Monkfish! Monkfish!

March 22, 2007 7:38 AM

Rrraahhr! I'm a monkfish!
posted by The corpse in the library (63 comments total)

I've been there to see it done. It's pretty funny. Pike Place market is pretty fun for tousists and locals alike.
posted by GuyZero at 7:46 AM on March 22, 2007

I don't get it. Is the fish still alive and flapping around? That seems mean. And creepy. But it's a monster, so I guess it's okay?
posted by Pastabagel at 7:48 AM on March 22, 2007

Monkfish is the perfect example of something that looks like absolute shit but tastes like heaven. Reminds me of a couple good dirty jokes I know.
posted by spicynuts at 7:48 AM on March 22, 2007

I hate it when people say from whence.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:53 AM on March 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

They're tasty, though. Not what you'd expect. I'm not a culinary expert but I'd compare the monkfish I had to a very light sausage.
posted by Kronoss at 7:53 AM on March 22, 2007

love that! : >
posted by amberglow at 7:54 AM on March 22, 2007

monkfish is mighty tasty.
posted by parmanparman at 7:55 AM on March 22, 2007

Poor man's lobster. Yummy.
posted by pmbuko at 8:00 AM on March 22, 2007

See, I'm not on board with the Monkfish Revolution. The taste isn't bad or anything, but the texture is so un-Lobster, so un-anything-I-want-to-put-in-my-mouth with its spongy tumescence...

I guess it's basically what I'd expect Monster to taste like.
posted by abulafa at 8:11 AM on March 22, 2007

Like muppet.
posted by abulafa at 8:11 AM on March 22, 2007

Screwing with tourists = good times. Yup.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:12 AM on March 22, 2007

MrMoonPie writes "I hate it when people say from whence."

Good for you. How about when people say "down to" or "there is"?
posted by Bugbread at 8:13 AM on March 22, 2007

Whence isn't nearly as bad as perennial Intertube-favorite "whilst." Fuck whilst. Fuck it right in its synonym.
posted by abulafa at 8:16 AM on March 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Awesome. And I got to see 'tumescence' used in a non-pornographic setting. Good all round.
posted by Jilder at 8:20 AM on March 22, 2007

Pastabagel - it's very dead, don't worry. My mom nearly had a stroke when I took her down there and the guy did this to her - then she went into hysterics and made me take like 5 pictures of her and her new BFF (the dude with the glasses).
posted by tristeza at 8:22 AM on March 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: I guess it's basically what I'd expect Monster to taste like. Like muppet.
posted by amberglow at 8:23 AM on March 22, 2007

I agree with abulafa here - monkfish is meaty in a way that I don't associate with fish. I don't think I've never had a good monkfish well prepared, but still...it feels like I'm eating Grendel.
posted by taliaferro at 8:24 AM on March 22, 2007

The other night I had monkfish wrapped in prosciutto and served with mushrooms and a garlic cream sauce. It was fantastic.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:27 AM on March 22, 2007

It is VERY easy to cook the moisture out of monkfish and leave it tasting like a bicycle inner tube. It needs to be handled by a professional. Generally throwing something savory around it (like Faint of Butt's prosciut) and saucing it up will bring out it's wonderousness. It's not resilient in careless hands.
posted by spicynuts at 8:40 AM on March 22, 2007

Is it flaky, or meaty, or squidish, or what? (i want to try it now)
posted by amberglow at 8:42 AM on March 22, 2007

It's one of the meats used as fake crab. I mean, krab!
posted by mikeh at 8:51 AM on March 22, 2007

That punk won't look so tough when he's gettin' in me belly.
posted by The Straightener at 8:53 AM on March 22, 2007

Unclean!
posted by Luddite at 8:57 AM on March 22, 2007

They are heavily overfished to satisfy the asian market for monkfish liver (ankimo), which is unfortunately delicious. It's best to get them from small fishing operations.
posted by liam at 8:58 AM on March 22, 2007

One of my local supermarkets had one of these behind the counter; someone had jammed a handful of sardines in its mouth.

It was the best in-store display I ever saw.
posted by Smart Dalek at 9:00 AM on March 22, 2007

I get all hinky when I read, "...and such."
Like we're living in LauraIngallsWilderVille.
But then some people get hinky when they read "hinky".
posted by Dizzy at 9:20 AM on March 22, 2007

Funny, but please don't eat monkfish. They don't breed fast enough* to commercially harvest, and they are dredged from the sea bottom, causing great environmental damage. Eat line-caught fish whenever possible - factory fishing is incredibly wasteful and damaging.

