Piper

Family Triglidae

REMARKS Maximum length 60 cm. Red back, rosy sides, silvery belly. Lives in comparatively deep water.

CUISINE A sizeable member of the family. These larger gurnards have firm white flesh, easy to digest, of good flavour and comparatively free of troublesome bones, but tending to be rather dry. They may be cooked whole, in fillets or cut into sections. A large one, gutted and seasoned, may be baked in the oven with white wine, chopped mushrooms and slices of lemon. Or it may be simmered in water, left to cool and dressed with mayonnaise (a method popular in Turkey). Epicharmus (of Sicily) recommended that gurnards be fried in oil, spiced and served in vinegar, a procedure which some authors believe to have survived in the cuoccio marinato or soused gurnard of Naples.