this talk of catfish
made me get a mess and fry them up. Wonderful.


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

I have eaten catfish all my life and fairly often. I have yet to have
eaten one that tasted muddy.

That's probably because you're used to it. I didn't catfish until
4-5 years ago and my first impression was... ugh! And I've tried to
eat it 4-5 times since then.

The last batch I went 'Ugh!" again and made the rest into Thai fish
cakes. That wasn't too bad since all the other spices/aromatics
covered up the taste.

-sw

Kathleen wrote:

Blinky the Shark wrote:
Kathleen wrote:

I haven't eaten catfish in years, neither wild nor farmed. I just can't
get past the image of them being some sort of aquatic possum...


Not to worry. Catfish aren't as hairy and their tails aren't as ugly.

But they can't cuddle up next to you, or be transported under your
t-shirt, and they certainly can't hang from your finger by their tails.

Is that a possum in your shirt or are you just happy to see me?


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
Blinky: http://blinkynet.net

On Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:34:21 -0700, Blinky the Shark
wrote:

blake murphy wrote:

On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:50:36 -0700, Blinky the Shark
wrote:

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

I have eaten catfish all my life and fairly often. I have yet to have
eaten one that tasted muddy.

Even when they come from muddy waters. Sorry -- I couldn't resist. I
started reading a biography of blues musician Muddy Waters, today. I'll
leave now. Nothing to see, here, folks...

mckinley morganfield, one of the greatest bottleneck guitar players and
singers ever.

And...follow the last link in the list of what I'm currently reading:

http://blinkynet.net/books/index.html

interesting list.

your pal,
blake

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...
Blinky the Shark wrote:
Zeppo wrote:


"James Silverton" wrote in message
news:j5NKj.8122$qB1.7389@trnddc07...

Marl wrote on Tue, 8 Apr 2008 09:25:09 -0700 (PDT):

MJ There was a report awhile back about tilapia from China, MJ not
being all that safe. I've curtailed buying most MJ anything I can,
which emanates from that country, until MJ they get their quality
control act together.

I suppose traditionally raised tilapia might well have a muddy taste
since they were grown in the shallow muddy waters of rice paddies before
the fields were drained to ripen and harvest the rice. It's really a
very efficient use of space.

Let's be honest, I don't like the texture of tilapia even ones I've
selected from those swimming in a tank.


Interesting. I like tilapia but have a problem with the texture of
catfish. It has the same sinewy texture as mako shark.


Mmmmmmm......sinewy texture.

Blinky loves catfish; Blinky doesn't remember ever having mako shark
(probably professional courtesy).

I can't remember locally available shark being identified by species. And
I've cut way back on consumption of top-level predators so I don't pay
much attention to whatever shark might still be available.

Probably the last time I fixed shark, my daughter was just shy of three
but perfectly capable of relaying her thoughts.

Her review of the grilled, teriyaki marinated shark steaks? "Dis chicken
tastes insgustink".

As a parent you're not supposed to laugh at comments like that so I had to
excuse myself, retreat to my bedroom, close the door and put a pillow over
my face.

My kids actually loved it. The texture doesn't bother them. Course, now that
they're older I've had years to shape their tastes in all things
food-related. Unfortunatley, it tends to run to the most pricey thing on the
menu when we eat out these days.

My local fish store will usually be as explicit as possible for the stuff he
sells. Much better than supermarkets.

Jon

On Apr 9, 6:39 pm, Blinky the Shark wrote:
Kathleen wrote:
I haven't eaten catfish in years, neither wild nor farmed. I just can't
get past the image of them being some sort of aquatic possum...

Not to worry. Catfish aren't as hairy and their tails aren't as ugly.

--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project:http://improve-usenet.org
Blinky:http://blinkynet.net

I love catfish.

N.

In article , ChattyCathy wrote:
Phred wrote:
"Not that easy to find." Bloody hell! Here in Oz you can go to jail
(well, heavily fined anyway) if caught in possession of tilapia.

If out in the middle of a dam or river, and you catch one of the
beasts, you have to row back to the shore *immediately* and dispose of
it in an approved official rubbish bin. If you leave it in the bottom
of the boat and a patrol catches you, you'll be in deep shit. (A bit
like catfish.

Wow, didn't know that. Why is it such a 'crime' in Oz, BTW?

Tilapia were first found in Australian streams about 20 or 30 years
ago and *much* more recently the bureaucrats woke up and decided they
were a menace to native fish and other fauna here, so needed to be
controlled or, preferably, eradicated. (Too late as usual IMO.)

The main concern with "possession" is that people may deliberately or
unintentionally spread them around. They (all, or just our
intruders?) are mouth breeders and the assumption seems to be that
even a dead fish may still have live young in its gob. (Or, perhaps
more logically, that dumping one fish may in reality be dumping a
shoal of the buggers.)

