MillieF

I am trying to get to grips with some of the local fish that I find on sale here....bearing in mind NB doesn't have big supermarkets, and its a bit hit and miss what you might find on sale from one day to the next in the fish department. Tonight we had a lovely Arctic Char....but it didn't taste a bit like the one that I had previously cooked in France, and was a lot less pink than the same named fish that my husband remembers from BC - but was very nice nevertheless. Also on sale was something called a B Liner (a first for me) I came home and looked it up and its called a Vermillion Snapper....but the one on the Internet looked a very different fellow to the one in Atlantic Superstore, and not a BIT Vermillion. There were only three local fishes on sale tonight apart from the ubiquitous Salmon etc.

Can you give me some 'local' names, of something we might like to try grilled please? We really used to like Dorade, and John Dory...and lots of others whose names have fled! but I don't know what anything is called here, although it's generally fun finding out...if we can find them, the quality is super.

Many thanks.

bats

Can't really help over here in Ontario. We get the usual salmon, trout, cod, haddock. Plenty of fish in the river but I'm not that keen on them. If you find out what dorade is called here I would be interested. Do you have a Costco as they have good fish.

geedee

You might find this interesting... and then again, you might not.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...-reaction.html

BristolUK

Did you really mean to say that?

Siouxie

http://www.seafoodsource.com/seafoodhandbook-list.aspx

I buy Basa (a type of catfish) which is mildly flavoured and has a good texture, I also like Tilapia. John Dorey is a European fish and I haven't seen it in Ontario (yet). Haddock seems quite popular here too (particularly at fish and chip shops).

Here's a list of freshwater fish found in NB - you should be able to find out what the equivalent was in Europe. http://www.unb.ca/research/institute...ies/index.html or http://www.unb.ca/fredericton/scienc...%20species.htm

Are you looking for fresh fish or frozen?

Novocastrian

Dorade is bream. I've not seen it here.

Shard

Yangtze Kiang
River of the Eastern dream
Teeming with trout and perch and carp and...
...Bream.

(Monty Python...sorry but you did say bream)

caretaker

Two parrots were sitting on a perch and one said, "Do you smell fish?"

MillieF

Well, yes in comparison to some of the whoppers in Toronto and other larger cities. We have Atlantic Superstore, Sobeys, the Co-op and Costco, which given the population is very good, and they aren't bad supermarkets, and I like the farmer's market...but they aren't exactly large...you have better bigger ones in Moncton, I recall.

BristolUK

I don't know. I only had a day trip to Fredericton but it's hard to believe they aren't similar to here.

Superstore and Sobeys here seem the same size and choice (equivalent) as I was used to in Montreal - except for frogs legs which I don't see here.

MillieF

Siouxie, many thanks, I shall most definitely give a Basa a try!

Novo, apologies, I realise now that I got the Beam mixed up! All fish seem to have such different names and I was never too sure what they were called in the UK either, and my husband keeps saying they are his favorite fish

BristolUK

The Basa seems to have suddenly appeared in the last few months. I came across it in Giant Tiger of all places.

I remember reading that Sole was just a general name for flatfish.

Siouxie

http://metro.ca/conseil-expert/poiss...dorade.en.html

It's called Dorade!

I've been buying Basa for about 6 years, so it's been available for a while.

The Common or Dover Sole is the only true "sole" apparently.

BristolUK

Just like the steak.

sandylns

The Dover Sole usually sold in North America is not a true sole. Only the one found off the coast of Europe is a Dover Sole. Latin name Solea Solea. The flesh of the European sole is whiter and a little firmer than the pacific variety. Its Latin name is microtomes Pacifica.
Also, flounder is sold as sole over here. The flesh on it is quite firm but much greyer. There used to be an abundance of it but, overfishing has decimated stocks.
Tilapia is almost always imported from Thailand and usually farmed. Cat fish is great if you can get it. Not much of it in NB but it has appeared in Sobeys and the Superstore.
Both brook trout and rainbow trout can be found locally. As can halibut.
Most of the fish you would be familiar with in the UK is just not available here. Things like John Dory, Silver Hake Sea Bass etc., Pollack or Tommy Cod can be found here. If caught fresh it can be quite tasty. Both are members of the cod/haddock family.
Apart from trout there isn't much in the way of good eating fresh water fish. Folks do eat pickerel, something akin to a pike. Alewives or more commonly gaspereau is also eaten. They are members of the herring family so can be very bony. Red snapper is available as is ocean perch, another red fish.
Have fun trying them all out.