*I can't find the cites right now, but I've seen estimates that monkfish live +/- 100 years, and the average monkfish on your plate is over 40 years old.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 9:28 AM on March 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

- for the record, I'm all for 'hinky.' Whence and whilst, not so much -

This was pretty great post - thanks. The display especially was nice. The Seattle PI done did good.
posted by From Bklyn at 9:30 AM on March 22, 2007

It's one of the meats used as fake crab. I mean, krab!

As far as I know in this country "krab" is made from pollock. I don't think monkfish stocks are viable enough to meet the demand for 'krab'.


Is it flaky, or meaty, or squidish, or what? (i want to try it now)

It's meaty/spongy. Lobster tail (not claw) is close in terms of consistency but doesn't really describe it. Springy/meaty is a good way to describe it. It is very flavorful though.

And yes, eating Monkfish is about as evil as eating Chilean Sea Bass (Patagonian Toothfish)
posted by spicynuts at 9:36 AM on March 22, 2007

I found it a bit odd that the "video" was nothing more than a slideshow with narration. But yes, the effect is funny and startling in person.

Here's a youtube video.
posted by O9scar at 9:52 AM on March 22, 2007

I, for one, welcome our new monkfish overlords.
posted by tadellin at 10:38 AM on March 22, 2007

I would describe the texture to be more akin to alligator or even pork than most fish. It was okay but definitely not worth destroying the environment or overharvesting such long-lived creatures.
posted by melt away at 10:55 AM on March 22, 2007

Funny, but please don't eat monkfish.

As with swordfish, I have warm, joyous dreams about eating the very last one. I know a guy who says that he's had Vancouver Island marmot and can hook me up. My dinner > your hippie ecodiversity.

I have, in the past, espoused the theory that the cuter the animal, the better it is likely to taste. Monkfish disproves this theory.
posted by solid-one-love at 11:19 AM on March 22, 2007

Benny Andajetz: Funny, but please don't eat monkfish. They don't breed fast enough* to commercially harvest.
Thanks for the link - I didn't know that. I won't eat more monkfish.
posted by taliaferro at 11:20 AM on March 22, 2007

and i'll just not ever eat em.

(don't tell me i can't eat my eel sushi tho)
posted by amberglow at 11:48 AM on March 22, 2007

Luddite, that's a different monkfish.
posted by nekton at 11:55 AM on March 22, 2007

OMG! I have such fond childhood memories of being scared silly by that very monkfish. (or watching it happen to my cousins who were visiting.)
posted by piratebowling at 12:31 PM on March 22, 2007

It's like using your PIN number at the ATM machine, bugbread. I have no problem with whence (nor with down to, though I refuse to proceed forward or to refer back). It's the redundancy of from whence that bugs me. Whence means from where; from whence, therefore, means from from where, with the additional annoyance that users of from whence are usually trying to sound all fancy and shit. Stamp out and destroy redundancy!
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:39 PM on March 22, 2007

liam is totally right. monkfish liver is delicious!
posted by snofoam at 12:45 PM on March 22, 2007

Etymology: Middle English whennes, from whenne whence (from Old English hwanon) + -s, adverb suffix, from -s, genitivesingular ending; akin to Old High German hwanAn whence, Old English hwA who
: from what place, source, or cause
- from whence : from what place, source, or cause

It's defined as 'from what place' in the first entry, but 'from whence' is used in the example sentence (which would be redundant if we are to believe M-W.com's own definition). I guess I'm on the fence about the whole redundancy issue, but it's a goofy word in any case. High-falootin' and pretentious. Let's ignore it.

Incidentally, Pike Place Market is not only home to that horrifying fish, but to the Crumpet Shop as well. If you happen through Seattle (or live there) you should give it a try. Mmmm, crumpets...how I miss them.
posted by Pecinpah at 1:00 PM on March 22, 2007

I get all hinky when I read, "...and such."
Like we're living in LauraIngallsWilderVille.
But then some people get hinky when they read "hinky".
posted by Dizzy

Doesn't Tommy Lee Jones get the heebie-jeebies about a fellow cop using "hinky" in an affected manner (in The Fugitive ?).

