Fish, as we know, is good for health. Like any other food, it does not go beyond the rule of seasonal consumption, for many reasons: to better appreciate its organoleptic qualities, to find it more easily and, lastly, to safeguard the wallet. On the counters of the markets, as on those of the fishmongers, the variety is not lacking in this period, both of blue fish and of white fish. To be cooked in all possible ways.

Perfect in wet

Hake, bass and mullet they are the January fish that most adapt to a stewed cooking. Cooked with the addition of tomatoes or other vegetables, flavored with aromatic herbs or natural, they have soft and compact meats. The hake, low in fat and with a delicate taste, it is suitable for children, while the mullet is considered a fish of great value, with tasty and tasty meat with a characteristic red-orange color, but also rich in thorns. It 'a fish that deteriorates in a short time: to verify that it is still fresh you have to control its color, which must be alive, the gills, red and wet, the eye, protruding and shiny. Not being a particularly fatty fish, it does not require long cooking.

The bass It is a precious fish, which can be cooked in many ways, has white flesh, compact and very tasty. Very well known in the Neapolitan version crazy water, with cherry tomatoes, garlic and parsley, is also perfect with salt or cooked on the grill with an emulsion of lemon oil and aromatic herbs.

Fried or stuffed

The calamari they are highly appreciated mollusks in every kitchen, and their strong flavor makes them a dish suitable for many preparations. Fried are irresistible: they represent the exception to the rule, the luxury to be granted once in a while. The squid can be found on the market stalls 365 days a year, but the one fished in the Adriatic is typical of January, with succulent and precious meats. "There are no squids until the hands freeze", was the saying of the Istrian fishermen who spent the nights looking for these shellfish along the coasts above Venice.

The squid should not be confused with the less valuable squid, which differ from the fins, which in the first cover half of the total length of the mantle, while in the squids are only in the lower part. For the calamari to be fresh they must have an almost reddish color, the skin must be firmly attached to the body and the tentacles intact and firm. You can also cook them stewed, stuffed or grilled.

Another perfect fish to fry is the sole, whose meat is white, delicate and soft. It is sold whole or in fillets, and its taste varies greatly from the area of ​​origin: the best are those caught in the Adriatic Sea and in Sicily.

Baked

The amberjack is a blue fish very similar to tuna, with lighter but equally compact meat and rich in omega 3. More known in the southern regions than the northern ones, it is perfect if cooked the oven with vegetables or eaten raw, for refined tartare.

In foil or with vegetables, too the grouper it is an excellent fish to be consumed in January. Its meats are firm, white and tasty. In the markets there are specimens of medium size, ideal for baking, accompanied by potatoes and tomatoes or a rich salad. His bones are perfect for making an excellent fish comic.