Is this the Ugliest Dinner Ever?
@owlwings (43910)
Cambridge, England
March 22, 2016 5:00am CST
Today we are having lunch with friends. We do this once a month and each of us take it in turns to host the lunch and provide the main course, with the other two couples providing the starter and dessert.
This time, it is my turn to provide the starter, which will be an avocado and orange salad on a bed of baby leaves. The main course, however is monkfish and that is what inspires this post.
I don't know why the monkfish is so called. It must be one of the ugliest fishes in existence. It is all mouth and stomach but with a muscular tail, which is the only edible part and is supposed to taste like lobster. It is an angler fish and lives mostly on the sea floor, lying in wait for its prey which it lures into its gaping mouth with what looks like a tasty morsel dangling from a spine which sticks out from its head. It's stomach is so large that it can easily swallow a fish as large as itself.
I think that, if I saw this fish in my catch, I'd throw it straight back without a second thought! Thank goodness I don't have to prepare and cook it today! I'll tell you what it tasted like later, but, in the meantime, do you have any experience of this fish (or any other horrible monster that you've dared to eat?
14 people like this
18 responses
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
22 Mar 16
ever wonder what made the first person to think, I'm going to eat this hideous thing, I bet it is tasty.
4 people like this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
22 Mar 16
Wow, I haven't had Monkfish in years. I really liked it. I haven't seen it around here.
4 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
23 Mar 16
Just looking at the picture makes me hungry. I'm a brave eater. If I caught that I would check to see if it was poisonous and then I would want to see what part I could eat.
2 people like this
@PainsOnSlate (21852)
• Canada
22 Mar 16
I've had it only because of its claim to taste like lobster but I wasn't impressed. Looking forward to your opinion and if it great, find out how they cooked it for me.... It is certainly a scary looking fish.
3 people like this
Angler fish is more like those local horror movies
@jcj_111776 (3216)
• Philippines
1 Apr 16
Hi :) By looking at it, I'm not sure of who's going to eat who! The monkfish looks like it's going to make a meal out of me instead. I always tell my 6- year old daughter to not judge the appearance of the food before ever tasting it. But I think I need to make an exemption with this lol!
1 person likes this
@Fleura (30404)
• United Kingdom
6 May 16
I'm a bit late seeing this - how was your dinner?
I've had monkfish a few times and really liked it (although I wouldn't say it was like lobster); however I virtually never eat it any more because it is not fished in a sustainable way: see the Good Fish Guide here:
I've also been lucky enough to actually see one in the wild in Cornwall, but only once in about 15 years of diving there.
Search for sustainable fish to eat and which fish to avoid. Get detailed information on each fish.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
6 May 16
I've only had it twice and thought that its likeness to lobster was tenuous at best. The texture is more like crustacean flesh than what one normally associates with fish so perhaps that is where the 'poor man's lobster' epithet comes from.
I rather suspected that it was difficult to fish it sustainably but it seems that not nearly enough is known about it to decide whether or not it should be considered endangered. However, since it more or less has to be caught by trawling, I'd be reluctant to encourage it because trawling damages the sea floor.
1 person likes this
@Chellezhere (5739)
• United States
2 Aug 16
I would imagine that if it spends most of its live on the sea floor, it must taste like dirt as well. UGH! I despise the taste of bottom feeding fish!
1 person likes this
