A fish we wait for: striped bass

There probably is a history of striped bass written somewhere, and if there is, it needs to be updated.
I remember, when I was very young, going out fishing with my awful stepfather, alternatively nicknamed Colonel Klink or Archie Acker. He was NOT a good fisherman, but telling him that was not something you did. So I would watch the GOOD fishermen, casting from the beach, and occasionally bringing in this magnificent monsters of the ocean world. They were stripers. They were big, beautiful, and somewhat scary, with a set of teeth that looked (and were, sharp), and always left the fisherman catching his breath. They are good fighters. The "key" to getting them, I found, was getting past the sand bars, where the stripers would herd small fish and then just engage in eating orgies. Of course, you had to have the luck of baiting your hook with what they were eating, because they are somewhat finicky eaters.
Then things changed. Pollution in our water, especially rivers (where stripers spend a LOT of their time), had made it very dangerous to eat them. I remember the reports. I remember seeing the ghastly photos of the young striped bass who were so deformed by the toxins the adult fish were taking in . Then fishing for them was banned, completely. And you could NOT get local stripers.

Things changed. Water got cleaner - the striper scare woke up a lot of people - and it did a good thing for the population of the stripers as a whole. To the extent their population was crashing, it recovered. Still, locally, stripers can only be caught for a limited period of time. It starts on July 1, and I believe goes to December 15. If you live in the NY/NJ/Connecticut area, and you are offered "wild" striped bass out of that period of time, start asking questions. Stripers are farmed, but like with most farmed fish, it ain't the same.

One of the interesting things about stripers, at least to me, is that their flesh kind of looks like "blue fish," i.e, mackerel, bluefish, whiting, etc. We're all supposed to eat more of that kind of oily very available fish. I just can't get myself to eat it. If the color of the striped bass turns you off, try to forget it. You simply will not find a fish that has a tastier, sweeter meat than a striper. Early in the season, I live for black sea bass. When the stripers come in, the black bass have generally left (perhaps in fear of the bigger fish, at least a bit), and my allegiance changes. We don't eat it EVERY week, but I would say that every other week, the late summer/early fall fish is striped bass. Caught by the redoubtable Wade Karlin, almost always, it's difficult to cook this in a way that it is NOT tasty.

Here's how I did it this week. I was looking for something in a strongly mediterranean line of flavor. I had no idea what I meant by that, but I knew I'd figure it out.

It's sort of how I walk through life. Just ask Guy. I decide I'm going to do something, with absolutely not a clue as to how to do it, and then punch and counterpunch until I find the way. As I was walking home, I began to put the flavor profile together. Olive oil? Of course, but not too much. There was basil in the roof garden, which was great because I didn't want to use the richness of pesto. There were cherry tomatoes from Merry, the crazy truck driver from South Jersey. Green garlic, and a bunch of incredibly beautiful purple spring onions.

Does that say mediterranean to you? Well, it does to me and it's my dish. I had been discussing fish "in papillote" with a friend a day or two before that, so this recipe is kind of a modification of that technique.

Preheat your oven to 425. I find that with cooking fish, a higher temperature is preferred, especially if you're doing something where it's covered, like it was here. Get a pan big enough to hold the fillet (I used fillet. I will tell you about cooking it whole sometime soon). The pan should NOT be metal. Use glass or ceramic (Some of you may be wondering: he ALWAYS says 'don't use metal' Why do we have them then? Patience ragazzi, patience). Wipe the pan all over with some olive oil. You won't need much. Lay the fish, skin side down in the pan, then season it with salt and pepper. Chop up about six cloves of garlic, and half an onion, and put that all over the flesh of the fish. Get the cherry tomatoes, half them with a sharp knife, and add them to the pan. How many you add is up to you. Just toss them wherever they go. Finally, about seven or eight big leaves of basil. Tear them into halves or t hirds, toss them over the fish, and seal it with foil.

Bake this for about twenty minutes. It's not too long, because the liquids in the fish can't get out, and they keep the flesh moist. Nevertheless, if you like a more raw fish, cut the time down.

After twenty minutes, take the pan out of the oven, take away the foil, and inhale deeply. Good, huh? Wait until you taste it. This is enough for two people . It's easier to serve the fish if you "cut it," in the pan, with a flipper or something like that and put it directly onto the plates. Then spoon up the goodies and put that over the fish.

Now, for those of you who are looking for healthy meals, go through that recipe. How much fat was in it? The stuff on the pan, and.... Now, go back and read the boiled potato recipe. How much fat was there? See where I'm going?

You don't have to be ashamed or guilty about dessert with this meal. Or hollandaise sauce on some asparagus. Just don't do both.

Do it. Get in touch with what's local and what's here NOW. Enjoy it.