Our annual survey of seafood in Southeast Louisiana this year counts down the 33 best seafood species enjoyed in our restaurants, seafood markets, and homes. For the full survey so far, click here. Or use the links at the bottom to move up and down the list.
#6: Speckled Trout
The favorite fish in New Orleans white-tablecloth restaurants for decades, speckled trout has become much less common on local menus in the past twenty years. That made it even more desirable.
But this is an artificial shortage. State laws limit the commercial catch of speckled trout to a few tens of thousand pounds a year. That may sound like a lot, but the actual catch of Louisiana speckled trout is in the millions of pounds--over ninety-nine percent of it reserved for recreational fishermen, and therefore unsaleable in restaurants or seafood markets.
When the fish returns to menus during its short season (late fall through early spring), we realized just how terrific a fish speckled trout is. And how all the recipes developed with that particular shape, taste, and texture aren't as good with other species.
The first fact about speckled trout (or "spotted sea trout," as the ichthyologists call it) is that it's a drum, not a true trout, and not related even distantly to those fresh-water, salmon-family fish. If you've ever had rainbow trout or ruby red trout substituted in a dish created with speckled trout in mind, you see how important this is. Neither texture nor taste are similar.
The best speckled trout weigh about two pounds. (They can grow to over ten, but they get worse as they get bigger.) Really small ones are excellent cooked whole--either fried or broiled. Beyond that, you're talking about fillets.
Although some trout is poached and broiled, I've always felt that the fish lends itself to pan-saute with butter. It's also great deep-fried for dishes like trout meuniere and amandine. (Despite what the waiter says about those dishes' being sauteed, the fish is probably fried.) These are the dishes in which the flaky, nutty flavor of speckled trout becomes magnificent.
The best coating to use on trout, in my opinion, is simply a light dusting of flour seasoned with salt and pepper or Creole seasoning. In the case of trout meuniere--the classic preparation for this fish--the flour blends with the butter in the pan to make the sauce.
I think trout also comes off very well in preparations that essentially steam it to doneness. I'm thinking here about having the fish on a pan, topped or surrounded things like bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, bread crumbs, white wine--that sort of thing.
I don't often see restaurants grilling or blackening trout, but that's just as well. The fish tends to fall apart on the grill, and often dries out. (Keeping trout from turning dry while cooking is the essential step.)
Much of the speckled trout we eat now comes from North Carolina. The commercial quota on trout, given the very healthy population of the fish, is absurd. We need a campaign among eaters to change this unfair law.
Trout With Pecans
In the late 1970s, when trout amandine ruled the earth, Ella Brennan and Chef Paul Prudhomme remade the dish with a Louisiana flavor. Instead of almonds (which don't grow around here) they used pecans (which are in everybody's back yards). The sauce went from a brown butter to a darker, thicker Creole meuniere. The dish spread quickly, and is now a Creole classic. This preparation also works very well with fried soft shell crabs. This is more or less Commander's original recipe for the dish.
- Pecan Butter:
- 3 Tbs. butter
- 2 Tbs. roasted pecans
- 3 Tbs. lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- Sauce:
- 2 Tbs. flour
- 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup shrimp or fish stock
- 3 Tbs. lemon juice
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- Fish:
- 3 Tbs. salt-free Creole seasoning
- 2 Tbs. salt
- 2 cups flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 6 trout fillets, 6-8 oz. each
- 1 cup clarified butter
- 8 oz. roasted pecan halves
1. Pecan butter: Place all pecan butter ingredients into the container of a food processor or blender. Cover and process to a smooth puree. Set aside.
2. Sauce: In a small bowl, combine flour and 2 Tbs. water to make a smooth paste. In a small saucepan, bring stock, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice to a light boil.
3. Whisk about 1/3 cup of the hot stock mixture into the flour paste. Then gradually pour the flour mixture back into the saucepan, stirring constantly with the whisk, and bring to a boil. Whisk in the softened butter, a tablespoon at a time. Keep sauce warm.
4. To prepare the fish, blend the Creole seasoning and salt into the flour in a wide bowl. Beat the eggs with the milk in a second wide bowl.
5. Dust the trout lightly with the seasoned flour. Pass it through the egg wash, and then dredge it through the seasoned flour.
6. In a large skillet, heat half of the clarified butter over medium-high heat until a sprinkling of flour sizzles in it. Add three fillets of trout and sate three or four minutes, until golden brown, turning once. Transfer fillets to serving platter and keep warm. Add the rest of the butter to the pan and sate the remaining trout.
8. Spread pecan butter over trout, sprinkle with roasted pecans, and top with the sauce.
Serves six.
