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The Catch Of The Day

By Knute Hogan,

The Culinarian Magazine

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JOHN DORY //September 2008

John Dory, also known as St Pierre, is widely distributed throughout the globe. John Dory live in the Indian, Atlantic and western Pacific oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. The American John Dory, a related species found in the western Atlantic, is similar in appearance to the European and Pacific species except that its color is silver. The commercially available John Dory come primarily from New Zealand where it s caught using hook and line method.

It is an edible oddly shaped and colored deep-sea fish with a large dark spot and long spines. Unlike many other flatfish like Halibut, Sole or Flounder that live near the bottom of the ocean floor and swim horizontally, John Dory swim vertically. The dark spot is thought to be used to flash an 'evil eye' if danger approaches the John Dory.

Several explanations are given of the origin of its curious name. It may be random or a variation of dory from the French dorée meaning gilded or perhaps an allusion to John Dory, the hero of an old ballad. Others suggest that "John" derives from the French word for yellow, jaune. The novel An Antarctic Mystery by Jules Verne gives another account, which has some popularity but is probably fanciful: "The legendary etymology of this piscatorial designation is Janitore, the "door-keeper," in allusion to St. Peter, who brought a fish said to be of that species, to our Lord at His command." where the legend continues that the dark spot on the fish's flank is St. Peter's thumbprint.

The John Dory grows to a maximum size of two to two and a half feet and rarely weighs over eight pounds. It has ten long spines on its dorsal fin and four spines on its anal fin. It has very small, nearly microscopic, sharp scales that run around the body. The fish is an olive green color with a silvery white belly and has a dark spot on its side. Its eyes are near the top of its head. It has a flat, round body shape and is a weak swimmer.

The John Dory is a top predator in its habitat and its curious shape helped to establish that. It usually gets its food by stalking it with the aid of the limited visibility as it approaches it prey head on then shooting out a tube in its mouth to capture its unsuspecting quarry. The John Dory eats a variety of fish, especially schooling fish and cephalopods, such as sardines, squid and cuttlefish. Its wide mouth is deceptive when compared to it body size, the John Dory can swallow a whole fish weighing as much as a pound and half. Their predators are few and include sharks and other large bony fish.

Most often John Dory is a solitary fish with an average life expectancy of twelve years and lives near the rocks and weeds of the seabed at of depths from fifteen feet to several hundred feet. They reach sexual maturity at three or four years of age and are usually ready to reproduce at that time. Spawning generally occurs in the late winter and early spring. The fish scatter the eggs into the water to be fertilized.

Available year round, the John Dory's flesh is white and firm, the flavor delicate and mild. It lends itself very well to a variety of cooking methods including grilling, sautéing and poaching. The yield of the fillet off the bone is small when compared to most other fish falling near one third of the total body weight. John Dory being a highly prized fish also commands a higher price than most fish but to aficionados it is well worth the cost. A contributing factor to its higher cost is the fact that they do not school keeping the fishermen on the prowl for extended periods to fill out their catch.

CAVIAR//12.2008

JOHN DORY//09.2008

REDFISH//08.2008

ABALONE//03.2008

AMERICAN LOBSTER//02.2008

MUSSELS//01.2008

AQUACULTURE//11.2007

PACIFIC ROCKFISH//10.2007

ARTIC CHAR //08.2007

BARRAMUNDI//07.2007

WALLEYE PIKE//07.2007

SOFT SHELL CRAB//08.2007

PACIFIC SALMON//05.2007

PACIFIC HALIBUT//04.2007

KAMPACHI //03.2007

SCALLOPS //02.2007

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