Long before diver-harvested scallops from Maine began appearing on cutting-edge restaurant menus, there was line-caught trout. Through history, trout has been high on the sportsman’s hit parade. The ritual of matching wits with them in rushing streams has in-spired memorable prose from writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Norman Maclean
(“A River Runs Through It”), and descriptions of fresh-caught trout being cooked over a wood fire in the wild never fail to whet a reader’s appetite.
Be it the famed truite au bleu of France (killed and boiled quickly and served with Hollandaise or beurre blanc sauce) or crisp-broiled brook trout presented in American railroad dining cars half a century ago, this was a fish universally admired for its firm but flaky texture and mild, sweet taste. (Henry VIII of England enjoyed dining on trout cheeks, which must have caused a severe drop in the trout population when you consider the minuscule size of a trout cheek and the vast dimensions of the king’s appetite.)
Nonetheless, these days trout appears to be swimming in a stream that runs between the fashionable and the forgotten.
Yes, some restaurants serve it:
– In Highwood, Gabriel Viti, chef-owner of Gabriel’s, has offered mushroom- and herb-stuffed, pancetta-wrapped, boned whole trout since his restaurant opened in 1993.
– Downtown, Hudson Club’s Paul Larson reports “a great response” to a recent special of wood-oven-roasted rainbow trout served with a salad of asparagus, watercress and orange.
– At New York City’s Windows on the World, the lead main course selection on the current menu is “roast Catskill trout, Jonah crab and pine nut stuffing, lobster butter.”
But these are isolated examples.
Yves Roubaud, chef/partner at Shaw’s Crab House, does not prepare trout in any form at the downtown restaurant. Larson admits to cooking trout “only occasionally,” and Viti says, “I don’t often see trout on menus” in other restaurants.
Things sound worse when you talk to caterers.
“We serve smoked trout as an hors d’oeuvre often,” says Myra Gotoff of Calihan Gotoff, “but I haven’t used fresh trout for a long time. Nobody asks me for it.”
“The last time I served trout was a few years back,” says Barry Brooks of Gaper’s. “Fish is not a major contender for our clients, and most who request it want a meatier fish like salmon.”
The story is somewhat different in supermarkets that sell fresh fish. Wholesale supplier Gayle Janes of Seafood Merchants on the North Shore reports very good sales of fresh and smoked trout to markets such as Sunset and Whole Foods. “Trout is doing quite well,” echoes a spokesperson for the Dominick’s chain.
Still, though trout purchases approached 57 million pounds in 1997, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that was barely 10 percent of the farmed catfish harvest.
“When we talk trout in regard to buying it fresh in a market, we almost always are talking about farm-raised rainbow trout,” says Peter Rafle of Trout Unlimited, a conservation organization dedicated to the protection of wild trout and salmon. (See related article on this page.) All trout sold in markets today grew up on farms. Line-caught wild trout are found only in the baskets of sport fishermen these days.
Although farm-raised trout provide an ideal 8 to 10 ounces of edible meat, consumers prefer more costly fish such as salmon, tuna, mahi-mahi and sea bass from Chile.
“Trout is not as popular as it should be,” says Dave Cooper of The Plitt Co., a local seafood wholesaler. “It’s mild- tasting, versatile, simple to cook and reasonably priced.”
But merchants suggest the look of whole trout, with head, tail and fins intact, repels consumers, and the fish’s complex bone structure intimidates them. Gastronomes complain that the texture is soft and the taste bland. Some home cooks hesitate to cook fresh fish in any form.
In response, trout farmers and chefs are boning or partly boning the fish, improving the texture through feed and controlled water temperature, and offering cured and marinated fillets.
(Fish and seafood sales have remained relatively steady in recent years, the National Fisheries Institute reported, with fresh and cured product gaining share at the expense of canned and frozen through the decade.)
But don’t expect a hangdog look at Rushing Waters, in Palmyra, Wis., north of Lake Geneva, a leading supplier of trout to the Chicago area.
“We sell every pound we can grow,” says operations manager Scott Barnes. Sales at Rushing Waters have more than doubled over the past three years, Barnes says, and the population in 53 cold-water ponds stands at 800,000.
The optimism at Rushing Waters is based on a new processing and smoking facility with machines that can bone and fillet 160 trout a minute. “We’re smoking troutplus salmon and catfish that we buy-in a variety of flavors. The potential is almost unlimited,” Barnes says. “The rainbow industry is a sleeping giant.”
He acknowledges that fresh trout “reached a plateau in demand and production over the past decade,” and that his company needs to “build a niche” to take some business from the Idaho producers who control 70 percent of the domestic trout market.
