Dry-aged fish
Dry-aged fish at restaurant Madonnina del Pescatore
Dry-aged fish at restaurant Madonnina del Pescatore
Dry-aged fish at restaurant Madonnina del Pescatore
Dry-aged fish at restaurant Madonnina del Pescatore
Marjolein van Spronsen blogs about the ancient Japanese technique of dry-aging fish, there are even fish shops in New York and Australia that specialize in dry-aged fish. She would love to be able to buy this fish here in the Netherlands.
This blogs was previously published in Dutch at the website of our organization Van Spronsen & Partners Hospitality Consultancy.
Dry-aged fish
Most foodies will have tasted dry-aged meat over the past few years. This involves leaving the meat still on the bone to age for a longer period of time, which can range from a few days to well over 100+ days. This is done in refrigerators where the humidity is 85% and the temperature is between 0 and 1 degrees Celsius.
September 2021 we had a great lunch at restaurant Madonnina del Pescatore (**) in Senigallia in the Marche region, Italy. Chef-owner Moreno Cedroni has a refrigerator in which he allows fish to dry-age according to a Japanese method. He worked there for quite a few years he told us when he came to serve his dry-aged fish at the table. On a luminous plate, we got to taste several dry-aged local fish, just pure. Very tasty and full of flavour!
The method by which fish is left to mature is much like that of meat; a tuna can also hang in a refrigerator for up to a couple of weeks. The process firms up the texture, concentrates the flavour and particularly, the faint and sometimes bothersome smell of fish that at least sometimes puts me off, diminishes. In an American article, the author talked about ‘umamifying’ fish.
In New York and Australia
I recently read that in New York, The Joint Eatery has a fish market where they sell dry-aged salmon, snapper, tuna, mackerel and many more dry-aged fish. They also have a bakery and café, you can follow them on their Joint Seafood Instagram account. There is even a Dry Aged Fish Guy on Instagram who is already followed by over 35,000 people. By the way, in Australia you have the Fish Butchery, all their fish is treated using the method of dry-aging.
I’m not really into predicting trends, we spot them and sometimes I hope a trend will blow over to the Netherlands. And this is such a trend, I would love to be able to buy dry-aged tuna or salmon here, I love to make a carpaccio-like dish with!
Contact
Marjolein van Spronsen, responsible for Marketing & Communications at van Spronsen & Partners hospitality – consultancy. If you would like to get in touch, you can do so through e-mail, marjoleinvanspronsen@spronsen.com or through LinkedIn.
Van Spronsen & Partners is a hospitality consultancy for the hospitality and leisure industry. The company has been active in this industry since 1987 and specialises in feasibility studies, concept development, yield improvements, hospitality visions and policies, management support and marketing & communications. Our colleagues at Rollema & Partners and Van Spronsen Salaris also offer hospitality administration and payroll services specifically for the hospitality industry.
Website: Restaurant Madonnina del Pescatore
