Sunday, May 28, 2006
Trout à la Lofty
Among the many things I bought in town yesterday were a couple of lovely looking rainbow trout. We like trout, we like it a lo
t. I ate my first trout years ago with my dad. After my parents split up, I went to visit him many a weekend and he used to take me out of the city to get to know the surrounding areas. One of our frequent stops was Aumühle, a small trout farm in the middle of a nature reserve south of Munich. We used to have a bit of a wander around the ponds or the surrounding area, before getting some freshly caught fish from their little shop. These days you can get a whole range of great quality fish there, but back then we had a choice of fresh or smoked trout and both were wonderful. To this day I have fond memories of Aumühle. In fact, I think I should go back next time I'm in Munich.I'm not sure where Lofty got his love for trout from, but it must be even older than mine. When we first started eating trout, it was his job to buy and cook the fish. In L.A. trout was not really common. I'm not sure if I ever saw it anywhere but expensive restaurant menus and posh cookbooks. In Munich, however, they are quite common and reasonably cheap. When we first moved there, we were so broke that we ate soups and stews most days, but every once in a while, Lofty would go out and treat us to a freshly caught trout. Well, I say freshly caught; it should really be 'freshly killed', but that just doesn't sound appetising. Whatever the case may be, we had a fishmonger just down the road from our place where you could buy rainbow trout fresh from the tank. You pick the fish, he kills it right there and then and gets it ready to cook in front of your eyes. Fish doesn't come much fresher than this.
Also, fish this fresh doesn't really want much messing with. Trout has a very mild flavour, so I'm all against overdoing the flavours that accompany it, and fresh trout like this should be allowed to speak completely for itself. Basically, all Lofty used to do was buy a fresh lemon and a few waxy potatoes and serve the fish grilled and stuffed with the former, accompanied by the latter. My trout weren't quite as fresh as those used to be, so I dared serve them with fresh spinach as well as buttered spuds, but as far as the cooking method went, I stayed true to Lofty's recipe:
2 fresh whole rainbow trout, cleaned and patted dry
¾ organic lemon (if you can't get organic, at least try to buy unwaxed and untreated, you really don't want wax and/or pesticides in your fish)
a pinch of sea salt (optional)
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Slice the lemon. Arrange the lemon and a sprinkling of salt in the stomach cavity of the trout. Wrap them in tin foil leaving a bit of air above the fish. Seal the edges well; you want the fish to steam in its own juices. Bake in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes until tender. Remove the lemon slices and serve immediately drizzled with the juices.
Christine at 11:28 pm
