ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 25, 1996 TAG: 9609250030
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ART CHAPMAN FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
A friend and I read a story the other day that said catfish no longer suffers the image of a poor Southern cousin and is now being accepted in the best of homes.
Yeah, I thought; the best homes are built on stilts with pickup truck seats for porch furniture. He laughed at the image and said how foolish we sometimes are about what we eat. He obviously never fished for catfish.
Catfish is the fifth-most-popular fish in the nation, according to the Catfish Institute, based in New Jersey. In 1995, Texans ate 46 million pounds of catfish to lead the country in catfish consumption.
It is good that we are eating all this catfish, the story said, because it is low in calories, low in fat, and a good source of niacin and phosphorus. Also, today's farmed-raised catfish are fed a special, high-protein food that's made of soybeans, corn, wheat, vitamins and minerals.
That means the meat no longer tastes like old rubber tires and rusted Vienna sausage cans. It has lost that delicate taste of muddy river bottom.
It is not politically correct to single out any species of anything, but catfish have always been ``the other fish,'' especially for kids armed with a new Zebco.
When you catch a bass or perch, they graciously dance across the top of the water for all to see. Catfish you just tow to the top like an old waterlogged boot.
Not to be indelicate, but when you whack other fish across the head to prepare them for scaling, or skinning, they die right away. Catfish don't. Other fish flop on the dock; catfish just lie there on their bellies while puffing and working their whiskers.
You whop them, but they don't move. They just look up at you a little cross-eyed. You get a bigger stick, but they remain unconcerned. Finally, a boat oar does the job, but it's a scary and tiring process.
That's all changed now. We don't catch our catfish anymore; we ``harvest'' them, and that has made the difference in perception. A lot of people don't know what a catfish looks like in regalia. Lying there next to the cod, catfish look just as sophisticated as Brazilian sea bass.
The meat is sweet and can be enjoyed as whole fish, steaks, fillets, strips or nuggets. The Catfish Institute says you can prepare your fish broiled, baked, blackened, steamed, poached or grilled.
I disagree. Catfish is made specifically to be fried. My favorite method is to soak it in a mixture of mustard and milk for an hour or so, then toss it in a mixture of cornmeal and bread crumbs, spiced with cayenne pepper, black pepper, white pepper and salt.
Put it all in a black cast-iron skillet with hot peanut oil and fry to a golden brown.
Then, drain on paper towels and give it to somebody else to eat because I can't have fried food. It's not something I enjoy doing often.
The alternative is ``oven frying,'' a healthful substitute, although not always producing the same taste. I have found that the only way to really get a good crust is to use corn bread crumbs instead of cornmeal. The cornmeal just doesn't brown well in the oven. Like the catfish, it just sort of sits there looking at you.
Here is a good recipe from ``Low Fat Soul'' by Jonell Nash ($25, Ballantine Books).
Recipe for:
FRIDAY NIGHT CATFISH
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Catfish is finally coming into its own. color.by CNB