Zambolis apartments

Zambolis apartments
For your holidays in Chania

Friday 25 November 2011

Atherina (Aθερίνα)

Atherina is a Greek fish taverna favorite. It's a form of whitebait, very young fish. The most common Greek species of tiny fish takes its Greek (and scientific) name from the meaning "scorn" because it was looked down on for its size - but not its taste:
"Atherina, for the gourmets, is the ether of the sea and fish... it lives and bathes in the 'foam of the sea' like Aphrodite, and it has an ethereal appearance, beautiful, slender, with a translucent skin, and can be eaten raw! It doesn't have intestines, and doesn't smell 'fishy'. Those who have tasted it at its freshest say it tastes like shrimp, which can also be eaten raw." (Photos and translated text taken from Wikipedia)
The most common species of atherina (a kind of smelt) eaten in Greece is Atherina boyeri. It's nearly always fried, and tastes like fish chips. It is available most of the year at the fish markets in Hania (not during its spawning season), but it isn't always locally caught, and most of the atherina brought into the market is caught in breeding tanks through acquaculture, ie not fished "in the wild". These days, you can even buy (non-Mediterranean) atherina at the supermarket in the frozen products counter (at a much cheaper price than fresh atherina).
Atherina

I recently saw some fresh atherina being brought in to the market, so I knew it was very fresh and local. At 8 euro a kilo, it isn't cheap, but I was not concerned with that dilemma at the time: the recipe I wanted to try out required fresh atherina. As I watched the atherina being poured into the crate in the fishmonger's display stand, whitebait fritters came to mind, a very Kiwi dish that I never had the chance to try while I was living there. My parents owned a fish and chip shop in Wellington, and I got my fill of Bluff oysters and paua fritters, but never had a chance to taste New Zealand whitebait, a kind of freshwater atherina. New Zealand whitebait was also subject to stricter fishing rules and regulations than oysters and paua; because of its limited use, it also needed to be eaten very fresh, hence it did not transport very well or quickly enough to urban centres.

 Atherina fried the Greek way

Greek atherina is cooked like potato chips. It needs a very light wash and the fish are so small that they do not need to be gutted or descaled. They are allowed to drain, then they are lightly floured and fried individually in very hot oil. Most cooks pick them up in threes from the tail and toss them into the hot oil together, so that they often come out stuck together.

 Whitebait fritters

Whitebait fritters are made by adding a little seasoned flour and egg (some people prefer only the egg white) to a cup of whitebait and cooking it fritter-style in a frying pan with a coating of butter (olive oil in my case). It's a very filling meal, best eaten with a plate of horta. And while we're at it, why not make some skordalia as a side dish?

©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.

9 comments:

  1. Yummy, Maria!
    We never get any really fresh fish here in the Rockies except for trout. We can fish for it in the lake up the road from our home. It's best in the Winter, though. One makes a hole in the (hopefully) two foot thick ice and then drops in a hook and line. (I admit it makes me very nervous to walk out on the lake) My son is the expert ice fisher. In the Winter the trout flesh is pinky orange in color and firm. It's delicious. One can make a French dish with really fresh fish caught the same day. It's poached as soon as possible after being caught and the fish's coating turns blue. This can happen only if it's really fresh. Then it's called "truit au bleu." My spelling might be incorrect. A French chef I used to work for got really excited when I told him my son ice fishes for them in the Winter. I brought him some and he demonstrated how to poach them "bleu." Some day maybe I'll be able to try some atherina!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love αθερίνα - haven't had any in years. We don't eat out nowadays when I go to Greece. Ages ago in Piraeus we had a starter of chunks of cold fish with a meaty texture and a piquant,lemony dressing - an almost oriental flavour. No idea what it was but it was delicious. Any idea what it could have been? Oh, and can you still find tender καλαμαράκια? Or is it all rubbery now?

    ReplyDelete
  3. cold fish? that must be a very old greek dish that needs to be revitalised by a greek cook!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love love love atherina. I can eat a plateful all by myself, and I'm not ashamed to admit it :)
    I fried up a batch a couple of weeks ago (yes, we can find it in Holland too, thank god!) and my boyfriend and I were ecstatic.
    Ahh, but it tastes so much better when I'm home!

    ReplyDelete
  5. now that you mention it magda, we can buy dutch atherina in the freezer section these days - it tastes different, but it's cheaper; my husband soaks it in lemon juice before we drain and fry it

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm fortunate enough to have eaten both NZ and Greek whitebait - two very different fish and both are delicious. Maria - you may remember how very tiny NZ whitebait are. The joke with people new to them is that they'll have to top, tail and gut them!

    These days a mere 100gr of whitebait here costs over 18 dollars.

    ReplyDelete
  7. wow - that's expensive

    i was never lucky enough to try NZ whitebait - i'm glad i got my fill of oysters and paua fritters at our fish and chip shop, but whitebait was out of the question!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Τhe only cold chunky fish that I remember served as a starter for ouzo is lakerda http://www.pitenis.gr/okeanos/index.php/el/fish-in-oil/bonito-slices a salted dish made from a fish called palamida. My grandma used to cook palamida quite often but nowadays it is not a preffered option. Is is similar to tuna.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Παρόλο που δεν μου αρέσουν τα μικρά ψάρια, την αθερίνα τη λατρεύω!!!!

    ReplyDelete