Red mullet season is here

The summer is the optimum period for savoring the Mediterranean red mullet. There are primarily two species of red mullet in the Mediterranean, Mullus surmuletus rouget de roche in French or striped red mullet, and Mullus barbatus or rochet de vase or rouget de sable in French or sand red mullet. The latter has two subspecies. Due to intrusion from neighboring waters, there are an additional three species of red mullet of which two these days can be found in the Eastern Mediterreanan, Upeneus asymmetricus and Upeneus moluccensis. Both have arrived from the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean. In the Western Mediterrenean there is also a population of Pseudupeneus prayensis, which looks a bit like the striped red mullet and this one has found its way into the Mediterrenean from its original habitat which is the waters of Western Africa.

On the pictures above you see different examples of the striped red mullet, The difference in color between the examples on the two pictures is due to their habitat. The second ones are true rock red mullets that have lived deep whereas the other ones are from a habitat of more shallow waters and in this case more sandy bottoms.

I have not been able to locate any images when writing this on the sand red mullet, although I have some somewhere. The difference is a less pronounced noose and it lacks the stripes found on the striped red mullet. If I can choose, I generally select the striped red mullet, simply because they are tastier. I have tried them side by side many times and almost always have the striped ones had better taste, maybe because of its food preferences, even if individual habitats can influence the taste for better or worse.

Generally speaking, red mullets from deeper waters are the preferred ones. However, contrary to many people’s belief it is the sand red mullets that live deepest down. But true rock striped red mullet from deep waters, normally, has the most superior taste, supposedly in particular those that have lived on a lot of shrimp. This is not to say that a red mullet from not so deep waters cannot be quite good, provided it comes from little polluted waters with good food. There still are such places in the Mediterranean.

I think the food in the local habitat is the explanation why Mediterranean striped red mullet is superior, from a taste point of view, to that of the striped red mullet found in the Atlantic.

Red mullets are fished as alevins, called rossetti in Italian, and from 12 cm up to 30-40 cm.  Generally speaking the small one are preferred, although my friend Rocco Iannone, the Italian star chef of the Amalfi-coast will take issue with me on that. He likes the really big striped red mullets caught very deep down with special nets.

There are many pitfalls when buying red mullet. First of all, it has to be super fresh. It is not a fish like dover sole or turbot that will get better after a few days in the fridge. In my opinion a red mullet is best eaten the same day it was caught. The body should be literally rigid and the scales tight and the eyes clear and glossy. If bought very fresh but it, for one or the other reason, cannot be consumed immediately, it is best to clean and fillet it and store the fillets wrapped in plastic so they don’t dry. The content in the stomach easily starts smelling bad and the fish easily and quickly gets a rather nasty taste from this. Secondly, the way it has been caught is rather important. Red mullets are caught as by catch or by trawling or with special nets. If you look closely on the first picture, there is a sharp line just by the gills. The line is a result from the net that has been used when catching the red mullet. Generally speaking these nets specifically used for red mullets are preferred as mullets swim into the net and die almost instantly and stop swimming. Red mullets caught with these nets will have a superior texture.

The taste of a fresh striped red mullet is a profound taste of the sea. It has no fishy taste to it whatsoever but an iodine flavor that for me evokes the feeling of being on a boat in the Mediterranean on a windy day. The flavor rapidly changes to one of iodine and fishiness and for those who know what a red mullet can be like when ultra-fresh, it can be repellant to eat when not ultra-fresh. The texture also changes rapidly. A very fresh red mullet will have a firm, yet translucent texture whereas a not so fresh one will have a more cotton-like and mushy texture.

There are a lot of considerations to make when cooking and using red mullets.  The small ones, in French also known as “becasse de mer”, should, if really fresh, be consumed as they are without cleaning, in other words you eat the offal, such as liver, intestines and brains and really everything except for the scales. Just remove the scales and fry them quickly and eat them. Some like them deep fried but I find that it easily ruins them.

Larger red mullets can be prepared like the smaller ones, but personally, I find the offal of the larger ones to be less interesting, except for the liver of course. I don’t think the larger ones benefit from cooking on the bone. In my view, fish is primarily cooked on the bone, either because it is small fish, like the “becasee de mer”, that you eat the bones or much of them, or when the bones and the tissue surrounding the bones give away gelatins when the fish is cooked that will enhance the flavors and textures of the prepared fish. The bones in red mullets are not such that there will be much of the gelatinous sensation, that is found with for instance turbot or sole. Instead red mullet is a rather fat fish and it is important to cook it in such a manner that the fat under the skin is unleashed. To maximize the flavors of red mullets, they simply need to be pan fried at relatively high heat on the skinny side to release the fats and let the skin be crisp when cooking in its own fat. It is also important to not overdo the greasing of the frying pan and not to use butter as fat to fry them in as this will alter the true flavor of the red mullet. Better is to use a little palm oil, due to its high smoke temperature, and once the mullets starts releasing their own fat, the palm oil can be whipped out from the pan. Cooking is rapid. Red mullet livers are particularly prized by gourmets. It is a treat raw on a thin crispy toast of sour dough bread.

If cooked on the bone they should be seared to release the fats as seen on this picture and turned several times so that the crispiness is not lost before being served.

I find red mullets best served on their own or with simply one or two accompanying flavor components. I am especially fond of tomatoes. Here is yesterday’s simple preparation of pan seared red mullets with oven roasted tomatoes and a sauce of cucumber and oven roasted bell peppers. The sauce contains a fair amount of olive oil and is enhanced by Xeres vinegar and of course the liver of the mullet.

I like drinking red wine with red mullets. There is something with iodine seafood and red wine that I find quite attracting.

Someone might ask if tomatoes are that great to eat considering the lectin content of tomatoes. Well, these have had their skins, seeds and water removed and then cooked. Whether that does any good with respect to the lectins I don’t know yet. I am exploring it.