When is sea bass not sea bass?

Halibut-lenguado?

Gracias, Seis! Si, the best ceviche, hands down, is Sierra. I get the Atun, but frozen, now I know what to ask for fresh.

I dunno about the Mahi tho, the Mahi I've been eating here for years is thicker, kind of drier, chewy, and (sorry) not nearly as tasty. The Mahi I remember was cut into thin fillets, sweet sweet meat, never dry, and never chewy. Even when I lived at the beach in Mexico and bought it off the boats and cut it into thin 'fillets' it never was as good. I do remember when I was a teenager that the word in Hawaii was that the Mahi was fished out! No more. The restaurants said the Mahi they were serving was coming from Taiwan.

I'm making a cheat sheet for the Pacifico fishmonger so I can buy more fresh fish from him. When he has those big whole fish, if I just want a couple of fillets is he going to cut up that fish just for my 2 fillets?

Better to pick the Mullet meat off the bones than to try to pick the bones out of the Mullet. Good sweet meat!

Opakapaka/Pink Snapper is the BEST tho! Is it here?

You might want to add Monk fish to your list, they have it occasionally and it is a treat.

Yes, yes, but how do you ask for it? It IS a treat. And thanks for the phone number!

Trailrunner wrote:Yes, yes, but how do you ask for it? It IS a treat. And thanks for the phone number!

Just ask the lady at the cash register, she speaks English and usually answers the phone so you can call and find out what's available before driving over. Such a deal.

I always buy the whole fish and have them filet it for me. I think that's the way they work anyway. Don't know for sure. Although, when I buy their frozen salmon, they will cut the big filets in half for me. I guess that stuff arrives that way, so it doesn't matter to them, but having half a corvina left over may not be in their best interests.

That's what I was thinking too, HG, but then I thought that having a WHOLE corvina left over is not in their best interests either.

I don't know how it works, and am a bit intimidated to ask. I'll go now that I know a little more and check out the fresh fish better.

Still want to know if anyone knows what they call Pink Snapper or Monkfish here.

Trailrunner wrote:That's what I was thinking too, HG, but then I thought that having a WHOLE corvina left over is not in their best interests either.

I don't know how it works, and am a bit intimidated to ask. I'll go now that I know a little more and check out the fresh fish better.

Still want to know if anyone knows what they call Pink Snapper or Monkfish here.

You're right on that. I need to ask. Next time I go in there. Probably very soon.

Trailrunner wrote: Still want to know if anyone knows what they call Pink Snapper or Monkfish here.

Don't know about the snapper but monkfish is can be called rape or sometimes rabo manchado. Try the different species of pargo which are similar to the snappers. And also medio pez which can be one of several different types of flat fish such as flounder.

Do they have Cod here?

Do they have Halibut here?

Do they have flounder here? There are two types of flatfish, one is flounder, the other is fluke.

No halibut but there is flounder. The snappers are as close as you can get to cod.

Halibut likes much colder water but you'd think they would get it frozen.

Thanks for all the good info and recommendations, I'll go over there soon and report back. Maybe HG will too, interested to see what he finds out.

Since a question was asked about halibut and cod - it might be helpful to look at habitat maps for both:

Pacific Halibut habitat:
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Pacific Cod habitat:
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There is good fresh fish now in the area so figure out how to cook what we have instead if trying to replicate what you know. You really can duplicate exactly what you remember so go for something new.

joec wrote:Do they have Cod here?

Do they have Halibut here?

Do they have flounder here? There are two types of flatfish, one is flounder, the other is fluke.

Cod is bacalao, a traditional food for Christmas dinners here in Mexico, but it sure ain't the cod from the cold coasts of Greenland that is so popular with the chippers in the UK and Ireland...and unfortuantely in short supply even now in those countries.

Okay, Trailrunner dude, I was in Pacifico today and bought a slab of salmon... some to grille, some to smoke. I asked specifically about whole fish vs. filets, and she showed me: there are a bunch of popular types alread fileted on the front ice display, and a bunch of whole fish on the side ice display. If you want what isn't already fileted, you pay for the whole weight of the fish. And of course fish-head soup is popular, so "it's a deal".

The frozen salmon is 160/kilo, which beats everyone's price around here. Some places by far. (Hmm, no I didn't ask whether it is Pacific or Atlantic, filter-tipped or plain... .)

You da' man, HG!
I'm going tomorrow.

Rock on. The staff are so helpful, some may find it a little too much pressure ..... I just smile and walk around looking at everything.

HelperGuy wrote:Okay, Trailrunner dude, I was in Pacifico today and bought a slab of salmon... some to grille, some to smoke. I asked specifically about whole fish vs. filets, and she showed me: there are a bunch of popular types alread fileted on the front ice display, and a bunch of whole fish on the side ice display. If you want what isn't already fileted, you pay for the whole weight of the fish. And of course fish-head soup is popular, so "it's a deal".

The frozen salmon is 160/kilo, which beats everyone's price around here. Some places by far. (Hmm, no I didn't ask whether it is Pacific or Atlantic, filter-tipped or plain... .)

The salmon available in the local pescaderias (and the fish market in Zapopan) is farm-raised Atlantic Salmon from Chile. The Ajijic Meat Center was getting some fresh Alaskan and more recently Canadian (B.C) on Fridays. That season may be over now. The last fish I got was two weeks ago. It was excellent. He still has it frozen. I won't touch the farm-raised stuff.

Farm raised Salmon are fed dyes to make them pink...and this dye is supposed to be dangerous,...that's what I read anyway. Also farmed Salmon is lower in Omegas (good fats) than wild salmon. I don't buy it anymore either.

About salmon, from everything I've read, I wouldn't worry about farm vs. wild. So what if farm has less Omegas? So what if farm has fewer proteins? I like the taste, same as I like hamburgers. And without the dye the fish would be grey and nobody would want it. You've been eating food dyes your entire life, in everything from mustard to icing.

There are gazillions of things we eat that are not perfect, but they are a damned site better than not having them.

I have no fear of the dye, only the overuse of antibiotics. Then too, the taste just doesn't compare to wild. So, I don't buy it. The wild fish I got a couple of weeks ago was SO good and rich. We grilled some, smoked some, and made Lox of some. Yum!

It's worth a try. Growing up on both coasts of Canada, we just took all our fish for granted... until the cod started disappearing.

David wrote:I have no fear of the dye, only the overuse of antibiotics. Then too, the taste just doesn't compare to wild. So, I don't buy it. The wild fish I got a couple of weeks ago was SO good and rich. We grilled some, smoked some, and made Lox of some. Yum!

You were unkowingly buying farm raised until recently.

[quote="HelperGuy"]It's worth a try. Growing up on both coasts of Canada, we just took all our fish for granted... until the cod started disappearing.[/quote


One of the nasty things about both cod and salmon was infestation by parasites after the green people stopped the baby seal killings. It got so bad at one time, that you could, occasionally see little creepy crawlies in fish fillets at the supermarket. More baby seals=more seal poop=more parasites (worms) in the ocean.

Hope I didn't gross anyone out here. I still eat the stuff but a few of my colleagues wouldn't touch it. No problem, more smoked salmon for me.

Well E-raq, you have a way with words, I rarely eat salmon or cod but I think that i will pass now. I will only eat worms in a well done cheese or fruit but fish...no thank you!