My Favorite Cookbooks, Pt. 7

There aren't many good fish cookbooks.  Trust me.  This one is priceless.

Buy & read this book.  It's that easy.  This is probably the best fish cookbook to have at your disposal.  I can count on one hand the number of seafood books that actually tackle the issues that matter to the professional chef.  Peterson is not afraid to address those issues and it shows in Fish & Shellfish.  Fish names alone can kill the normal text that tries to teach fish cookery.  Did you know the Chilean sea bass isn't even a bass?  It's real name is the Patagonian Toothfish.  Muliply that instance a hundredfold and you'll begin to see my point.

He takes a similar descriptive stance as he did in Sauces, with ethnic recipe breakdowns, generally starting with French or American, and then giving Italian, Asian, and others a healthy respect.  Coupled with his other books, it's very easy to improvise a meal with what you have on hand.  I'd dare someone to say something negative about this book, it's purely educational.

Culinary Musings, Fish Talk

I love fish.  Butchering, cooking, and eating it.  Beef is beef, lamb is lamb, but there's a million different fish in the sea.  Yummy, tasty fish. 

Here's a few of the vendors I use in Chicago, sadly since we aren't on a coast, they all come from one place...

...the airport.

Seafood Merchants, Owners Bonnie & Roy, http://www.theseafoodmerchants.com/  Located in Vernon Hills, the Merch have been lifesavers multiple times in my career.  They also have a great selection of asian dry goods, and carry some decent frozen lines.

Fortune Fish Company, http://www.fortunefishco.net/cmsimple/  Located closer to O'hare, Fortune has more consistent deliveries into the city.  Probably the most reliable company in the area as far as, delivery time, quality, and service... for the most part.  Not to say I've never sent back an order.

True World Foods, http://www.trueworldfoods.com/  These guys sell mainly to sushi restaurants.  They're actually owned by moonies.  Anyone remember the comedy Airplane!?  Anyways, they cornered a decent amount of fishing ground in Asia by marrying into families that had familial rights to certain waters.  No joke. 

Plitt Seafood, http://www.plittcompany.com/  Is actually located in the city proper off of Elston Ave.  It's convenience is about the best thing going for it.  Gust, one of the owners, is a good guy though.

There's other companies I've used in the past, but these are the main ones.  You can definitely go through some of the smaller companies to secure cheaper prices for bulk shrimp or calamari, but these are the most dependable that I've found and established relationships with.  I always make a point to visit fish companies personally on occasion to view their operating practices.  A lot of times you can even get the fish cut better if you can explain what you want with your fishmonger.