Loading...
May28, 1981 - Remember the Blowfish?I May 28, 1981 Remember Tbt Ndufs- Rebitw the Blowfish? It has been said that things go in cycles. One year we have scallops and the next year we don't. For a while there were no weakfish. Now they're back. The same is true of our creek oysters. And what about the blowfish? I'll bet some of you can remember when they were considered trash fish. How the bottom fishermen hated them. They'd rob the bait and then if caught would only fight like a wet sock. There was nothing good you could say about them in those days. Surely they weren't a pretty fish like the weakfish. Their big front teeth were so powerful that they could cut the gut of the hook if swallowed deep enough. Years ago the blowfish were so-plentiful in our bays that we as kids often corralled them along the beach and drove them right out of the water with our hands and feet. They were everywhere and their appetites never seemed to be satisfied. They ate just about anything and they were good size. Their swelling up when tickled on the stomach was the main fun for us. We'd throw them from hand - to-hand, their tight white bellies making them look like a ball. All went well until for some reason they would flutter out and deflate. Then they'd be passed back into the water and we'd find another one. Often we'd let them go all puffed up on the surface of the water. They'd remain their like a white ball for a short time and then deflate and swim away. When chased, they'd give a burst of speed and then slow down and wait. They made easy prey for us kids. The period of trash fish didn't last too long; we soon found that what we thought was useless offered excellent eating. They were sought by everyone. The market- place picked up the idea and marketed them under the name chicken of the sea -- a rare delight -- a gourmet's dream. Here was a fish with extreme qualities, no messy bones for the customer to wade through, and delicious eating. ftc,pm� - ao U�QHTCDJ In Greenport I can remember the professional skinners as they whipped through hundreds and hundreds of these prickly critters effortlessly in what to me seemed an unbelievably short time. A cut behind the head, bend the fish over, hold the body with a knife and pull and the job was done. Sounds so easy but only a rare few could do it with such speed. Slow but Sure Most of us skinned them all right, but at a much slower rate. You could always tell those who had skinned blowfish without gloves. Their fingers and hands would look as if the skin had been sanded rough. The prickly skin really did a job on them, but then everyone was cleaning blowfish and it really didn't matter. To the oldtimers they were not blowfish but swellbellies, and you could always tell the newcomer from the old by the name they called them. They simply were the best eating that came from the bay. Cooked to a golden brown and served sizzling hot, picked up and eaten like corn on the cob you really had something worthwhile. One bone down the back, that acted like a handle when eating, and that's all there was to it. They turned out to be the wonder fish for kids for they never had to go home empty handed. Blowfish were easy to catch and you could get them most anywhere; off a dock, in a boat or from shore. All you needed was a small hook, a sinker and line. If you wanted to go first class you'd use a *0VrE&JLA1_A FDMOVS SPECIAL NIODELS.SPECIAL\ALUES. AVERY SPECIAL. EVENT. THE GE NO -FROST REFRIGERATOR WITH ROOM FOR JUST ABOt EVERYTHING. Big 19.0 cu. ft. refrigerator with huge 5.24 cu. ft. freezer. Energy -saver switch helps cut electric bills. Optional icemaker can be added now or later. Get Our Low Price! WNS THE E MICROWAVE; OVEN THAT PRAC'hICALL,Y COOKS B F1"SE.LF .%Iodcl •1ET105A This microwave oven has touch controls to let your fingers do the cooking — by time or temperature. A sturdy double -duty shelf lets you cook more than one food at once and a special cookbook shows you how. Get Our Low Price! Mon.- Thurs. 9 6 lemin"umose, Fri. 9 to 9 Sat. 9 to 5:30 1179 ROUTE. 58 . R14 ERHEAU ,727 -1.230 Page 13 BLOWFISH - -This once plentiful gourmet's delight may yet return to our bays. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh pole but many a meal was brought in hand - over -hand. Often when we ran out of bait we'd jig for them. Looking down off a dock in shallow water we'd wait until one swam up inquisitively checking over your hook. Then when he got in the right position we'd yank the hook up and you'd have your fish. In those days when we drew seine to get spearing for snapper fishing we'd get the little one -to-two inch baby blowfish in our net. Like the adults they'd immediately swell up with air like little white golf balls, bottom side up. The swelling up, of course, is a defense against being swallowed by other fish and I can- see why. For all blowfish have small spines over their entire body when inflated and it surely would not be appetizing if swallowed especially if they were full of water, as they would be below the surface. When out of water it merely fills up with air but in either case it would be a pretty tough pill to swallow. Toxic Roe? With all the good attributes of the blowfish there has always been some apprehension about eating its roe. Some say it's toxic and should not be eaten. I think the problem arises from the fact that in the tropics the blowfish is definitely poisonous. I know from my own experience that our blowfish roe is delicious. To me, it is the best of all. The reason for all this diafogue about blowfish is that I was just recently talking with someone who told me that the blowfish were coming back on the south side, mostly out east. The fishermen are picking up more and more of these swellbellies in their nets. Could it be that after a long period of absence we once again will see the blowfish back in our bays? Has the cycle once more come around? Wouldn't it be great to have this fish added to our larder? Surely there would still be some who would cuss it for stealing their bait and others who would hate it because it was their job to clean them, but I for one would welcome the day when the swellbellies are once again plentiful in our bays. PAULSTOUTENBURGH �o CUSTOM CHAROS SOUND A -4 _ EASTERN L.L's LARGEST AUDIO -VIDEO SPECIALISTS 28 Cameron St. ( just. off Main St. ) Southampton 2833428 AT CHARO'S AWOkLDOFCULTURE EVERYTHING'S AFFORDABLE Portable Radios & Cassettes - Stereo Components - Sa les/Service Auto Sound Systems - TV's - Audio Accessories Over 50 Major Brands Large Screen Projection T.V. — Video Recorders VHS MOVIES Available for Rent NOW AT KINNEY...CHEVY'S NEW J CAR! 1982 CAVALIER THE COMPLETE CAR 0 r, 102 sss 1�1 Y E m KINOR CHEVROLET -OLDS "Keep that great GM feeling with ROUTE 25 EAST RIVERHEAD 7271100 genuine GM parts" DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY AND SUMMER RENTALS AVAILABLE.