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Seasonal ingredients peak: March - June
This terrible appearance has earned it the
nickname sea-devil with the name fishing-frog also being widespread. This fish
variety is usually a deep sea fish. Its feisty character is best witnessed when
you try to catch it.
Those who do manage to catch it will get a
chance to relish the tender meat which, when prepared properly, is a seafood
favourite. This is why its meat goes great with specialties such as shrimp and
prawns. Being a star in its own right, it’s served with simple side dishes like
potatoes, aromatised polenta or just boiled chard.
Monkfish stomach is a pretty unknown dish
which is becoming more sought after. Due to its opulent anatomy, this fish
variety is characterised by a large, heavy liver and stomach. When prepared
properly, the stomach is a delicacy in its own right, sometimes more sought
after even than the meat itself.
If you come to restaurants getting to grips
with this resourceful fish and skim through their menus, you’ll come to see
that it’s mostly oven-baked, fried or prepared in the widely known broth.
Monkfish goes great with root vegetables and combinations with real homemade
bora-dried pancetta are quite common. Well drenched in olive oil and with some home-grown
olives, the monkfish needs just a quick preparation to turn it into an
exquisite Dalmatian delicacy.
In Zadar’s restaurant 2 ribara they’ve done a great job
at making monkfish medallions wrapped in Dalmatian pancetta and with simple
Dalmatian-style chard they wonderfully rounded off this fantastic dish that
speaks volumes about this climate.
Tavern Boba, located on the stunning
island of Murter, offers true delicacies. As if monkfish were not enough by
itself, this restaurant decided to spice things up with
shrimp and truffle sauce and serve it next to creamy polenta with sun-dried
tomatoes and capers. In addition to the phenomenal flavours, tavern Boba also
shared the recipe for this quintessential Mediterranean delicacy.
Making monkfish in shrimp and truffle sauce is
not very time-consuming, but your plate will be booming with unforgettable
flavours that will give you a wonderful taste of everything Dalmatia has to
offer.
First you need fresh monkfish, then you need
to chop its tail off and slice it. Fish slices are fried in olive oil. When the
fish is done, the frying pan is deglazed with white wine. Shrimp tails are then
added to this pan sauce after which shrimp stock is poured in. Finally, it’s
important to reduce the sauce, add some butter for a richer flavour and let it
simmer for a while so that every single ingredient releases its maximum aromas.
You’ll need to make creamy polenta while the
sauce is in the finishing stage. Arrange the polenta on a plate, put the
monkfish on top and pour over the delicious sauce. The indispensible truffles
come on top. They make a prefect addition to the entire meal.
Now that’s Mediterranean on a plate. Enjoy!