Fish 101

I know there will be plenty of things we will miss once we go back to Montreal, some of which we probably don't even know now, but the one thing I KNOW I will miss, and probably miss the most, is my fishmonger. Every Wednesday and Saturday at any point of the day at least 15 people will be lined up by his market stand. The fish is simply beautiful, and so fresh that you won't register even the faintest 'fishy' smell no matter how close you stick your nose to it. One time I asked Stéphan where a certain fish was from and he told me the name of the boat that caught it! Yes, I will miss this guy and his fish the most.

Sole has been in season for the past few weeks so I finally decided to try it. I asked for it to be prepared 'en filet'. When I brought it home I opened the wrapping to marvel at my beautiful fish before putting it back in a fridge and... I stared with puzzlement. Back at me stared two orange, intestine looking pieces.

I know that they would not give me anything I shouldn't be eating but what the heck was that??? So I did what Emilia always tells me to do whenever I don't have an answer to her questions, "ask googel". My search for 'weird orange things sole fillet' did not produce any answers. I tried to search for images of sole fillet - nothing, I tried YouTube videos for 'cleaning sole fish' and though I could see on some videos the "weird orange things" they were always discarded and not mentioned. And finally one link mentioned it: "When the fish is caught in the appropriate season a roe sack becomes visible on removing the lower fillets which lie over the abdominal cavity. (...) Do not throw away - one can make it into a delicious appetizer." 

I have found my answer! Apparently this is considered a delicacy in Europe... Now back to 'googel' to find ways of preparing these roe sacks!