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Muddy Flavors in Fish

 

Muddy Flavors in Fish

 

As an avid cook and grilling enthusiast, I subscribe to and study the valuable information offered by the test kitchen and the food scientists associated with Cook’s illustrated magazine. I am always impressed with their  reviews of products and the thorough efforts that are taken in developing new recipes and revisiting old ones to make them as good as they can be. This article is a great example of valuable research done on a subject that many of us that enjoy good fried freshwater fish have struggled  with . I hope you enjoy this, and consider the magazine, if you love to cook as much as I do.

Thanks for your question, I hope that this will be helpful to you.

Bryan Slaven

The Texas Gourmet

 

Published May 1, 2008. From Cook’s Illustrated.

Why do catfish and tilapia sometimes taste muddy or swampy? Can I remove this unpleasant flavor?

In the test kitchen we’ve noticed a mysterious muddy flavor in some catfish and tilapia. Our research revealed that the flavor comes from a compound called geosmin, which is Greek for “earth smell.” Geosmin is abundant in the blue-green algae found in the bottom of the man-made ponds that catfish and tilapia are raised in. When the fish swim in the geosmin-rich water, they consume the compound as they ingest the algae.Some cookbooks claim that soaking the fish in tap water or milk will remove the unpleasant geosmin flavors, but a quick test proved this untrue. After more research, we learned that only acidic compounds could effectively break down geosmin.

Armed with this knowledge, we soaked fillets in lemon water and in buttermilk before cooking them. After an hour-long soak, we battered and deep-fried half of the fillets and pan-seared the other half. The acidic baths did the trick, although tasters detected a slightly mushy texture in the fish soaked in lemon water. To enjoy clean-tasting catfish and tilapia, we recommend immersing the fish in buttermilk for an hour before cooking. To cook, rinse off the buttermilk, pat the fish dry, and proceed with the recipe.
 

 

 

 

BUTTERMILK CLEANSER: An hour-long soak in buttermilk washes away the muddy flavor from freshwater fish such as catfish and tilapia.

 

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