One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

Every year in June, around Father’s Day time, a friend of my dad’s gets a group together to charter a boat off the coast of New Jersey to fish for bluefish. My first and last official ocean going fishing trip was on that boat a few years ago.

With sea bands on (I can get really terrible motion sickness and those help prevent it), I was happy to join my siblings along with my dad and his buddies for their annual trip. And what a fishing trip it was!

With my brother in the lead for catching the most fish, my sister and I still hadn’t caught anything. As the night wore on, when I was just about to throw in the towel and go join my poor seasick dad in the cabin, I felt a pretty strong pull on my line. When I began to reel in, I realized this fish wasn’t playing around.

Slowly, steadily, and, as a fishing novice, I’m not afraid to admit with a little help, we pulled in the most gigantic bluefish I’ve ever seen. What an adrenaline rush! This blue was literally half my height in size and I have the picture to prove it! There is something to be said for beginners' luck, but I can see the lure of fishing as hobby.

Everyone brought home plenty of freshly fileted bluefish that year. Our traditional way to enjoy bluefish is simply seasoned with season salt and grilled in a foil packet with just a squirt of lemon at the end, along with a side dish of tomato and onion salad.

It’s an oily fish (plenty of omega-3s) that stands up to grilling and can handle more pungent sauces and accompaniments. But I say if you want to enjoy bluefish, you absolutely must cook it within the first day or two of its catch.

Otherwise, you’ll see why bluefish gets its reputation along with mackerel as one of the “fishy” fish. These fish contain plenty of myoglobin, a dark layer of fat that quickly oxidizes, and they can spoil very quickly. But if well iced, and cooked as close to the moment it was caught as possible, before it has been exposed to air for too long, bluefish yields a mild, yet meaty filet of fish. It is perfectly paired with a lemon, caper, and herb sauce. Don’t forget the tomato salad and plenty of extra lemon. This type of fish needs lots of acidity.

If you are not able to ply the waters off New Jersey for bluefish, or if you prefer the flavor of a milder fish, you can still take this same fresh caught approach to your local catch and cook your fish on the grill the Father’s Day. All the better if you have participated in one of the all time great father-child pursuits and fished for it yourself.

Despite the success of that one trip, we haven’t gone back out fishing again as a family. It was also my dad’s last time going. Even with the promise of sea bands and plenty of ginger ale, we still can’t get him back out on the water. So that trip and our bounty of bluefish will live on in memory, and I’ll think of it as we celebrate Father’s Day each year!

Serves/Makes: 6

• 4 pounds bluefish fillets

***Marinade***

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• 1 bunch oregano, chopped
• 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon capers, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste