And cobia. How could i forget Cobia
Spanish
Spotties
Tailor
Maori Cod
Luderick
Fresh sea run mullet
Drummer
Blue Salmon
Tusky
Teraglin
In no particular order but these would be my top ten.
And cobia. How could i forget Cobia
My top 6s.
Reef
1. Red Emperor (way out in front)
2. Parrot/Venus Tusk Fish/Pigfish/Gold Spot Wrasse etc. (all very hard to pick a winner for 2nd out of this lot)
3. Grass Sweetlip or Red Throat Emperor (could easily slot into 2nd spot too)
4. Coral Trout
5. Snapper (I do like the snapper taste and the way little squire cook up all fluffy and white)
6. Pearlies
Most overated coral trout and pearl perch. Pearlies have no taste and the texture is too soft and fluffy and it just sort of poaches itself in its own juices. Trout texture is certainly not as good as the big gems that come apart like red emperor flesh.
Pelagics
1. Yellowfin Tuna (definately the prime eating pelagic. Tuna steaks on the BBQ cooked quick - yum!)
2. Wahoo (slightly ahead of spanish on texture that you can do anything with it and it stays together better)
3. Spanish Mackerel (the old favourite - spanish backbones on a BBQ the day you catch them are a special so you can have the fillets for later)
4. Cobia - the old poo eaters go allright
5. Spotty and Schooly Mackerels (textures sees them fall apart a bit more than spanish or wahoo when cooking but still very good)
6. Small AJs/Trevally/Kingfish - Fresh AJ 4-6kg on the BBQ fresh is awesome. Some of the nicest fish I have ever eaten was small kingies and trevally on a charter boat cubed and then marinated in vingar etc. in a Tuppaware container to cook the cubes. Highly underated fish.
Don't know how Coral Trout could be over rated mate, might need to tune into Masterchef for some hints on cooking Smithy.
For me
Cooked:
Red Emperor/Coral Trout
Flatties
Whiting
PArrots/tuskies etc
Snapper
Mackeral
Raw:
Trevally (hell of a surprise to me)
Yellowfin
Dont rate pearlies and like Smithy pretty tasteless for me
Tangles KFC
I love grassy sweetlip too but my favorite is Fingermark! Most delicious!
Little lovely is always partial to a nice piece of crumbed mackerel ....
For me, just about anything out of the ocean just as long as its fresh and done right .... Prawns from the farm on the way down to Rhudy Mahs at the coast and Calamari when its done right! .... Yummo !! ..
Don't like 95% of anything battered most times, as invariably they stuff it up ! ....