What menorcan fish do you know?

We learn about them at school but we forget them and then when we get to the fish market, we always end up asking for the same fish because we do not remember more than four or five. From the Blog “Discovery Menorca” here is a short guide that includes the most typical fish of Menorca.  Note that the list is long!

1. Comber (Serranus cabrilla): it is of the family of “Anfós” and is found in any depth along the coast of Menorca. It is a very versatile and tasty white fish that can measure up to 20 centimeters. Menorquines fry it, put it in a ‘caldera’(fish casserole), in boiling rice and if it is large, they cook it in the oven.
2. Grouper (Epinephelus gaza): considered the king of the sea, the most sought after fish for fishermen and exquisite taste. They can weigh up to 30 kilograms. With the pressure of underwater fishing, they are increasingly at greater depths.
3. Cap Roig (Scorpaena scrofa): it is a red fish that lives between 10 and 200 meters deep and can measure up to half a meter long. The most common ways of cooking are baked with potatoes, fried or boiled.
   

   CAP ROIG

4. Aranya  – The weever fish (Trachinus): These are poisonous fish but very good to make stocks or fish broths. Be alert if you fish because the poisonous spines are on the first dorsal fin and on the sides of the bronchial opening.
5. Bruixa  – Megrim (Lepidorhombus boscii): is a white fish, 30 or 40 centimeters, similar to the sole and living at the bottom of sand, between 200 and 300 meters deep. Its culinary use is fried or baked.
6. Donzella (Coris lulis): is a rock fish, hermaphrodite whose female changes sex when it becomes large. The maximum size is about 18 centimeters. Its meat is white and tasty, being suitable for frying or barbecuing. It is excellent for making fish stock.
7. Espet (Sphyraena sphyraena): live in deep water near rocks or reefs, the young are brown and can be found in groups along the coast. Big ones turn grey and grow to half a meter. It is a blue fish (very good for those who have cholesterol) that is consumed fried or baked with onion.
   

   ESPET

8. Cat Fish (Scyliorhinus canicula): belongs to the family of sharks, lives on sand bottoms below 90 meters deep and reaches 80 centimeters. It is eaten fried or with baked rice
9. Pelaia (Citharus macrolepidotus): inhabits the bottoms of sand or mud up to 310 meters deep. It is a fish that in taste is like the sole and is eaten basically fried.
10. Skate (Raja): is a rhomboid shaped fish that lives on the bottom between 40 and 300 meters deep. It is a fish very well-known by the menorquines and is eaten fried, with sauce or to put on a ‘coca’. It is very common to eat it with caper sauce.