Raores, the most beautiful fish known by the word 'llorito'

BarcelonaRaores have been back in the kitchens since September 1st, when the fishing ban in the Balearic Islands, which began on March 31st, was lifted. "In other years, fishing was allowed in August, but scientists found that was when they reproduced the most and so they extended their protection," says marine biologist Anna Bozzano. In the kitchens, chefs like Carme Ruscalleda maintain that they are a very beautiful and very gastronomic fish, "especially if fried," she comments.

The fish, known in Catalonia as parrots Perhaps because of their color similarity to birds, they are commonly caught in the Maresme region, the Balearic Islands, and Andalusia in particular. "Of the three places, the Balearic Islands are where they sell for the most money and are most sought after, which is why the ban was imposed," says Bozzano, who adds that they are caught close to the coast, so much so that they are even easy to see when diving lightly. Their physical appearance, apart from their colors, is also curious, because they are flat fish, as if a piano had fallen on them, as the writer Josep Pla would say.

Now, among their most important characteristics is the fact that "raores are born female, and after approximately three years, they become the opposite gender," says Bozzano, who adds that "it is the way in which this fish favors the reproduction of the species." Their colors distinguish them, because female raores have more pinkish tones and males are greenish and slightly striped.

Regarding the ban in the Balearic Islands, the biologist explains that it had to be implemented because the species was overexploited. "Even now that the season has started, between 50 and 300 raores are allowed to be caught per boat," says Bozzano, who adds that the legal measures, in force since 2000, have proven that "they have been effective, because the size of the raor has grown; larger ones are now being caught."

In Catalonia, chef Carme Ruscalleda is a fan of raores. "In the Maresme region, they're caught because they're sand fish, whereas on the Costa Brava, that's not the case anymore, because there's more rock," says Anna Bozzano. Meanwhile, the chef from Sant Pol de Mar says she prefers to cook them fried. "I think that's how they look best, both for their physical beauty and their flavor," she says. Following this line of thought, Ruscalleda adds that raores' scales are especially good fried. "As they're very thin and cling to the body, we can make them stand upright and crispy if we comb them against the grain with a lace just before frying them in extra virgin olive oil," reveals the chef, who explains that "the lace has to be moistened with water as they are combed against the grain."

The cook's passion for raores led her to include them on the summer menus of the Sant Pau restaurant, which closed in October 2018. "We awaited them with delight, but there were some years when the fishing was very scarce," she points out. The bones in both fillets are "easy to remove," and also the ones the fish has in the center, "where there is a string of small bones that go from top to bottom." Once cleaned, a good dinner can be a salad as a starter, and bread with tomato with freshly fried raores on top.

Scarce on the market

At the El Peix Grillat restaurant in Calella, fisherman and chef Ramon Tarridas comments that there are no specialized parrotfish fishermen. "Before, those who went longlining with small boats would fish, or those who used the bolero net, which is one of the most stately nets, as well as expensive," says Tarridas. In fact, there are so few fishermen who use the bolero net that, consequently, "there are few who know how to set it up." For all these reasons, currently, "recreational boats are likely to catch rarer parrotfish than professional ones, and precisely for this reason, they are few in the market, and if they exist, they are expensive," explains Tarridas.

Ramon Tarridas says that, when he has them, which are always by prior order, he cooks them just as chef Carme Ruscalleda taught him. "Coated in flour, with the scales on a skewer, and fried in a pan," he says. However, Tarridas uses rice flour, which is gluten-free. "Aside from being gluten-free, rice flour is drying and therefore prevents fried fish from becoming oily. So much so, that I recommend using it for fried fish, which are also delicious."

With pepper cake

Meanwhile, in Ciutadella, chef Sílvia Anglada, from the restaurant Es Tast de Na Sílvia, explains that she chooses to remove the scales from the sharks. "They give me anxiety once they're cooked, and that's why I prefer to remove them," she says. Next, she places greaseproof paper in a frying pan, and tops it with a few grains of salt. Over medium heat, she places the shark loins, sanded, boned, and seasoned with salt and pepper. "It only needs to be cooked for two seconds, both sides, and when it touches the band of skin, you have to put two fingers on top because, otherwise, the skin will curl up." Once the shark loins are cooked, she sets them aside. And then she continues preparing a roasted red pepper cake. "I make a very thin cake base, with traditional chaja wheat and olive oil," she explains. And while she's cooking, she tosses the roasted and cleaned red peppers in the pan with two cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, and two teaspoons of wine to defrost them. "There's no need for any juice, because the wine is just there to give them a little juice," says Silvia Anglada. In the pan, with the peppers, she also adds a little thyme, a pinch of salt, and sugar. "And then they'll be ready to be placed on top of the xaja flour cake, which will finish off the shark loins, and we can place it in the oven for a few minutes to brown," says the chef of the Es Tas de Na Sílvia restaurant.

Aside from this recipe, the cook recalls that, during her childhood, she had eaten shark loins as a snack in the afternoons. "I had a hard time eating fish, and at home they devised the recipe for the sandwich, which we call coque in Menorca, with fried shark loins," Anglada recalls. Since the fish's flesh is tender and delicate, coque was appealing to the little girl. Growing up, the cook believes this memory has stayed with her because at the restaurant, when it's in season, she has always cooked raores en loins, but now with a pancake with red peppers.

Finally, there are chefs, like Cati Pons from the island of Mallorca, and Felip Llufriu, from the Mon restaurant in Ciutadella, who agree that there are other similar fish that are tastier than raores. "The muelles, for example, have more flavor, and their price is much more affordable," opines Cati Pons. Llufriu agrees, and believes that the passion for raores lasts only at the beginning of the end of the closed season, when fishing is allowed, because before that, it was prohibited. However, it is certainly "a very pretty-looking fish, with two very distinctive teeth, and it makes for some great days of recreational fishing in Menorca, with private boats," concludes Llufriu.