50 years ago in Key West

[ensho]

http://keysnews.com/node/34564


-snip-

A 200-pound Keys jewfish was delivered to Fox Lake, Ill., where it was baked whole for a civic dinner.

-snip-
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there must be a back story about how this came about.

what kind of oven/cooking place would bake a 200 lb. fish whole? like how a pig is done in Hawaii?

must have been a wealthy civic organization. govt. civic? or civil civic?

[sakabatou]

1. They do have specially made ovens

[Johnson20]

2. A pit maybe? n/t

[badtoworse]

3. You would have to do it "low and slow"

Wrap the fish in something to retain moisture and cook it at low temperature (200 - 250 degrees) for many hours (I'm guessing 10 or 12) to avoid drying it out. If they did it right, I'll bet it was delicious. Jewfish are in the grouper family and they're great eating.

[rug]

4. What's a jewfish?

[badtoworse]

5. It's a very large member of the grouper family

They are indigenous to the Florida Keys and can get quite big. Historically, 600 - 700 pound fish have been recorded, but these are now rare do to overfishing. They are a protected species and for political correctness, the name was changed. They're now called the Goliath Grouper.

[rug]

6. That's an ironic name change.