I remember thinking it was a superb tic to give his character - loopy but it made sense.
posted by Jody Tresidder at 1:08 PM on March 22, 2007

How is the poop that monkfish liver makes? That's what the endangered species gastronomes really need to think about.
posted by anthill at 1:10 PM on March 22, 2007

from whence reminds me of:

No one knows who they were, or what they were doing...
but their legacy remains...
hewn into the living rock of Stonehenge...
posted by drjimmy11 at 2:23 PM on March 22, 2007

I was gonna make a sweet little Monkfish cassoulet, but now I'm not so sure.
What would Rachel Ray do?
Paging jonmc!
posted by Dizzy at 2:35 PM on March 22, 2007

I am a monklock

"What would Rachel Ray do?"

Drink.
posted by Smedleyman at 3:50 PM on March 22, 2007

Why is it called monkfish? Baby, when you have a puss like that, celibacy's your only option.

P.S. to MrMoonPie: Irregardless of the lax-language league, some of us salute you. From "poodle dog" to "widow woman," keep on keeping on waging the good fight to stamp out repetitive redundancies wherever they may or may not occur — from the shores of Baltimore Harbor to the slopes of Mount Fujiyama. Forward, nay onward!

posted by rob511 at 4:17 PM on March 22, 2007

(please don't cut my face, but "irregardless" is also hinkirrific.)
posted by Dizzy at 4:21 PM on March 22, 2007

( It is rude of me to be such a scold. I'll go sleep now.)
posted by Dizzy at 4:25 PM on March 22, 2007

Great gag, but I like it better when done by the San Francisco Panhandling Bushman [another YouTube]. The same guy has been there (in the same spot) every time I've gone to SF in the last 10 years.
posted by HyperBlue at 5:32 PM on March 22, 2007

Better Bushman Vid
posted by HyperBlue at 5:36 PM on March 22, 2007

Funny how the monkfish was prettier than that video.
posted by OrangeDrink at 6:25 PM on March 22, 2007

The redundant "from" in front of "whence" dates back at least to the 14th Century.

From 1377's "The vision of William concerning Piers Plowman", by William Langland:

This folke frayned hym firste fro whennes he come.

posted by Flunkie at 7:01 PM on March 22, 2007

Hmmm... does this work?

Þis folke frayned hym first fro whennes he come.

posted by Flunkie at 7:18 PM on March 22, 2007

Yes, it does.
posted by Flunkie at 7:22 PM on March 22, 2007

I'll second Dizzy's motion on irregardless. That one makes me go all hinky and sets my teeth on edge.

I'm not sure what to make of phrases like 'Faint of Butt's proscuitto' though.
posted by Zinger at 8:52 PM on March 22, 2007

(sigh) Guess I'll have to work on making the next P.S. an even more egregious work of hack.
posted by rob511 at 9:21 PM on March 22, 2007

Ha, they got me once with that thing when I was a kid. There's always one there, I see it every time I go down to Golden Age Collectibles or the waterfront.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 11:03 PM on March 22, 2007

I was weak

and I know just from whence I speak

Better stay away from Libertine
posted by Tube at 12:07 AM on March 23, 2007

(i always read "from whence" as an archaic blend of "from when and where")
posted by amberglow at 2:19 AM on March 23, 2007

Monkfish are also known as "goosefish", and I've heard rumors that it's because they can eat a whole goose in a single bite. They are also shallow-water members of the anglerfish family, so-called because they have a little fin spine protruding from their heads, ending in a fleshy dongle (sometimes bio-luminescent in deep-sea species), that acts like a fish lure to attract prey.
posted by dilettanti at 4:00 AM on March 23, 2007

I love the sequence in the slideshow with the little dark-haired girl - the approach, the apprehension, the shock, the relief, the laughter. Lovely.
posted by essexjan at 5:39 AM on March 23, 2007

My uncle used to work on one of the local fishing boats running out of Rhode Island, and once dropped off some filets of one of these beasts in a cooler on my dad's doorstep with a recipe on how to cook it. It was fantastic.

He later told us that it came from a massive monkfish whose head was big enough to wear as a mask, which is exactly what one of the other crewmates did and scared the shit out of the captain.
posted by chickygrrl at 8:45 AM on March 23, 2007

Redundancy in language is a feature, not a bug.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:25 PM on March 23, 2007