Red mullet or surmullet. A high quality fish of a different family from the other (grey) mullets, and which has a far better flavour and lean, firm flesh. Its liver is highly prized. Do not confuse it with gurnard, which has a slightly paler colour. This fish may vary from pinkish-reddish crimson to rosy pink in colour with golden streaks and two long barbels on the chin. Mullus barbatus is the smaller of the two and is of not quite such good quality. Mullus surmuletus is more properly known as surmullet and is larger.
"Monk’s beard." A thin, wild spring grass, a type of chicory, looking like a cross between samphire and tumbleweed, from northern Italy. It has a bitter flavour, bearing some relation in texture and taste to samphire, succulent and pleasantly resistant to the bite, and is eaten raw, blanched for seconds and dressed, or stewed in olive oil. It is also a useful addition to salads. It has a very short season which seems to be quite specifically five weeks in spring.
Doctorfish. Found in the Atlantic from Massachusetts to Brazil and in the northern Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, where it is most often eaten. It is a dark, often blue-grey to dark brown, but can change its colour and lighten considerably. This will depend on its habitat, being darker nearer reefs and paler over sandy bottoms. It has a sharp, scalpel like spine located on either side of the body on the caudal peduncle. The teeth, which can be seen in this photograph, are spatula-like in shapea dn are used for scraping algae off the rocks. They reach up 20 30 cm (12") in length. The flesh is of good quality but, if the fish have been feeding from dead corals or algae there is a faint possibility of some slight and temporary poisoning to the person who consumes the fish.
Barbel. A European river fish related to the carp with little taste, many bones and barbels around the mouth. It has a brown back, yellowish sides and a white abdomen. It is usually poached or braised.
Red mullet or surmullet. A high quality fish of a different family from the other (grey) mullets, and which has a far better flavour and lean, firm flesh. Its liver is highly prized. Do not confuse it with gurnard, which has a slightly paler colour. This fish may vary from pinkish-reddish crimson to rosy pink in colour with golden streaks and two long barbels on the chin. Mullus barbatus is the smaller of the two and is of not quite such good quality. Mullus surmuletus is more properly known as surmullet and is larger.
Shaggy ink cap. A type of fungus which is edible when young. The cap overhangs so that, rather than the more common round cap, the shaggy ink cap has an elongated ovoid shape. It has shaggy scales which, when young, are white but which become darker with age. As it ages it becomes quite unpleasant to eat and eventually dissolves into a puddle of black liquid, giving it its English name.