Idaho’s ideal water temperature helps trout mature in about a year. They need 18 months in Wisconsin, meaning Barnes cannot undersell the competition. Instead, he is banking on consistent high quality and fresher product due to proximity to the Chicago market. In some cases, Rushing Waters trout processed in the morning are in Chicago restaurant kitchens for use that same evening, he says.
In the kitchen, fresh trout’s versatility is uncontested. Whole it may be poached, pan-fried, grilled or baked; or broiled or roasted with a stuffing. Fillets may be sauteed, broiled or wrapped around a stuffing and poached or baked. Butterflied trout may be broiled or grilled with or without a topping. Cooked trout can be served hot or at room temperature.
With such a profile, trout’s return to the main stage undoubtedly will be through America’s home kitchens.
A RAINBOW OF TROUT
Trout grown on farms or found in the wild include rainbow, steelhead, brook, lake, cutthroat, brown, bull and gila. But buy a fresh trout in a market or order one in a restaurant and the odds are it will be a rainbow.
“Rainbows are by far the most popular for domestic production,” says Peter Rafle of Trout Unlimited, “because of their yield size (a dressed weight of 8 to 10 ounces from a 1-pound trout), because they do well in a hatchery environment and because they taste good.”
Most are raised in the northern tier of the United States because, unlike catfish, they need constant cold, clean water. If the water temperature gets down to the 60s, the trout’s flesh will become soft or even mushy.
The rainbow is a member of the salmon family. According to “The Complete Seafood Handbook,” the skin is silver with black spots and a pinkish lavender stripe on each side, although farm-raised fish will not be as colorful as wild. The uncooked meat may be white, pink or orange.
BROILED TROUT WITH CUCUMBER SALAD
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Marinating time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Adapted from “A Treasury of Great Recipes,” by Mary and Vincent Price.
Cucumber salad:
1 large cucumber, peeled, sliced very thin
1/2 cup white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons each: water, minced parsley or dill
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash white pepper or to taste
Trout:
4 whole trout (10 to 12 ounces each), dressed, fins and tail ends snipped
2 to 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon minced parsley or dill
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1. For salad, place cucumber in medium non-reactive bowl. Cover with vinegar, water, parsley or dill, sugar, salt and pepper; toss. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours or until needed.
2. Heat broiler or prepare grill. Spread both sides of each cavity with light coating of mustard; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper; close fish. Brush one side of skin with oil; place oiled side down on broiler pan. Place fish about 5 inches from heat source. Cook 5 minutes; brush other sides with oil and turn. Cook until firm and cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Cream butter; stir in parsley, lemon juice and salt to taste. Place 1 trout on each of 4 warm plates. Spread tablespoon of butter inside each trout. Serve cucumber salad on side.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 415 Fat ………… 31 g Saturated fat .. 11 g
% calories from fat .. 68 Cholesterol .. 160 mg Sodium ……. 430 mg
Carbohydrates ……. 7 g Protein …….. 27 g Fiber ……….. 1 g
GRILLED TROUT WITH CHAYOTE SLAW
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 6 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Chayote, also called mirliton, is a mild-flavored squash. If you cannot find it, you may substitute more shredded cabbage. Jicama is a sweet, crunchy root. Look for both in supermarkets or Hispanic markets. Adapted from a recipe from Biloxi Grill in Wauconda.
Slaw:
1 piece (1/4-inch) fresh ginger, peeled, minced
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon each: celery salt, salt
2 carrots, peeled, julienned
1 chayote squash, peeled, julienned
1/2 small jicama, peeled, julienned
1/2 cup each: shredded red cabbage, julienned red bell pepper
Sauce:
2 teaspoons roasted garlic puree, see note
1 piece (1/2-inch) fresh ginger, peeled, minced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon soy sauce
3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Trout:
4 fillets (8 ounces each) red or rainbow trout, boned
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup mixed black and/or toasted white sesame seeds
1. For slaw, stir together ginger, garlic, mayonnaise, lemon juice, celery salt and salt in small bowl. Set aside or refrigerate, covered, if not using immediately. Combine carrots, chayote, jicama, red cabbage and bell pepper in large bowl. Add dressing. Toss until vegetables are coated. Set aside or refrigerate, covered, if not using immediately.
2. For sauce, mix roasted garlic, ginger, mayonnaise, soy sauce, lemon juice and sesame oil in bowl. Set aside or refrigerate, covered, if not using immediately.
3. For trout, prepare grill or heat broiler. Coat fillets lightly with olive oil. Grill in well oiled basket or broil until firm and cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes.
