Chef Ben Sargent Answers Our Best Fishing/Cooking Related Questions

Last week we got a great opportunity to field some questions to Ben Sargent, host of Hook, Line and Dinner while he was shooting a live webcast. I think Ben did a great job of answering our questions and I’ve been on the look out for more of his great videos such as the Catch It, Cook It, Eat It series.

I’ve listed the questions we wrote in to Ben, but you can always skip straight to the video.

1. Some fisherman will “bleed” their catch by cutting a main vein or blood rich area like the gills. They say that by letting the fish “bleed out” rather than die from suffocation makes the meat tastes better, possibly something due to lactic acid penetration or something. Is this just another bizarre fisherman’s tale?
2. What would you recommend as the best spices, herbs, and/or vegetables that you would take on a camping trip, and cook over a campfire, to pair with a freshly caught trout or bass? Keep in mind you only have limited resources, assume only what you can reasonably carry.
3. What’s the best tasting “poor man’s” (inexpensive) fish that I can find at the local supermarket or fish monger?
4. What’s the best moderately priced (20-40 USD) filet knife on the market right now?
5. With all the discussions surrounding sustainable fisheries, and even the supposed pending doom of the blue fin tuna, what do you feel is a sustainable choice for the dinner table? I always feel that eating what I can catch on my own is pretty sustainable, but it’s important to also know about what we’re buying in the supermarkets.
6. What the number one tip you can give anyone when cooking fish at home?
7. Whats your favorite beer to pair with fish and chips?

Watch more of Ben Sargent’s show on CookingChannelTV.com

Japanese Rainbow Trout From Adam Guy

Our good friend and long-time contributor Adam Guy wrote me to say that he’s recently picked up fly fishing and has been getting his practice in on a locally stocked pond where he can also keep a small portion of his catch to bring home and eat. Of course no post of his would be complete without something to get you salivating..

1. The French dish truites aux amandes; made with just butter, lemon, parsley and almonds, it is simplicity itself.
2. Seared trout fillets with a sauce of Marsala wine, cream and Japanese shimeji mushrooms.
3. Good old fish and chips, made with trout in a beer batter; it tasted better than some sea-fish I have eaten.

Once I have gained a little skill, I fully intend to hit the mountains and coasts of Japan with my fly rod. There is plenty of game here such as several species of native char and trout, a version of the famous taimen, Hucho perryi, called “itoh” in Japanese, and even our very own Asian salmon, the cherry or masu salmon (“sakuramasu”). Of course these creatures would probably not end up on my dinner plate, as perhaps due to my increasing age I feel less inclined to kill and eat my catch, but I will be sure to send you a photographic record of my fishing trips here.
Cheers,
Adam