Beefsteak mushroom. It may be sliced and fried like liver, or eaten raw with a salad, when it should be cut into thin strips, soaked in salted water, drained and then dressed with a vinaigrette.
Figpecker. Figeater. A small migratory bird very similar to the blackcap. They are usually threaded on skewers and grilled. The main reason for their great popularity is that, as their name implies, they feed on figs, sweetening their flesh and giving them a desirable plumpness.
Coal fish, saithe, coley, called pollock in the US. A cheap, marine fish related to cod and not unlike it. It has darker skin and lean, sweet flesh which is a translucent greyish-pink rather than white but lightens as it cooks. This is a good, everyday fish which is good in white fish dishes or is used for making imitation shellfish products.
Giant goby, the largest of the gobies and found in the Atlantic. Not generally eaten, more because of the people than the fish.
Bleak, a small, elongated, white-fleshed fishof the same family as minnows and carp, abundant in lakes and quiet waterways. Its scales, which are thin and silvery, come away easily. The flesh of the pond bleak is of poor quality but that of the river variety is fairly good, although it is full of little bones. It is about 15 cm (6 inches) long and invariably served fried. It may also be called able though this is actually a different fish. May be mistaken for the able or gardon.
Pout or bib. A coastal fish, similar to poor cod, shaped like an elongated triangle with a copper-coloured back and silvery sides and belly. It is about 20-30 cm (8-12 inches) long. It has a short barbel on its lower jaw, long thin pelvic fins and two abdominal fins connected by a membrane, The flesh is lean, but rather flavourless and has many bones. It deteriorates rapidly, and so should be prepared very quickly.
A name for scallops in Normandy. Pilgrim or great scallops. These are shellfish with white meats and pink corals, often cooked in their shells with the corals and have sweet, succulent meat if properly cooked. According to legend, the body of St James (St-Jacques) travelled with a boat with neither oars nor sails around the Iberian coast, coming to rest in Compostela. Many miracles were associated with this journey, including one where the horse of a pagan nobleman leaped into the sea. They emerged carrying the body of St James covered in scallop shells. This resulted in the nobleman converting to Christianity. Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela have traditionally worn scallop shell badges in commemoration of St James, or used scallop shells as begging bowls. The whole pilgrim route is decorated with his emblem. In some parts of Europe they are eaten on the feast day of St James on 25 July to commemorate the arrival of pilgrims or peregrinos at Santiago de Compostela, often with tomatoes and garlic. They are more often simply and lightly fried.
