...and some fish's mothers smell better than other fish's mothers...

[hippybngstockng]

I decided to actually use the sample menu that Flylady sent this week to go along with one of her little toss parties. It's a long story for anyone who isn't a flybaby, and utterly unimportant. What matters is that there was fish on the list. Specifically it recommended you buy some white fish about an inch thick. At my grocery store that fish was halibut.

I've brought different kinds of fish home before, usually when my mom is visiting because I kinda suck at cooking it. This might be the first time I bought halibut, and I think it will also be the last. It was a bitch to get the skin off, which I had to do before I cooked it, and once cooked we weren't terribly thrilled for the high price I'd stupidly paid for it (also from having bought more than I needed, since I could have cut the recipe in half). Really though, it's the terrible smell in the house that got to me. I cleaned the kitchen immediately after cooking it, but I could still catch a whiff of it on the air. I think it was just the wrapping in the trash. Once the trash was out for a while I realized I could still smell it, on my freshly washed hands! I took a shower, and that almost got rid of it. The leftovers in the fridge made the fridge smell, so we pulled them out and had them for lunch early the next day. Now the microwave stinks. Lucky for me I can deal with that too, but still, NO MORE HALIBUT! EEEEW!

Comments

[obvious.livejournal.com]

My mom used to cook fish all the time. I've never eaten the stuff (that's not true, I've had tuna fish salad and fish sticks a few times in my life). As a young Pisces, I always saw fish eating as some twisted form of cannibalism.

[uniquecrash5.livejournal.com]

Your icon is gorgous! I might steal it...

I'm a Pisces to, but I've never strongly identified as one really. 'Course, I'm actually born on the Pisces/Aires cusp..

[obvious.livejournal.com]

You can snag it if you want it. :-)

I'm Pisces through and through, born right in the middle of it on 3-14.

[karlicookie.livejournal.com]

I used to lift 30-40 pound halibut out of a giant ice chest type contraption they were so slippery and slimy you have to have someone like spot you when you transfer them. So tasty though when you haven't ate for days and the factory has scraps.

[hippybngstockng.livejournal.com]

I seem to meet a lot of people who've spent some time in the fishing industry! A guy I used to work with in Washington used to be on the halibut boats- I couldn't believe his job until he explained it- He used to shoot the halibut in the head as they were being brought on board! I was totally puzzled until he pointed out how dangerous it would be to let such a huge fish thrash around on the deck of your boat for a while as it dies. Seemed a little extreme to me, but I guess you can't afford to fuck around with a fish big enough to knock your ass into the ocean!

[schmallturm.livejournal.com]

I've cooked halibut several times. I never bothered taking the skin off, although you don't eat it. Just fry it in butter... mmm, halibut...

Never had any hygiene problems with it. Perhaps your halibut was not fresh?

[hippybngstockng.livejournal.com]

I was cutting the fish into chunks to put on skewers, so I felt I had to take the skin off since I couldn't manage to cut through it raw (not shocking, considering it's halibut). I probably would have saved myself a lot of pain if I had asked the butcher to cut the skin off for me.

As for the various stinks it caused, that was likely my fault for not taking the raw skin out of the building right away. It smelled fine while I was preparing it.

[cmariewt.livejournal.com]

Oh but it's so GOOD! But all those reasons you named are the EXACT reasons I never cook it at home. My mom does often. I order it at restaraunts a lot. Mimi's Cafe has an AMAZING blackened halibut. Mmmm, cooked to perfection every time!