Galeos fish is worth the extra euros - The Best from Greece

Posted on: 27/Aug/2011 Look carefully at the fishmonger’s, because its poor relations are not nearly as tasty

Tope sharks, smooth-hounds or dogfish: With Greek fishmongers all of these come under the general heading of “galeos,” although they are from two slightly different genera -- three belong to the Mustelus and a fourth to the Galeorhinus genus. The latter is considered less tasty and was once the staple of fish-and-chip shops in Australia.

All look like small sharks, are dark gray or gray-brown along the spine and whitish on the underbelly. Some have white stripes on the belly and other black stripes along the spine.
Up to 2 meters long, most live in deep water, where they feed on other fish, mollusks and crabs.

The Mustelus’s flesh is firm, compact and tasty, giving off a slight whiff of ammonia, which disappears during cooking.

It is easy to be fooled into buying something else, as the flesh is sold without the skin. Unfortunately, even fishmongers can be fooled, but if it isn’t the real thing, once in the frying pan it will start to foam and smell strange. If you are unlucky enough to be sold dogfish, the ammonia smell is unmistakable and does not go away.

Galeos is sold for 15-18 euros a kilo in the market; the substitutes go for 3-9 euros a kilo. This is not a fish to use for sushi or sashimi -- a 1.5-centimeter-thick fillet takes 3-3.5 minutes on each side to grill.

A couple of tips: The fresher the galeos, the pinker and firmer the flesh, which whitens as it gets older. To check if it is really fresh, there should be four white nerve endings on every cut along its spine, compared to eight on a shark’s.

Recipes

Galeos with tomato & olives
Ingredients (serves 4)
4 galeos fillets (about 200 gr each)
4 garlic cloves, in thick slices
Leaves and tender shoots of half a bunch of parsley
2 large tomatoes, cut in chunks
20 stoned olives
60 ml olive oil
1 tbsp butter (optional)
120 ml red wine
Salt (optional)
1 level tsp freshly ground pepper
(white or black)

 

 

Saute the garlic in the oil and butter (if using it) over a moderate heat for half a minute. Discard the garlic and then lightly fry the fish (in two lots) for two minutes on each side.
Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and let drain on kitchen paper.
Heat the tomatoes, olives, salt, pepper, wine and 1/2 cup of water together in the pan, covered, for about 10 minutes. Add the fish to the sauce, so that it absorbs the flavors. Remove from the stove, add the parsley and serve.

Fried galeos with pea puree
Ingredients (serves 4)
4 galeos fillets (about 200 gr each)
2 tbsp capers
8 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
For the pea puree:
1 pot of strained yogurt
1 cup of boiled peas
100 gr anthotyro (cream cheese)
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
10 fresh mint leaves
6 sprigs parsley, finely chopped

A little freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil and capers in a large frying pan over a high heat. As soon as the capers begin to sizzle, remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon and discard them. Add the fish fillets to the pan (in two lots) without flouring them, lower the heat and fry for 3-4 minutes on each side. Season.
For the pea puree, put all the ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.

 

 

 

 

 

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