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Bisbee Gal

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I've been enjoying trout at Gosha's and Nueva Posada, both are excellent although different preparations (Gosha's is grilled, while Nueva Posada's is baked almondine).  

I asked the waiter at Gosha's where the trout came from; he said it came from Mazamitla.  

Sure enough there is a rainbow trout hatchery in Mazamitla!  The second link below(in Spanish) indicates you can fish for trout at the hatchery.  

https://www.zonaturistica.com/en/things-to-do-and-places-to-visit/1306/farm-barranca-verde-hatchery-of-trouts-mazamitla.html

http://www.mazamitla.travel/granja_piscicola.html

This week when nosing around the freezer at SL, I saw some trout (trucha is the Spanish word).  For 74 pesos, I figured what the heck and bought it.  It is to my eye, identical to what is served at both eateries.  The head is included with it, so you can be sure it's not a cat 😸 (that is a joke that has to do with buying rabbit at the Chapala Mercado).  

I thawed it then seasoned with s&p and a light schmear of olive oil.  Grilled it in a pre-heated 375 degree gas grill (lid down) skin side down for 5 to 7 minutes; don't flip it, the delicate flesh will break.  It was excellent (with a caper tartar sauce).  At the restaurants this entire fillet is served as a meal; for a light lunch two of us shared the fillet with some veggies.  Heartier appetites might not be fully satisfied with the fillet alone (lookin' at you CG ☺️); may want to add a starch to round out the meal.  

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The rainbow trout farm-raised in Michoacán is always excellent, delicious and plentiful, and featured in our restaurants here.  Michoacán is the leader in rainbow trout production in Mexico.  Given that Mazamitla is about 10-15 minutes from the Michoacán border, it's not surprising that they raise rainbows.  It is in no way comparable to farmed salmon, thank god.

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There just isn't that much "wild" salmon available, and it is very very pricey. The frozen filets I buy at the two fish markets here, and at WalMart, are essentially the same and I highly doubt they are wild, or the packages would say so. WalMart briefly carried very small filets of frozen fish that said "wild" on the package, but to me it tasted like what most people think of as farmed, and it was a tad mealy.

The very few times I see trout here on a menu, I will get it, because a good trout is as good as salmon to me. Wild or farmed, I have no idea. The signs when looking for wild vs. farmed salmon only work with whole fish, and I have yet to see one of those anywhere here.

I come from Canada, known for its salmon, but most of us have been eating the farmed version for decades. Unless you live on the coast, the wild is not plentiful.

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Salmon farming methods have vastly improved over the past decade.  There are now industry standards and (at least in the US) Costco and other better grocers only sell salmon from certified farms.  

Seafood Watch, a part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation, endorsed the safety of farmed salmon certified under the ASC, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council.  

I actually prefer farmed salmon for its slightly higher fat content.  I bought some wild AK salmon last month when I was in the US and it's fine but it is lean and usually quite pricey.

I agree that the salmon I buy here is not wild, the color and fat marbling is consistent with farmed salmon.  I do wish the farms would stop feeding a coloring agent to the farmed salmon; I think consumers can be educated about a "pale" salmon and still buy it. 

https://www.asc-aqua.org/what-we-do/our-standards/farm-standards/the-salmon-standard/

https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/aquaculture/seafood-watch-upgrades-asc-certified-farmed-salmon-to-good-alternative

 

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Costa Allegra fish market gets  fresh farmed / wild salmon  (whole fish ) every Wednesday , it looks great ...but it is a little pricey ,compared to most local ( Pacific ) fish , which l prefer . Costco has good looking salmon and their trout ( farmed ) although very large is excellent. As for the farmed versus wild discussion ...we will have to get used to farmed..the quality of which is constantly improving . I return to Florida’s Atlantic coast often.. the price of local fresh fish is aprox $ 20 - $ 25 U S . Thank goodness I got out of the fish restaurant business when I did .

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Costa Allegra fish market gets  fresh farmed / wild salmon  (whole fish ) every Wednesday , it looks great ...but it is a little pricey ,compared to most local ( Pacific ) fish , which l prefer . Costco has good looking salmon and their trout ( farmed ) although very large is excellent. As for the farmed versus wild discussion ...we will have to get used to farmed..the quality of which is constantly improving . I return to Florida’s Atlantic coast often.. the price of local fresh fish is aprox $ 20 - $ 25 U S , per pound .Thank goodness I got out of the fish restaurant business when I did .

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As far as hatchery trout, I was raised in Pennsylvania where state trout hatcheries stock lakes and streams with both adult and fingerling trout.  They publish their schedule online.  Most people can't tell if they've caught a wild or hatchery trout in Pennsylvania waters and it is been that way for decades.  FYI, during the depression my father helped build a large fish hatchery in northeast PA when he was in the CCC; to my knowledge it is still operational.  

https://www.fishandboat.com/Fish/Stocking/Pages/default.aspx

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Do you ever see on a restaurant menu "trucha salmonada"?  For a long time I thought it was a name invention, but little did I know there actually is a trout by that name.  The flesh is red, like a salmon, but the whole, uncooked fish is a char.  Salvelinus fontinalis--brook trout, in English.  Delicious.

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40 minutes ago, Ian Greenwood said:

I return to Florida’s Atlantic coast often.. the price of local fresh fish is aprox $ 20 - $ 25 U S .

