August 6, 2013 — In Paris last month, I was delighted, as one might expect, by extraordinary croissants, crêpes, paté foie gras, escargots, frogs legs, grand vins, Camembert, crème brulée and mousse-au-chocolat. What I didn’t expect there was a sublimely delicious seafood imported from New England — monkfish liver.
Before George Peterson became a state representative, he fished commercially and, with his beautiful wife Diana, owned and operated Peterson’s Fish Market in Grafton center. They introduced me to monkfish, sometimes called goosefish, when few people knew it even existed. I’ve favored it ever since. In Europe, it’s a very expensive delicacy.
Monkfish are a big, ugly species of anglerfish, often growing to 3 feet or more, with record fish weighing more than 200 pounds. They’re all head and tail. Projecting out of their head are three long, soft, worm-like filaments. They’re separated modifications of the front dorsal spines that seductively lure baitfish close to their wide, heavily toothed mouths, which suck in prey like a powerful vacuum cleaner.
For good reason, monkfish is commonly referred to as poor man’s lobster. It has a consistency similar to lobster tail and is frequently sautéed medium rare and covered with melted butter. Today, many gourmets rave about it, but few on our side of the Atlantic have tried the liver.
All my fish liver-eating experiences, beginning in my youth, were forced upon me by my health-conscious mother, who knew about the benefits of fish oil long before omega-3 fatty acids were being popularized. Growing up on a daily spoonful of unctuous cod liver oil left me unreceptive, though, to any future fish liver offerings. But monkfish liver proved wonderfully different. It’s a shame that it took a French restaurant to introduce me to an American delicacy.
Read the full story at the Worcester Telegram