[Sca-cooks] Sharks

[Philippa Alderton]

Hi, folks.

I was talking to Adamantius on PAL this AM, and at the
end of our chat (which had me so hungry, I was
checking to see if any of my cats would fit into a
frying pan ;-) we got into an interesting discussion
which I thought some of you might enjoy, if you like
seafood.

Just to bring y'all up to speed, we were discussing
skates and other shark relatives, which tend to have a
strong ammonia flavor unless properly treated, and I
was explaing to him why, biologically speaking. BTW,
sharks and skates and all their relatives are a lot
older and more primitive in their construction than
the bony fishes we usually eat, and that's why they're
so different, from a Cook's point of view.

And my explanation is not in any way intended to be
condescending to either Adamantius or any member of
this List- I am simply trying to make sure that
everyone is starting on the same page, including those
with no biology background at all.

Phlip


Dear Adamantius ;-)

You jumped off before I could finish explaining, so
I'll finish explaining here, about the ammonia ;-)

You skrev (edited for clarity):

Adamantius    Fishes that have cartilaginous skeletons
tend to produce ammonia as they decompose...

Phlip         You need to soak all the shark relatives
in milk for a bit- has to do with their physiology.

Adamantius    Yes, but after that, you still have to
cook and eat it or you;re right back where you
started. In a restaurant that is hard.

Phlip         No, actually, retention of their urine
is their defence against the salinity of the ocean-
more modern fishes have other defences.

Adamantius    I'm aware of that, but this is a matter
of decomposition, which may or may not be a
coincidence.

(Explanation started)

It isn't a coincidence. The ammonia you neutralize
with the milk in a freshly killed shark relative is
basicly from their bloodstream. As I was mentioning,
they retain a higher amount of urine, and consequently
ammonia, in their systems, in order to prevent
osmosis, and consequent dehydration of their tissues,
in the highly saline ocean environment- that, in fact,
is one way we now know that the early oceans were
considerably less salty than modern oceans.

What is happening as the fish sits, is not so much
decomposition and rotting, involving bacteria, as the
cells releasing the ammonia stored therein, as the
flesh dries, because all the tissues, not just the
bloodstream, retain the urea and the ammonia, until
the cell walls start to break down and release their
contents after death. While in solution, in the cells,
the milk neutralizes the ammonia taste and smell, and
the flesh is edible, but once more starts to leak out,
after you take it out of the milk, the milk can't
neutralize it.

I'm going to send a copy of this letter to the Cook's
List, since it might be of interest to them also. I've
deliberately gone into a bit more detail than you
might need because I had that in mind.

Love,

Phlip




__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail
http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/