Catfish

“A catfish got cat whiskers.” So, a range of fresh and salt water fish that have barbels under the chin are called catfish. This large family of fishes includes the Yellow Bullhead, the Red Horse, the Flathead Cat, the Channel Catfish, and the White Catfish. Most are caught from May to October in South Carolina’s rivers and creeks. In the 1970s and 1980s they were farmed in state. For much of its history, catfish, because of its muddy habits and omnivorous tastes, had the reputation as being common food. Yet the clean, relatively fat-free flesh, has a sweetness and modesty of flavor that favored its discovery by restaurateurs over the last thirty years.