“Blackened what?!!!”, he
retorted, turning crimson.
“Listen, I’m not helping anyone
further popularize a seafood
dish that’s likely to destroy
every redfish in the Gulf, and
you shouldn’t either!”
I
BLACKENED
WHAT?!!!
n the decade of the 1980’s, Paul
Prudhomme, a famous New
Orleans chef and restaurant
owner, came up with an idea for a seafood
presentation - BLACKENED REDFISH that inadvertently nearly wiped out redfish
stocks in the northern Gulf of Mexico. I’m
sure it wasn’t intentional on Paul’s part, just
one of those unexplained fads that took on
a life of its own and quickly became a
national craze.
I remember former Bait Hook Editor
Dan Bowling’s take on the subject when
he and a pal, returning to Brookhaven, MS
from a fishing trip to the Louisiana marsh,
stopped at a New Orleans restaurant for
lunch. When his friend suggested they try
“blackened redfish”, Dan reportedly blew
his top.
“Blackened what?!!!”, he retorted,
turning crimson. “Listen, I’m not helping
anyone further popularize a seafood dish
that’s likely to destroy every redfish in the
Gulf, and you shouldn’t either!”
If that sounded like an exaggeration,
it certainly wasn’t. Jumping on the
bandwagon that was currently sweeping the
nation, commercial fishermen using spotter
airplanes and huge purse seines were busy
removing tons of mature redfish from the
Gulf daily on a round the clock basis.
On a trip to Louisiana’s Chandeleur
Islands during this period of uncontrolled
slaughter, I witnessed purse seiners at work
firsthand. They were methodical and
deadly, much like their menhaden industry
brethern, only these were not “pogys” they
were scooping up but big breeding size
redfish. It was spellbinding to watch and at
the same time sickening. But all things
eventually pass, and now it’s only a sordid
chapter in fisheries history. Thankfully,
surviving redfish stocks rebounded nicely,
and despite the horrific DeepWater Horizon
oil disaster in 2010, redfish appear to be
abundant throughout their range.
34 G U L F C O A S T F I S H E R M A N
While blackened redfish has a certain
mystique to it, there are plenty of other Gulf
species that lend themselves well to the
“blackening process.” Among them:
speckled and white trout, southern king
whiting, red snapper, grouper, striped bass
and maybe best of all, though not a saltwater
fish, farm raised channel catfish. If you
haven’t tried blackened catfish yet, you’re
in for a culinary treat.
Some Lesser Known Gulf Goodies
Stingray - After you’ve stopped
laughing, try to remember if you’ve ever
had “Ocean Scallops”. They are stamped
out of ray wings and it says so right on the
package. And, stingray wings, skinned,
marinated, and baked, make wonderful fish
tacos.
Lookdown - Until Hurricane Elena
struck Alabama and Mississippi in 1985,
no one knew much about odd lookdowns.
This weird storm stalled off Tampa, Florida
for several days and brought with it huge
quantities of lookdowns and gag grouper.
Related to jacks and perhaps pompano, the
relatively small lookdowns are considered
an excellent food choice.
Striped mullet - While valued as baits
for everything from trout and flounder to
tuna and tarpon, in my opinion mullet have
a much nobler purpose. In Mississippi,
popeye mullet are called “Biloxi Bacon”
and ٝ[