Also, the bureaucrats don't want people to start thinking they are
quite good to catch and eat, because that might encourage the
irresponsible *******s to put them into a local pond or creek.

The environmental lobby here has a very poor record of dealing with
sensitive issues (with the foxtail palm saga being a classic example
of the wrong approach to an issue) so it's a bit hard to believe that
their approach to controlling tilapia is likely to be effective. But
I guess it keeps people in a job and out of trouble.

Of course, the net [good fishing term] result of this is that people
out in boats, or just too far away along the bank, *never* catch the
damn vermin. They always "get away".

Which just confirms traditional wisdom "The law is an ass."
(And especially when written by environmentalists!)

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

On Apr 8, 8:16*am, "Nancy Young" wrote:
"James Silverton" wrote

"Nancy Young" wrote
I see people talk about muddy tasting catfish and tilapia.
Today I got my Cook's Illustrated and they discussed this.
Long story short, they recommend an acid soak first, and their
acidic soak of choice is buttermilk. *Soak for an hour before
cooking ... rinse off the buttermilk, pat dry and proceed with
the recipe.
Perhaps, I'll have to give it a try for catfish, which in all my tries has
tasted "muddy". Would something really acidic, like lemon juice, perhaps
diluted, work? Buttemilk is not something that I keep around.

They said that the lemon water left the texture of the fish somewhat
mushy. *But if you have lemon and you have milk, you can make
your own buttermilk.


Is that really how buttermilk/kefir is made? Doesn't the lemon curdle
milk into crap?

On Apr 8, 8:07 am, "Nancy Young" wrote:
I see people talk about muddy tasting catfish and tilapia.
Today I got my Cook's Illustrated and they discussed this.
Long story short, they recommend an acid soak first, and their
acidic soak of choice is buttermilk. Soak for an hour before
cooking ... rinse off the buttermilk, pat dry and proceed with
the recipe.

Channel catfish are my favorite sport fish. Those puppies get very
large and most fight like no other freshwater fish I've come across.
I've found them to be just a little gamy, or muddy, though. An ancient
fishing buddy taught me to soak the fillets in regular milk prior to
breading and then frying them up; it's cut that "extra" essence down
without interfering in the texture or mild taste that true catfish
provides.

On Apr 8, 8:14 am, "James Silverton"
wrote:
Perhaps, I'll have to give it a try for catfish, which in all my
tries has tasted "muddy". Would something really acidic, like
lemon juice, perhaps diluted, work? Buttemilk is not something
that I keep around.

Lemon juice by itself is too acidic and will "cook" the fish, or start
to break down the flesh before cooking. Milk works, too, cutting down
that "muddy" flavor that is associated with bottom feeders.

" wrote

On Apr 8, 8:07 am, "Nancy Young" wrote:
I see people talk about muddy tasting catfish and tilapia.
Today I got my Cook's Illustrated and they discussed this.
Long story short, they recommend an acid soak first, and their
acidic soak of choice is buttermilk. Soak for an hour before
cooking ... rinse off the buttermilk, pat dry and proceed with
the recipe.

Channel catfish are my favorite sport fish. Those puppies get very
large and most fight like no other freshwater fish I've come across.

Oh, I saw a bit of some show, let me think of the name.

Hooked: Bare Handed.

OMG, the enormous catfish they pulled out of the water, amazing.
With their bare hands.

I've found them to be just a little gamy, or muddy, though. An ancient
fishing buddy taught me to soak the fillets in regular milk prior to
breading and then frying them up; it's cut that "extra" essence down
without interfering in the texture or mild taste that true catfish
provides.

Sounds good. Milk has acid, too, right? So why not.

I'm just remembering this tough ex Marine I used to work with, he had
the bearing and the disposition ... but to see his face when he'd talk
about pulling up a catfish, he would just totally skeeve. Cracked me up.
He wanted no part of those whiskery things.

nancy

Nancy Young wrote:
" wrote

On Apr 8, 8:07 am, "Nancy Young" wrote:
I see people talk about muddy tasting catfish and tilapia.
Today I got my Cook's Illustrated and they discussed this.
Long story short, they recommend an acid soak first, and their
acidic soak of choice is buttermilk. Soak for an hour before
cooking ... rinse off the buttermilk, pat dry and proceed with
the recipe.

Channel catfish are my favorite sport fish. Those puppies get very
large and most fight like no other freshwater fish I've come across.

Oh, I saw a bit of some show, let me think of the name.

Hooked: Bare Handed.

OMG, the enormous catfish they pulled out of the water, amazing.
With their bare hands.

Down here, they call that "noodling". I guess everybody needs a hobby.

Becca