While in Ireland abroad I got the chance to go fishing while on a home-stay. The fishing trip is an epic story in itself but more importantly it introduced me to mackerel. The focus of the fishing trip though was not mackerel, it was sharks. We fished for tope and dogfish, small bottom feeders that you used to be able to pet at the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium. Turns out these fish are edible and delicious. Most fishermen just throw them back, which is what we did in Ireland, and what my uncle did when we hooked one while fishing for fluke in Long Island Sound. I noticed the dogfish at one of the fish markets on Arthur Ave. It was simply labeled “shark” but it looked nothing like the mako I had eaten in the past so I asked the fishmonger, trying to decided between it and the skate wings next to it. Once I found out it was dogfish I had to get it, and one my favorite beers sharing the same name to drink with it.
Found a recipe online, since I had no idea what to do with it, which had me marinate it in herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, onions, and garlic then roast it. To go along with it I made a shitake mushroom risotto with the chicken stock I made the other night.
I ended up slightly under cooking the dogfish, so it didn’t flake off the inner cartilage as easily as it should have. But otherwise it was absolutely delicious! Next time one ends up on the end of my hook or I see it in the store I am defiantly buying it. Plus since sharks do not have bones but rather cartilage I image shark would make an amazing stock. Now how many people have thought of making a shark stock? Not many I’m sure but I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t.
Next time I get my hands on some though I think I am going to beer batter it and fry it. Using Dogfish Head beer of course. How could I pass that up.
[...] the past I had roasted dogfish before but needed something new to do with it. So I decartilaged it, sharks don’t have bones, [...]