White fish

In this article

Cleaning Filleting Boning Bass

Bream Cod Haddock

Hake Whiting Other white fish

1. One of the first things you need to do is get rid of the gills, so lay the fish on its back and ease open the gill flaps. Ease out the fan of the gills from between the gill flaps, sever and discard.
2. Use a scissors to trim off all the fins.
3. Cut open the belly of fish and take out the guts. Use cold running water to rinse thoroughly, both inside and out.

1. Begin cutting from just behind the head. Take your knife and cut into the back of the fish. Slide the knife along one side of the backbone to loosen the fillet. Try to keep the knife as close to the backbone as possible.
2. Carry on slicing along the length of the fish, cutting the fillet just after the gills and at the tail.
3. Cut the second fillet from the opposite side of the fish, using the same method as for flat fish.

1. Cut through just behind the gills without severing the head completely. Ease the head away from the body, so that most of the guts come with it. Scoop out any remaining guts using a knife.
2. Slice along the back of the fish, easing your knife between the flesh and the backbone, being careful to keep the knife pressed against the backbone, and avoiding puncturing the belly. Lay the fish out flat, opening it like a book.
3. Lay the fish flesh-side down and remove the backbone and small adjoining bones.

Silver bass, sea bass and striped bass have delicious flavours and are great barbecued. Buy as steaks or fillets at any time of the year. This fish is wonderful when grilled over charcoal, and can be steamed, poached or baked. Bass goes well with strong-flavoured ingredients such as garlic, herbs, and rich tomato sauce.

There are a number of fish that come under the banner of 'bream'. These include black bream, red bream from Europe, porgies and scups from America, and the Mediterranean gilt-head which is perhaps the tastiest of the lot. Rather confusingly, the Norway haddock, or redfish, is sometimes known as 'bream', but its flavour and texture isn't as good as sea bream. All have a coarse, succulent and choice flesh. Bream is best bought in the autumn, though it's available all year. Buy whole or as fillets, and ask the fishmonger to take the scales off. Grill or bake marinated sea bream in foil. American porgies are delicious when rolled in corn meal, fried in bacon fat and served with parsley and lemon.

Cod is still a popular fish despite being over-fished. Best in winter, you can get it all year round, but the fresher the fish, the better the flavour. Frozen cod is good but not quite as tasty as fresh. When choosing cod, be careful to avoid fish with blotches of pink or yellow. A very versatile fish, its flaky flesh works well poached, baked, fried, or grilled. Cod is always good in fish pie and, as it has a strong flavour, it works well with rich sauces. You can use cod roe to make your own taramasalata dip, too. Salt cod or bacalao is popular in Caribbean and Mediterranean cookery - but remember to soak it in cold water for 24 hours before use to rehydrate it and to dilute the saltiness.

A member of the cod family and very similar in flavour, haddock tends to be a little more expensive than cod. It has firm flaky flesh and is best bought in winter or early spring. You can, however, buy haddock throughout the year, usually as fillets. Like cod, this is a versatile fish and can be cooked in similar ways. Smoked haddock is tasty, too.

The various fish that come under the banner 'hake' are deep-sea members of the cod family and are popular throughout Europe and America. Hake is quite a mild fish, having a more subtle flavour than cod. In France it's known as 'saumon blanc', while in America it's 'ling' or 'whiting'. Rather confusingly, whiting in Europe is a different, less tasty fish. A tip if you're buying your hake frozen is to avoid the South American variety, which has a poorer flavour. Hake is easy to prepare, as it has few bones. You'll usually see it for sale whole, or as fillets and steaks. It's a reliable fish fried or poached or used in fish soup.

Whiting is a small member of the cod family, and should be bought very fresh as it loses its flavour over time. Like cod, this fish is best in winter but is on sale all year. While it's not as exciting as some of the other white fish, it's useful for turning into fishcakes or fish mousse.

Other white fish include coley, pollack, torsk (also known as cusk) and pouting. These fish are less flavoursome than their more famous cousins, but make good, cheap additions to soup or pies. Grouper is a notable white fish with good texture and flavour that features as a delicacy in many Mediterranean dishes. Available whole, as steaks or as fillets, you can cook these as you would sea bass.