The Old Man and the River

My Dad is going trout fishing next week: After listening to all the talk of lures, reels, location and the temperament of fish, I will have free fish to show for my pain. Any ideas on how to prepare trout? – Fisherman’s Daughter

There is something about the activity of fishing for trout that inspires or perhaps provokes words. Hemingway wrote a novel about trout fishing called The Sun Also Rises: The book additionally explores the aftermath of war, disillusionment and the consequences of repressed desire. Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It is a love letter to fly fishing/trout. Henry David Thoreau, who surprisingly, on this occasion anyway, did not write as though he invented or at least appreciated trout like no one else ever had before or since, instead he pointed out, “some circumstantial evidence is very strong; as when you find a trout is the milk.” While National Book Award Winner, Paris Trout, is not a cookbook and the plot has nothing to do with either word in the title.

Trout is a pretty versatile fish - it can be fried, poached, steamed or have the BBQ Arts of smoke or flame applied to its preparation. For the old school Trout Au Bleu, a cook conks the fish on the head, removes the gills, treats the skin with vinegar and drops the whole fish into poaching liquid – causing the skin to turn blue and the fish to arch in a crescent – Served with hollandaise, it (the technique, the presentation and a sauce that overwhelms the subtle flesh) is overkill. The best meals are always about the ingredient, not the cook. Better to match flavors to the trout, rather than forcing your will upon it - steaming the fish with julienned ginger, scallions and fermented black beans gives the trout a Chinese flare. Stuffing the cavity with par-cooked rice noodles, fish sauce, shallots, shiitakes and cilantro and before placing in a bamboo steamer is cooking in a Vietnamese style.

The incomparable Richard Olney also stuffs trout, only with sorrel before he bakes his fish with white wine and butter. For those who don’t want to turn their oven on in the summer, there is grilling – keep the skin on and keep in mind it cooks quick, real fast, not enough time to drink half a beer fast. Smoking is better – resulting in a food that is close to lox and can be used to make clamless chowder.

Try a regional variation inspired by 2 French recipes: Meuniere, (coated in flour cooked in clarified butter) and Amandine (topped with almonds). Here this dish takes on a southern flavor as you lightly toast pecans, chop them until they become more like coarse flour than nuts. Fillet your trout, season with salt, coat the trout with pecans, sauté in butter over medium heat until the flesh starts to separate. Keep the southern accent going with a fresh ‘gumbo’ made of baby okra, garlic, cherry tomatoes, cooked red onion and thyme.

It might not seem like it when he is describing a $150 lure, at least your Pop fishes - He could golf, telling all the boring tales of equipment and expeditions without the meal at the end.