Maximum length 50 cm. Red or orange is the dominant colour, but this is variable. The rascasse rouge is found all over the Mediterranean, but in deeper water (20 fathoms or more). Its range extends up to Brittany in the Atlantic.
CUISINE This, like the rascasse noire, is mainly used for bouillabaisse and similar preparations. Small specimens have no other use. But a large rascasse rouge may be successfully baked (baste often with butter) and will then present a dramatic appearance at table, providing good helpings of remarkably firm white flesh – not unlike that of the lobster. Do not neglect to eat the cheeks.
