Chef and renowned cookbook author Aliza Green has a bounteous haul of fish stories to tell. She spent more than a year traveling the globe, talking to fisherman, fish auctioneers, seafood wholesalers, fish mongers, fish canners and processors. From lobster traps in New England to the Honolulu Fish Auction, Green left no sea stone unturned in her quest. The experience left her so packed to the gills with first-hand knowledge of the fruits of the sea, she wrote a book about it. It’s called The Fishmonger’s Apprentice. “I set out to give home cooks the confidence and the ability to broaden their repertoire with seafood,” Green told Grub Street. “I do believe this book will also be used by culinary students and young chefs, because you don’t necessarily learn every technique in culinary school.”
The book covers everything from breaking down whole big eye tunas and salting eels to kill them to deboning notoriously bony shad and cleaning and preparing geoducks. It includes interviews with some of the world’s top seafood experts who dispel many of the myths often associated with identifying, buying and preparing fish.
On Saturday starting at 3 p.m., Green will host Seafood 101 at the Oyster House, where she will talk about the book, the research she conducted prior to writing it and answer questions. Local seafood purveyor Samuels & Sons, who generously helped Green source the scores of fish that were beautifully photographed for the book, are sending a fish monger along to help her demonstrate how to clean and cook squid, debone shad and prepare mackerel for pickling. The cost is $30 per person and includes a signed copy of the book.
