As Executive Chef of The Optimist in Atlanta, Georgia, I'm Adam Evans, and I'm excited to share with you our approach to cooking whole fish. We bring in a lot of whole fish, and we love using every part of it because we feel like it's more sustainable and cost-effective for our restaurant. We're not just talking about fillets; we want to use the entire fish, just like people get whole pigs and big primal cuts of beef.
When we receive a new shipment of whole fish, we start by breaking it down into its various components. The halibut is a massive fish, and as a flatfish, it's got a lot of different parts that can be used in different dishes. We've got the collar, the outside part I like to call the "skirt," the loin, and the bones. Each of these parts offers something unique and delicious, so we want to make sure we're using them all.
When breaking down a whole halibut, we start at the head and work our way down to the tail. And what's really interesting is that there's actually a line on the fish that you can follow. If you take this line and cut straight down, it produces four fillets. It's a really easy fish to break down, which makes me love working with halibut even more.
Now, I know some people might be thinking, "What about the collar? Is that something I should try?" Well, let me tell you; the collar is actually one of my favorite parts of the fish. It's an interesting cut, and when it's prepared correctly, it's a real treat. When we order the collar at restaurants, I can usually tell if they're going to prepare it well or not because of how excited the chef is about it. They know they've got a fresh piece of fish that they get to work with, and that energy shines through in the final product.
Of course, the fillets and loin are what we're really after when it comes to cooking whole halibut. And right now, we're doing something really special: a light cornmeal crust on the fillet. We take fresh kale and shave it super thin, then dress that kale with lemon juice, a little bacon fat, and warm bacon. It's a simple yet delicious combination that complements the fish perfectly. We sear the cornmeal-crusted fish to give it a nice crunch, finish it with a little butter and herb, and top it off with some pepper jelly.
But we don't just stop at the fillets; we also want to use every part of the halibut. So when we're done with our main dish, we take the bones and roast them until they're nice and golden brown. Then, we put those bones in a veal-based sauce and make a rich red wine fish fortalez sauce. It's a strong sauce, but it's got a really nice fish flavor to it that I just love. And let me tell you, when I taste the halibut, especially with this sauce, it's like my favorite part of the dish all over again.
For us, cooking whole fish is not just about throwing some ingredients together; it's about creativity and sustainability. We want to make sure we're using every part of the fish, because that's what makes our menu unique and exciting. And when you taste a dish made from a halibut, you can really appreciate the difference that whole fish cooking makes.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: eni'm adam evans and i'm the executive chef of the optimist in atlanta georgia yeah we bring in a lot of whole fish and the idea is so that we can use the entire fish just like people get whole pigs and big primal cuts of beef in the restaurant we like to get whole fish because we feel like we can use those in different areas of the restaurant so today we're going to break down a whole halibut the halibut is is a massive fish it's a flat fish so when you're breaking it down there's all these different parts there's a collar there's an outside part that i call a skirt and then of course there's a loin and the bones we use as well so we'll do a few different dishes off of that so for the halibut you start at the head and go to the tail there's a there's actually a line on the fish that you can follow so you take the line and you you cut straight down it produces four fillets it's a really easy fish to break down i think the collar is really fun and it's something that i like to order when i go to restaurants to see it on the menu because you know it's going to be fresh and you know the chef is excited about it because they've they've cut it off the fish and you know whether they're preparing it fried or or roasted or grilled or whatever it's uh it's just an interesting cut from the fish but the the fillets and the loin is what we're really after so right now we're doing it with a light cornmeal crust we take some fresh kale and we shave it super thin and we'll dress that kale with lemon juice a little bacon fat and warm bacon and then we sear the cornmeal crusted fish finish it with a little butter and herb and dress the plate with a little pepper jelly when we have all the cuts that we want out of the halibut we'll take the bones and roast them to a nice golden brown color and then actually put them in a veal based sauce and make a red wine fish fortalez sauce and it's really it's a really strong sauce but it's got a really nice fish flavor to it it's one of my favorite fish the flavor of the halibut is something that i look forward to tastingi'm adam evans and i'm the executive chef of the optimist in atlanta georgia yeah we bring in a lot of whole fish and the idea is so that we can use the entire fish just like people get whole pigs and big primal cuts of beef in the restaurant we like to get whole fish because we feel like we can use those in different areas of the restaurant so today we're going to break down a whole halibut the halibut is is a massive fish it's a flat fish so when you're breaking it down there's all these different parts there's a collar there's an outside part that i call a skirt and then of course there's a loin and the bones we use as well so we'll do a few different dishes off of that so for the halibut you start at the head and go to the tail there's a there's actually a line on the fish that you can follow so you take the line and you you cut straight down it produces four fillets it's a really easy fish to break down i think the collar is really fun and it's something that i like to order when i go to restaurants to see it on the menu because you know it's going to be fresh and you know the chef is excited about it because they've they've cut it off the fish and you know whether they're preparing it fried or or roasted or grilled or whatever it's uh it's just an interesting cut from the fish but the the fillets and the loin is what we're really after so right now we're doing it with a light cornmeal crust we take some fresh kale and we shave it super thin and we'll dress that kale with lemon juice a little bacon fat and warm bacon and then we sear the cornmeal crusted fish finish it with a little butter and herb and dress the plate with a little pepper jelly when we have all the cuts that we want out of the halibut we'll take the bones and roast them to a nice golden brown color and then actually put them in a veal based sauce and make a red wine fish fortalez sauce and it's really it's a really strong sauce but it's got a really nice fish flavor to it it's one of my favorite fish the flavor of the halibut is something that i look forward to tasting\n"
