I tried making mullet tonight.

[no_hypocrisy]

Lemon wine sauce with whole mushrooms. Bread crumb-Parmesan topping.

I'm not in love with it. The fish tastes bland.

Is this the way mullet is supposed to taste?

Yes, it was fresh from the market.

[Warpy]

1. Mullet is a very delicate fish

that isn't going to add much to strongly flavored sauces.

I tended to cook it fileted, dredged in a little flour, and cooked only until it changed color in butter. Seasonings were only salt and pepper. I'd throw some white wine into the slightly fish flavored butter with a little fresh parsley and that would be the only sauce.

ETA: it's also good rolled in cornmeal, again with only salt and pepper, and deep fried very quickly until it's golden brown.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. OK, tomorrow maybe a little sprinkle of sea salt may do the trick.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Smoke it. There was a place called the Mullet Inn in Tampa that...

specialized in smoked mullet and folks came from miles around for it. It was worth the stop.

But no, I can't tell you how they smoked it.

[csziggy]

4. The best place for smoked mullet in the Tampa Bay area is

Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish
1350 Pasadena Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL
http://www.tedpetersfish.com/



Absolutely hands down the best smoked mullet I've ever eaten. My parents would make a special side trip to get smoked mullet there when my sister was in college in St. Pete in the 1960s.

They don't have a big menu but what they do have, they do very, very well.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Never heard of it-- I was in Tampa in the early 70's...

and we had semi-official "food tours" with clients back then. Gobbling shrimp all the way to New Port Richey was a classic.

But, then again, there was something about St. Pete that kept us off the causeway.

[csziggy]

6. Tampa has always had a rivalry with St. Pete

And it is a good drive out to where Ted Peters is located from downtown Tampa - 30 miles and at least forty minutes maybe more depending on the traffic.

My sister went to Florida Presbyterian College (Now Eckerd) 64-68 when Ted Peters was just getting known. I went there for one year, 70-71 and it was regular thing for those with cars to drive out to get Ted Peters smoked mullet. My parents loved their mullet and every time they came over to visit, we'd make the drive out so they could pick up smoked mullet to take home with them.

[Nay]

8. Yeah! When I was a kid in St Pete/Clearwater, we used to buy smoked mullet from these

guys by the side of the road. Man, that was tasty. I haven't eaten it in 50 years, but if I ever go back to FL I'd snatch some up in a second.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Mullet Update

So I de-boned the remaining fish. I put a little butter in a saute pan and lightly browned the filets. I think I may have undercooked the fish just enough to make it a less than stellar experience because it tasted really good when I tried it the second time.