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Fried Dog-Fish
(Palombo fritto) Cut the dogfish in slices, not very thick, and place it in a plate with beaten eggs somewhat salted. Leave for some hours until half an hour before frying, dip the slices in a mixture of bread crumbs, grated cheese, garlic and parsley chopped fine, salt and pepper. A clove of garlic is sufficient for one pound of fish. Fry in oil and serve with lemon. 127
A straightforward Italian fritto: fish steeped in beaten egg, then dredged in a seasoned crumb mixture and fried in oil. Two things need attention — the fish itself, and the long unrefrigerated soak the original takes for granted.
- What palombo isPalombo is smooth-hound, a small shark sold across Italy as an everyday white fish; "dog-fish" in older English books often means the spiny dogfish, a near relative. Both are firm, boneless and mildly flavoured. In Britain the same fish has been sold under names such as rock salmon, huss or flake.
- Sourcing and substitutionBoth smooth-hound and spiny dogfish are under pressure from overfishing, and shark meat carries higher mercury than most white fish — not a dish for frequent eating, or for pregnancy. Monkfish or thick cod loin take the same treatment.
- The ammonia problemSharks retain urea in their flesh, which converts to ammonia as the fish ages. Buy it very fresh; if it smells slightly sharp, a soak in acidulated water or milk before the egg soak will reduce it. Fish that still smells of ammonia after that should be discarded.
- "Leave for some hours"The egg marinade belongs in the refrigerator, covered, not on the counter. Two to four hours is ample; the original's open-plate soak at room temperature should not be reproduced.
- The crumb mixtureDry breadcrumbs rather than fresh, or the coating steams instead of crisping. "Grated cheese" here would be Parmigiano or a hard pecorino. The recipe's own ratio is one clove of garlic per pound of fish.
- Slice thickness"Not very thick" probably means something in the region of half an inch. Thicker steaks brown before the centre sets; thinner ones dry out.
- FryingFry in olive oil, shallow enough to come halfway up the slices, turning once; modern practice would put the oil around 350-360F. Two to three minutes a side for half-inch pieces — the flesh should be opaque and just firm, around 145F at the centre. Overcooked shark turns dry and stringy.
- YieldThe recipe gives no yield; a pound of fish would serve about two as a main course, or more as part of a fritto misto. Serve immediately with lemon wedges; the coating softens within minutes.
Shark is ordinary food in Italy in a way it has never quite been in Britain or America. Palombo — smooth-hound — is boneless, cheap and forgiving, and it appears in Roman and Tuscan cooking, stewed with peas and tomato as often as fried. The egg-soak-then-crumb method here is a common Italian approach to firm fish steaks, and the garlic-parsley-cheese crumb resembles mixtures Italian cooks use on baked fish, stuffed vegetables and roast meats. Dogfish has long sat at the cheaper end of the fish market.