From his stall at Tuesday’s market in Castres, Monsieur Gayraud–the fishmonger–was extolling the virtues of the maigre–a fish called “thin” if you like.
“Comme un bar [sea bass] et moins cher [cheaper].”
I bought one large enough to serve two and asked him to leave the scales on but gut it for me.
I had it in mind to cook it as per the recipe for Simple Sea Bass in Delicious Dishes–in the oven at a very high temperature seasoned on a bed of thyme for about 25 minutes.
I looked up the oddly named maigre in Alan Davidson’s Mediterranean Seafood and Jenny Baker’s Simply Fish
and discovered that its name is not the only odd thing about Monsieur Maigre.
It’s also known as a croaker–because of the noise it makes when looking for food–and it eats a lot apparently, presumably to try to put on weight and change its name.
This is almost more than I need to know about a fish I’m about to cook!
In the oven went M. Maigre/Croaker/Bocca d’Oro (It)/Saiagiz (Turk)/Corvina (Sp)/Mayatico (Gr)… and 20 odd minutes later emerged ready to eat, after its protective scaly skin was peeled carefully back and the two fillets shared between us.
At the Wednesday market in Realmont, I spied the first asparagus of the season!
I bought enough for the two of us and realized when I got home it would look good on the plate beside the fish; so I put the thin spears, sprinkled with olive oil, on a shallow tray and into the oven, 15 minutes after the fish and they were ready more or less at the same moment–looking crispy and glistening.
A simple dressing of one tablespoon of lemon juice to three of olive oil and seasoning was all we needed for the fish and the asparagus.
What’s in a name? That which we call a maigre
By any other name would taste as sweet.
And call it what you will–it was delicious!
Robin Ellis 
Looks good and light.By the way have a nice Easter weekend for you and your family Robin!xxx.
Have a lovely and happy Easter to you and Meredith! I love your blog most of all! Eastergreetings from Caroline
This looks very tasty,I love asparagus , there is something about those long green spears, especially when they are next to white fish.Not spotted the green spears in the shops here yet,hopefully they well be around soon.
The fish in that photo on the book cover does not look very happy – but then with a name like it’s got it wouldn’t would it poor thing.
I remember hearing about croakers in the Chesapeake Bay — never ate one that I know of — maybe they are related to your croakers some way?
Sometimes I am not sure about fish for dinner but you make it looks so visually appealing 🙂 I want to try.
I would have eaten ALL the asparagus you made – does that make me greedy?
I wish we here had such exotic “slim” fish with so many names in tow. Bon apetit to you both! A wonderful idea fish with asparagus a la vinaigrette… That looks and no doubt tastes great. Thank you, Robin.
Did you put any seasoning on the fish before you put it in the oven or did you add seasoning before you ate it?
Ann
sorry Robin …I did not read your information in detail!! You did season it.
ann
Your title led me to think that you were cooking frog’s legs…
We’ve actually caught croakers when fishing off the piers near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I love fish, but just can’t face eating one that talks to me! However, the asparagus looks delicious and I’ll be fixing that this weekend. BTW…we’ve had access to Bay Seasoning (mentioned in a previous post) for years and I’ve always used it when fixing shrimp, but had never (duh!) thought to use it with chicken (even though it notes that you can use it for that on the can.) I marinated some chicken breasts for lunch a couple of days ago…delicious! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Robin,
Looks fantastic — will definitely be cooking this when spring arrives.
With winter still here I recently made the lentils with chorizo dish that you published on your blog a while back — great for a winter supper. With chorizo in mind I thought you might like this Skye Gyngell salad recipe with rocket, semi-dried tomatoes, lentils, chorizo and goats cheese. (For speed I usually use sun-dried tomatoes and often replace the goats cheese with fefa.)
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/recipes/warm-salad-of-lentils-roasted-tomatoes-chorizo-and-goats-cheese-765868.html
It was lovely to meet yourself and Meredith in Primrose Hill just before your trip to the US — it sounds as though you had a wonderful time.
Thanks for the recipe, Jo–I like chorizo, naughty though it is and this looks good. We have a really good local maker of chèvre, Frederick too.