Joe Patti's fish market says otherwise. https://www.joepattis.com/shop/select-type.cfm?typenum=101

Capture.PNG

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1 hour ago, Alpha1 said:

Bisbee Gal I found this spatula that flips fish, or anything else, with ease

I have a fish flipper; my caution on flipping a thin trout fillet on a grill is that the flesh is so tender, you risk harming it.  And it is so thin it does not need to be flipped.  

Even when I cook salmon, I grill it 70% of the time skin-side down as the skin gives a lot of protection from the flames and gives a lot of flavor to the flesh.  The reason I stopped buying salmon from Costco here is because their fillets are skinless.  Much better result with skin-on salmon.  The cooked flesh slides easily off of the skin.  

Also I grill all seafood on a grill tray made for a gas grill.  

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1 hour ago, AngusMactavish said:

Joe Patti's fish market says otherwise. https://www.joepattis.com/shop/select-type.cfm?typenum=101

 

Angus, we bought a home in FL (St. Pete area) in 2014.  My first shock was the price of seafood!  It is either the same (at chain groceries) as what I paid in AZ or DC-Metro; at fish stores, it is even higher.  Most commercial FL fish is frozen on-board and shipped to a distribution chain.  

An interesting example:  Our little town (Gulfport) has a fishing pier.  Lots of netters going after mullet.  But all they are after is the roe.  It is a delicacy very popular in Italy and other Mediterranean countries, where it is called bottarga.  It sells for upwards of 30-40 USD per pound.  The local netters take the roe to a processing plant near Sarasota from which it is sent overseas.  

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Mactavish  .....it’s easy to go online and glean a little knowledge, but as we all know “ a little knowledge is a dangerous thing “ . Firstly Pensacola is almost 400 miles from the Atlantic ..it’s actually on the northern gulf coast or the red-neck riviera as we call it  where the local fishing industry is completely different . The prices in your cute little photos are whole fish , by the time it’s filleted ,there’s 50% waste and an up charge for Labour . Much of the gulf seafood has been decimated by the massive red tides this year  and quality is suspect. As far as the species in the photos ,Salmon and smelt don’t live anywhere near Florida , pompano and speckled trout are out of season and the red snapper fishing season has been closed down since early September .There are over 150 species of grouper many endangered ,  many  of different food value  . I put an order for 10 pounds of grouper filet in my online basket at your famous fishmongers ( which you have no idea about the grade , age and quality...there are differences believe it or not ) the price ..186 U S and it wasn’t skinned or pinned  Finally ...” I called a friend “ one of top Chefs in Florida.. he can’t buy grade A fish for less than 20 $ ..WHOLESALE . So  before one pontificates on the fish prices in Florida it’s best to have a little local knowledge.

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 Mactavish ..your prices as I indicated with facts are at best up your supposed kilt , check the facts with the largest wholesalers In the state.. Lombardi’s , Bar Barbour , North Star and New England Fisheries   — we’re not talking cod and haddock here . Over the past 40 years I’ve bought well over 250 ,000 pounds of prime  Florida fish and the  “ real prices “  you quoted have not been available for almost ten years unfortunately !  Don’t you get it  ?  these are the prices l have to pay .

 

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11 hours ago, Ian Greenwood said:

 Mactavish ..your prices as I indicated with facts are at best up your supposed kilt , check the facts with the largest wholesalers In the state.. Lombardi’s , Bar Barbour , North Star and New England Fisheries   — we’re not talking cod and haddock here . Over the past 40 years I’ve bought well over 250 ,000 pounds of prime  Florida fish and the  “ real prices “  you quoted have not been available for almost ten years unfortunately !  Don’t you get it  ?  these are the prices l have to pay .

 

Fact re: speckled trout which are also called brook trout but are really char. Their preferred habitat temperature is between 50- 65F any prolonged time at 75F will kill them. That pic that Angus shows may or may not be brown trout,a species that can live at higher temps than any other trout. My favourite brook fishing was fly in only to the James Bay watershed[are you getting the geographic picture angus and ian?] I have fished for grayling, trout and char from Quebec to BC and south to Montana. The only trout that I haven't caught is the golden which is on my bucket list and apparently stocked in some streams here in Mexico. These are Montana creek run browns that fed 4.

otter krick browns z.jpg

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1 hour ago, happyjillin said:

Fact re: speckled trout which are also called brook trout but are really char.

They referenced is a Gulf Coast salt water fish.

Cynoscion nebulosus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cynoscion nebulosus, the spotted seatrout, also known as speckled trout, is a common estuarine fish found in the southern United States along coasts of Gulf of Mexico and the coastal Atlantic Ocean from Maryland to Florida. While most of these fish are caught on shallow, grassy flats, spotted seatrout reside in virtually any inshore waters, from the surf of outside islands to far up coastal rivers, where they often come for shelter during cold weather. Contrary to its name, the spotted seatrout is not a member of the trout family (Salmonidae), but of the drum family (Sciaenidae). It is popular for commercial and especially recreational fishing in coastal waters of the southeastern United States. Adults reach 19-32 inches in length and 3-15 pounds in weight.
 
 
Cynoscion nebulosus
Spotted seatrout fish cynoscion nebulosus.jpg
Scientific classification
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