Trout

Photo: flickr user Trout Lore

About

Trout is a game fish related to the Salmon. It is a freshwater fish that mostly lives in lakes and streams. Trout flesh is delicate and ranges from ivory to salmon red.

Some of the Trout varieties include:

Brook Trout
Brown Trout
Lake Trout
Rainbow Trout
Sea Trout
Atlantic Char

Information

Other names: (Oncorhynchus Mykiss), Oily Fish, rainbow trout

Translations: Forele, Upėtakis, Păstrăv, Pastrva, Cá hồi, Pstrąg, Forel, ट्राउट, Truta, Форель, Πέστροφα, سمك السلمون المرقط, 송어, Pstruh, Ikan forel, 鳟鱼, Truita, Pstruh, Trota, פורל, Forell, Пастрмка, トラウト, Truite, Forelle, Ørred, Ørret, Trucha, Форель, Taimen, Пъстърва

Physical Description

Trout have fins entirely without spines, and all of them have a small adipose (fatty) fin along the back, near the tail. There are many species, and even more populations that are isolated from each other and morphologically different. However, since many of these distinct populations show no significant genetic differences, what may appear to be a large number of species is considered a much smaller number of distinct species by most ichthyologists. The trout found in the eastern United States are a good example of this. The brook trout, the aurora trout, and the (extinct) silver trout all have physical characteristics and colorations that distinguish them, yet genetic analysis shows that they are one species, Salvelinus fontinalis.

Colors: silvery

Tasting Notes

Flavors: salty

Mouthfeel: Soft, Flaky, Oily

Food complements: Parcely.rosemary, Basil

Wine complements: Saumur-champigny, Aligote, Riesling, Red wine, Rully white, Entre-deux-mers, Chabilis, Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay, Rose, Vouvray, Butter, Pinot noir, Sancerre

Beverage complements: Beer, Hard cider

Substitutes: Salmon, Fish

Selecting and Buying

Choosing: Fresh Trout...should be glistening, flawless and clean smelling. The flesh should be firm and spring back when pressed. When buying whole trout, look for bright red gills and shiny skin. Whether you buy fresh or frozen, buy it last before heading home. If you'll be delayed, have it packed on ice.

Packaged Frozen Trout...should be rock-hard, clear of ice crystals, having no white spots indicating freezer burn and showing no signs of thawed juices. Packages should be clean and tightly sealed.

Buying: Trout are generally a fish farmed commercially and are available fresh nearly all year long.

Procuring: Trout food is most abundent under stones,logs and other obstructions in rapid flowing parts of the stream.The trout itself is a fast water feeder,which means it is usually in or near fast water.and a good hiding place.Crawdads or crayfish require no introduction as trout love to eat them also.
Golden rainbow trout are bred from a single mutated color variant of Oncorhynchus mykiss.[16] Golden rainbow trout are predominantly yellowish, lacking the typical green field and black spots, but retaining the diffuse red stripe.[16][17] The palomino trout is a mix of golden and common rainbow trout, resulting in an intermediate color. The golden rainbow trout should not be confused with the naturally occurring golden trout.

Preparation and Use

Use Mild Flavored Oils...Off-flavors in fats can be transferred to the taste of the trout. Best fats include butter, hydrogenated shortening, peanut or corn oils.

Hot and Quick...Trout fried at a low temperature absorbs too much fat. The best temperature is 325 to 350F.

Don't Overcook...Trout should be moist and fork-tender. Overcooking dries out and toughens the fish. Trout is done when it flakes easily when probed with a fork.

Cleaning: Slice open belly to remove organs and entrails, scrape skin to remove scales and wash thoroughly. Trout can be filleted, but the skin is delicious and can be easily removed after cooking.

Trout Don't Need to be Scaled...Removal of the tiny scales also removes the thin coat of natural jelly around the scales that allows the trout to be breaded without using any type of liquid

Conserving and Storing

Store fresh trout in the coldest part of your refrigerator (usually the lowest shelf at the back or in the meat keeper) as close to 32F as possible. Use fresh trout quickly; within 2 days.

Store packaged frozen trout at 0 F or below for no more than three months.

NEVER RE-FREEZE TROUT AFTER THAWING...this will impair flavor.

Social/Political

As a group, trout are somewhat bony, but the flesh is generally considered to be tasty. Additionally, they provide a good fight when caught with a hook and line, and are sought after recreationally. Because of their popularity, trout are often raised on fish farms and planted into heavily fished waters, in an effort to mask the effects of overfishing. While they can be caught with a normal rod and reel, fly fishing is a distinctive method developed primarily for trout, and now extended to other species. Farmed trout and char are also sold commercially as food fish.

History: The species was originally named by Johann Julius Walbaum in 1792 based on type specimens from Kamchatka. Richardson named a specimen of this species Salmo gairdneri in 1836, and in 1855, W. P. Gibbons found a population and named it Salmo iridia, later corrected to Salmo irideus, however these names faded once it was determined that Walbaum's type description was conspecific and therefore had precedence (see e.g. Behnke, 1966). More recently, DNA studies showed rainbow trout are genetically closer to Pacific salmon (Onchorhynchus species) than to brown trout (Salmo trutta) or Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), so the genus was changed.