PESCE ALL’ ACQUA PAZZA–MONKFISH IN CRAZY WATER

Pesce all' Acqua - Monkfish in Crazy Water-3799

 

Back in the culinary Jurassic when fresh cod cod was actually cheap there was even less expensive fish I prized–monkfish.  All flavor, meaty texture, and almost no bones.  At the time, recently out of college, I was working at an upscale French restaurant that served lotte (as the French call monkfish) in a cream sauce for lunch.  Monkfish had not yet gained enough traction to flop atop American mainstream fish counters.  I bought my first lotte whole from a fishmonger in Haymarket Square in Boston, a toothy goggle-eyed monster that might have escaped from Beowulf’s cave.  I paid $.89/lb for it.  The seafood for this week’s Pesce all’ Acqua Pazza–Monkfish in Crazy Water costs way more than 89¢ a pound, but it’s still half the price of cod and much tastier.