4. Make bed of slaw on each of four serving plates. Place 1 trout fillet on each plate. Cover each fillet with 1/4 of sauce; sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Test kitchen note: To roast garlic, remove as much of the paper wrap on bulb of garlic as possible, leaving the cloves intact. Cut off top of cloves and sprinkle with olive oil. Wrap bulb in aluminum foil and bake in 350 degree oven until soft, 35 to 45 minutes depending on size of garlic bulb. Allow to cool slightly; squeeze pulp from bulb. Or, for a faster method, use roasted garlic paste found in a tube. It is available in most supermarkets.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 660 Fat ………… 50 g Saturated fat .. 9 g
% calories from fat .. 67 Cholesterol .. 115 mg Sodium …… 540 mg
Carbohydrates …… 19 g Protein …….. 36 g Fiber ………. 8 g
SMOKED TROUT MOUSSE
Preparation time 15 minutes
Yield about 1 1/2 cups
Serve this mousse on crackers, pumpernickel bread or toast rounds, or fill cooked mushroom caps and serve as an appetizer.
1 smoked trout (8 ounces) boned, skinned, flaked
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons shredded fresh horseradish
1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
1/4 teaspoon white pepper or to taste
1/8 teaspoon each: salt, ground red pepper, optional
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1. Combine trout, shallot, horseradish, sour cream, peppers and salt in bowl; mix well. (For smoother spread, use food processor.) Refrigerate until ready to serve. Stir in chopped dill before serving.
Nutrition information per 2 tablespoons
Calories …………. 60 Fat ………… 3.4 g Saturated fat .. 1.6 g
% calories from fat .. 54 Cholesterol …. 20 mg Sodium …….. 430 mg
Carbohydrates ……. 1 g Protein ………. 6 g Fiber ………… 0 g
TROUT WITH CURED HAM AND GARLIC
Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 7 minutes
Yield 4 appetizer servings
4 rainbow trout fillets, skin on, boned
Flour for dusting
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced cured ham such as serrano or prosciutto
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1. Dust fillets with flour. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook trout 3 minutes; turn. Cook until firm and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully transfer fillets to 4 warm plates.
2. Add garlic and ham to skillet. Cook to soften garlic, 30 to 45 seconds. Spoon over trout; sprinkle with parsley.
Nutrition information per serving
Calories ………… 240 Fat ………… 17 g Saturated fat .. 3.2 g
% calories from fat .. 62 Cholesterol .. 55 mg Sodium ……… 140 mg
Carbohydrates ….. 3.5 g Protein ……. 19 g Fiber …………. 0 g
PAN-ROASTED STUFFED TROUT
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Adapted from a recipe from Park Avenue Cafe. The sauce is optional.
Watercress sauce:
1 bunch watercress, washed, dried, large stems removed
1 teaspoon green peppercornsin brine
2 tablespoons chicken brothor water
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt, freshly ground pepperto taste
Stuffing and trout:
1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot, minced
1/4 red or orange bell pepper, diced
2 cups cubed dry cornbread
1/4 cup warm chicken broth or water
1 large egg
1/4 cup cooked, diced shrimp
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
Freshly ground pepper, hot pepper sauce to taste
6 trout fillets, skin on
1/3 cup all-purpose flour seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1. Fill medium saucepan half full with water; heat to boil. Fill medium bowl halfway with water and ice. Cook watercress in boiling water 30 seconds. Drain; put in cold water. Drain. Combine watercress, green peppercorns, broth, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste in blender or food processor fitted with metal blade. Puree; pass mixture through strainer. Discard leaves in strainer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2. For stuffing, melt butter in small skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and bell pepper; cook until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl. Add cornbread, broth and egg to bowl; stir until combined. Stir in shrimp, parsley, salt, pepper and pepper sauce. Set aside to cool.
3. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut trout fillets in half lengthwise. Spread 1/4 to 1/2 inch of filling evenly over flesh side of three trout pieces. Cover with remaining pieces to make 6 “sandwiches.”
4. Dust exterior of fillets with seasoned flour. Heat oil in heavy-bottomed, oven-proof skillet. Add fillets; cook until skin is crisp and caramelized, about 2 minutes. Turn each sandwich so caramelized side is up. Bake in oven until cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes. Place sandwiches in center of plates; drizzle sauce on trout.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 295 Fat ………… 17 g Saturated fat .. 4 g
% calories from fat .. 53 Cholesterol .. 100 mg Sodium …… 330 mg
Carbohydrates …… 12 g Protein …….. 22 g Fiber ………. 1 g
