This Week’s Catch & Recipes

Early Summer Share, week 4: 6/18/13

Working Couple & Family Shares: Redfish, Lemon Sole
Combo Shares: Scallops, Redfish

A fish by any other name…

…would still taste as sweet. We have some really interesting − and of course, delicious − fish this week. It’s always great when we have the opportunity to talk about “under the radar” fish species, because in part, that’s what this fish share is all about. The reason these types of fish aren’t readily available in supermarkets is not because they have a less desirable taste, appearance or even versatility in cooking (in fact, we pride ourselves on bring you all of these things and more)…it’s just because they don’t have the marketing power behind them to educate consumers on why they’re great. So when we get to be the ones to do that, it actually helps propel the sustainable model.

An artistic rendering of lemon sole (it’s not really this yellow).

The lemon sole was caught of the F.V Joanne A. III. The name is actually misnomer since it doesn’t have the taste of lemon. There are a few explanations out there as to why this fish has this name, but the most probable is that it’s natural skin color can have a tint of yellow. Others say it may be from the French word “limande,” (which actually means lime) which can mean to file or smooth, referring to the texture of the fish’s skin. At any rate, lemon sole is a member of the flounder family, and can be prepared any way flounder would. It’s delicate and flaky, and is great simply broiled, or elegantly and traditionally stuffed with crabmeat.

Redfish from these parts should not be confused with the redfish from the Gulf of Mexico. Atlantic redfish are also commonly called ocean perch, and an have a taste similar to really fresh salmon, although not quite as strong. The market for (Acadian) redfish surged in the 1930’s when the frozen food industry needed more resources and as a result, the stocks became severely depleted by the mid-1950’s. Thankfully, strict fishery management measures, rebuilt the redfish population to a sustainable level.

For the Combo Share folks, scallops are in the mix, and well, you probably know the drill by now. There is no substitute for fresh, dayboat scallops. Try them in this week’s featured recipe, or look up one of our many recipes from past newsletters. Either way, we think you’ll be happy. Enjoy!

—Dave & Ed

p.s. It really IS sole…but it was mistakenly labeled yellowtail founder this week. Every one is working so fast to get the just-caught fish ready and out the door, sometimes we slip up. Sorry!

Click here for detailed information on this week’s fish species

Download & print:

This week’s newsletter | Past newsletters

Recipes: