Learn. Eat. Repeat. Our Second School of Fish at Hope & Main

After our first School of Fish at Hope & Main, a roomful of guests walked away with the knowledge of how to prepare and eat scup. They came as interested individuals, hungry to get to know the variety of fish available from our waters and how to prepare it. With the assistance of area chefs, they have succeeded, and hopefully brought this new found knowledge home to their friends and families.  

At our second School of Fish on March 21, two new chefs instructed a new room of guests on how to prepare another local fish: skate. There are seven species of this mild, white fish commercially fished in the Northwest Atlantic fishery. Although skate is eaten around the world, it's less popular here and often used for bait in other area fisheries. 

Chef Joe Simone and Sous Chef Antonio Aguiar of Simone's in Warren prepared a little skate for the guests. As it turns out, only the wings of skate are filleted and eaten. Another interesting fact about skate is that they're like sharks in that they don't have any bones. In fact, they're made of cartilage.

Sous Chef Antonio Aquiar and Chef Joe Simone

Skate: Our Fish of Choice for the Second School of Fish

The little skate Chef Joe prepared could have been perceived as an intimidating task, but he made quick and easy work of the fillets. Being the creative and talented chef he is, he prepared the skate fillets two ways: skate piccata lightly breaded in flour, sauteed and finished with butter, fresh sage and capers, and skate over gnocchi in a rich cream sauce. On the side was a gigantic salad of arugula, shaved fennel and generous shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano.

Little skate to be filleted 

Our hungry guests

Success can be determined in many ways. For us, seeing area chefs take the time to learn how to prepare underutilized seafood for curious onlookers, and then highly considering using it in their own restaurant is an accomplishment. Sometimes it takes one person, one chef or one room of interested individuals to get the ball rolling. Now we can count two rooms of individuals, four chefs total and another class coming up in our repertoire of educated folks. If a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, then one can imagine that a journey of introducing the Ocean State to underutilized fish begins with one class, our School of Fish.

Stay tuned for our next class on April 25, and get tickets here.

School of Fish Class 1 Video - Preparing Scup

If you missed our first class, here's a recap of the first School of Fish where chefs Max Peterson and Jonathan Cambra instructed guests how to cook whole scup. Check it out below:

Learn How to Prepare Area Seafood at our School of Fish at Hope & Main

I bet the last piece of seafood you bought or ate from the supermarket was either raised on a farm or fished somewhere other than Narragansett Bay. Of course it was; there are very few places to buy local fish, plus, very few folks even know what to do with them. We bet you've heard names like scup, tautog, flounder, skate and bluefish, to name a few. Imagine if you knew how delicious they were and how to prepare them at home.

Our School of Fish series at Hope & Main is aiming to accomplish that. Eating with the Ecosystem has made it our mission to increase Rhode Islander's awareness of the diversity of species available for consumption in our environment. Now we're going one step further--we're teaching you how to cook these species with the help of area chefs. We're here to help you take the fear out of fish so that you can confidently make them at home. 

You, Too, Can Cook a Whole Fish

The fish of choice for the first series was scup--commonly known as porgy. Scup is a small, tender white fish that is a great candidate for cooking whole. Under the guidance of Chef Jonathan Cambra and Chef Max Peterson, a room full of guests learned how to cook a whole scup.

Chef Max Peterson and Jonathan Cambra

Whole Scup to be pan-seared and finished in the oven

Taking the Fear out of Fish

The chefs took guests step by step through trimming the fins and scales, gutting, cleaning, marinating, pan-searing and then finishing the scup in the oven. To top it off, seasonal vegetables were served alongside the tender, flaky and delicious fish. That night the choices were oven roasted potatoes, onions and peppers. They even paired the meal with a crisp and tart vinho verde white wine. 

Throughout the night the chefs took turns answering questions from the guests: Is it fine to keep the scales on? Why can't I buy this at my local market? Is it okay to keep the scup fillet on the bone? Diners kept the discussion going beyond scup preparation and into the seated meal. Fishermen and their spouses attended; fisheries observers put in their two cents about the fishing industry; and interested individuals all partook in the lively conversation centered around a fish that is rarely eaten at home by the majority of Rhode Islanders. And that was the point. 

Eating with the Ecosystem can now count on another roomful of individuals to diversify their diet with this lesser known fish species. Hopefully, they'll share their experience with others, and get them on board to incorporate scup into their diet. If they do, it'll be a delicious success.

Stay tuned for the next classes on March 21 and April 25.