The ancient thinkers and scientists Seneca, Horace, Pliny and Cicero, who were delighted with its taste properties, as well as the unique ability to change its color, wrote about red mullet fish. This fish is characterized by the presence of two long antennae with a relatively small size - about 45-50 centimeters from the beginning of the head to the tip of the tail.
A little about unique fish
In Russian, the word "red mullet" is of Turkish origin from the word barbunya, in turn derived from the Italian word barbone, which translates as "big beard". In Russia, this fish also has a second name - "sultanka", which is associated with the characteristic antennae, like those of the sultans. This fish was very popular in ancient Rome, where the red mullet was equal in weight to shipments of silver. During the Roman Empire, cooks, before starting to cook fish, usually first brought it out in a special vessel with water to the guests, who had the opportunity to admire the play of the red mullet color - from silver to carmine.
Commercial fishing for red mullet is very abundant in the Mediterranean, Azov and Black Seas, as well as in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where the fish lives at a shallow depth of 15-35 meters. At the same time, she prefers sandy or silty soil, but sometimes it can also be on a rocky bottom.
Red mullet is also valuable for its nutritional properties, as well as great lightness (100 grams of fish contains only 31 kcal, 0.8 grams of fat and 5 grams of protein). Its meat is very tender and is considered a delicacy, since the red mullet protein is absorbed very quickly. This fish has a high content of magnesium, phosphorus and other microelements valuable for the human body. It is believed that even a small snack of red mullet can quickly restore a person's strength.
How red mullet is prepared
In world cuisine, it is believed that it is delicious in almost any form, and a high-quality and freshly caught red mullet is simply impossible to spoil during the cooking process. Very tasty from this fish and ear, and dried red mullet in taste is not inferior even to fatty and hearty ram.
In European culinary traditions, there are many variations of cooking red mullet in a fried form, and in the Mediterranean countries they are very fond of baking it in the oven, grilling it, and also steaming it with herbs in a skillet over a fire. The very tender red mullet liver is especially appreciated, and the absence of bile in the fish's body makes it very convenient for lazy cooks who do not want to gut the fish.
Moreover, a sign of the taste of red mullet is far from its size, since it is preferable to cook and serve small fish with a size of no more than 20 centimeters. The meat of such fish is the most delicious and tender. Red mullet is also quite common in canned form.
