FEATURED SEAFOOD Dogfish
You may have heard that Dogfish is often a substitute for cod in fish and chips. While fish and chips has its place, you won’t impress the Friday night dinner club. You can turn to Italy for some ideas on how to go uptown with Dogfish. Dressing up Dogfish with an Italian sauce makes these fillets a tremendous value at $9/lb.
Italian recipes will reference Dogfish as “Huss”, or Palombo. Those who enjoy the fine details will note that Europeans generally use “Huss” for Spiny Dogfish (Squalus acanthias). This is a different species than Smooth Dogfish (Mustelus canis) that you will find in our markets. They are both in the shark family and can work interchangeably in these recipes.
Below are two recpies for Italian Dogfish that come from a cookbook we love— Fish: Recipes from the sea. This cookbook from Phaidon Press pulls seafood recipes from the heralded classic Italian cookbook The Silver Spoon. It was originates from the 1950 publication Il Cucchaiaio D’argento. It provides you rare recipes organized by type of fish texture and flavor. More importantly, there is a special chapter that shows you step-by-step basic fish preparation techniques with full color photos. Let’s turn to page 71 for two simple but elegant Dogfish recipes.
Marinated Dogfish
Ingredients
4 large portions of dogfish
For the marinade
1 onion, thinkly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 basil sprig, coarsely chopped
2 flat-leaf parsley sprigs,
coarsely chopped
1 chili, seeded and chopped
1 clove
Juice of 1 lemon, strained
1/2 cup of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Preparation
First, make the marinade. Mix together the onion, garlic, basil, parsley, chili, clove, lemon juice, oil and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a dish.
Add the fish and let marinate in the refrigerator, turning frequently, for 2 hours.
Preheat the grill or broiler.
Drain the fish and reserve the marinade.
Cook the fish on the grill or under the broiler, brushing occasionally with reserved marinade, for 5 minutes on each side.
Transfer to a serving platter and serve immediately.
Dogfish with white wine
Ingredients
1.75 lbs of Dogfish fillets, sliced
Plain all-purpose flour for dusting
4 Tablespoons olive oil
4 shallots, finely chopped
1 canned anchovy fillet, drained and chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 cup of dry white wine
Salt and Pepper
Preparation
Dust the slices of fish with flour, shaking off the excess.
Heat half the oil in a frying pan or skillet, add the fish and cook over high heat for about 5 minutes on each side, until browned, then season with salt and pepper and turn off the heat.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in another frying pan or skillet, add the shallots and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until softened.
Add the anchovy and parsley, sprinkle with the wine, increase the heat and cook until the liquid has almost completely reduced.
Stir in 1 tablespoon water and season with a pinch each of salt and pepper.
Pour the sauce over the slices of fish and simmer for a few minutes until heated through, then serve.