Pen and I have started having ‘fish night’ once a week. The other day i went to our local fish shop and bought a couple of Leatherjackets. Here’s three reasons why you should buy them:
1. Cost
At our fish shop (Eastwood), Leatherjackets are $6.00 per kg. However when you buy other whole fish you pay for the head and the guts. This is not the case with Leatherjackets, they come precleaned, so in reality you get them cheaper than $6.00 per kg. I bought two decent sized Leatherjackets the other day and paid $1.50 each for them. That’s almost as cheap as lentils!
2. Taste
To me, Leatherjackets are very similar in flavour to Snapper. Why then, is Snapper the most popular fish in Australian and Leatherjackets one of the most unpopular? I think people must see the price and think they are poor quality….
3. The Environment
We need to make sure we eat the fish that are in plenty supply rather than eating the ones that are almost extinct. Right now, there is an over abundance of Leatherjackets in our waters – that’s why they are cheap. If you don’t eat them, you are more likely to kill the endangered species because they have to compete with the Leatherjackets to survive. In NSW, there is no size limit on Leatherjackets and a bag limit of 20! That is fisheries code for: commit mass genocide on this fish.
How to buy & prepare them
Don’t bother filleting them, it’s too hard and they taste good whole. Most Leatherjackets will be small. However, they have extremely big bones so are one of the few fish that are very easy to eat as juveniles. Don’t buy fish that have gone dry or are discoloured. When you bring them home, wash out what is left of the cavity and clean out any remaining guts. They should only take about 10-15 minutes in the oven and once cooked, the skin comes away easily and the bones are visible.
A Recipe Suggestion
I was given Gordon Ramsay’s new book ‘Cooking with Friends’ for my birthday. It’s a good book (will probably do a review sometime). In it he has a Red Mullet Recipe with Black Olives and Cherry Tomatoes. I came home with the Leatherjackets and wanted to cook this but hardly had any of the ingredients, so i modified it according to what i had and this is what it turned out like:
See ‘Easy Mains‘ for the recipe; it’s called Mediterranean Leatherjackets.
Looks nice!! I have never really liked leatherjacket – perhaps i’ll give them a try again though with this recipe…
I completely agree with you Nick. I’ve attended several media events through work promoting some of the less popular but equally delicious fish varieties. It is a shame that consumers aren’t as familiar with these varieties… they’d help the environment, satisfy their tastebuds and save themselves some dollars too!
Thanks for the post on my site. I’ll make sure to keep a tab of what you’re up to over here. Good to meet a fellow Aussie food blogger!
We are so buying some leatherjecket this weekend!