I like them both but will take mackerel over the salmon as I have it in my head that it's more sustainable and, frankly, I prefer the more dry texture of mackerel to salmon's oiliness.

Just asking as I was in my local Waitrose just now (yes, I am that posh) because at the end of the day they virtually give fish away if it's on its "best by" date and I've learned, perhaps like the starlings in my garden, that you turn up when the pickings are best.

Just saying ...

Salmon.







Or mackerel.







Who cares?

I like mackerel, in fact I had a couple yesterday with some nice eggs
I worked on a fishing boat in the English Channel when I was younger, sometimes we’d Chuck a couple of feathers over the side and have them fresh cooked in a little butter, every bit as good as the cod I’ve just finished.

Pete this is one of the important questions of our generation. I think we need a poll.

Mackerel in olive oil. Make sure you eat it cold and drink the oil. It'll reduce you bad cholesterol... Salmon, not sure but you're probably right about being too oily

I have fond memories of craster smokehouse and indeed
even happier memories of Dunstanburgh Castle just up the coast. There’s only one winner.

I did six months of weekends as a deck boy on a prawn trawler in Moreton Bay when I was 14. They'd always chuck a long trawl line out on the way back and pull in a few big mackerel. There was a small gas BBQ on the boat. Some one would gut and fillet them and stick them on. I'm still pulling the bones out of teeth.

TheBrownDog wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 8:50 pm Pete this is one of the important questions of our generation. I think we need a poll.

Agreed. Apologies for being flippant . I've had a hard day, only mollified by bonfires and brandy .

Normal service resumed (hic) .

Err how are 'we' cooking it? If the Salmon is steamed, then that gets my vote.

I'm also quite made up that we attract the kind of people who shop in Waitrose. I'd always assumed it was only credit card tourers who shopped there, not manly roughty toughty bikepacking types.

TheBrownDog wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 9:03 pm I did six months of weekends as a deck boy on a prawn trawler in Moreton Bay when I was 14. They'd always chuck a long trawl line out on the way back and pull in a few big mackerel. There was a small gas BBQ on the boat. Some one would gut and fillet them and stick them on. I'm still pulling the bones out of teeth.

Great life isn’t it The hardest job I’ve ever had, also one of the best and worst paid jobs I’ve ever had. Bass paid for a Honda V4 when I was 17!

Happy memories, hauling a kilometre of skate twisted net after grabbing a weaver by all three spines, not easy with one paralysed arm, running for home over the Goodwins with a F10 chasing us, wrapping a net around the prop then the B1 buoy on a rising tide, drifting with the nets at night under a full moon, knowing exactly where you are just by the angle between two lighthouses, being covered in phosphorescent creatures as you haul nets at night while watching a glowing wake. That anticipation when you pull the first net and the euphoria when you fill the boat with bass

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 9:24 pm Err how are 'we' cooking it? If the Salmon is steamed, then that gets my vote.

I'm also quite made up that we attract the kind of people who shop in Waitrose. I'd always assumed it was only credit card tourers who shopped there, not manly roughty toughty bikepacking types.

Salmon I steam, usually with a touch of soy sauce, garlic and chilli in the water. Mackerel I grill. Olive oil and pepper, some lemon juice and a bit of chilly too if Im feeling spicey.

If you'd offered me that choice back when I ate dead animals, then it would've been smoked mackerel, all day, every day.

Ginger, lemongrass and chilli works well with mackerel too. The same ingredients with a bit of soy sauce works well with cooking salmon en pappilote

I catch mackerel off my kayak and smoke it at home. Not so easy with salmon. So it’s mackerel for me.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 9:24 pm
I'm also quite made up that we attract the kind of people who shop in Waitrose.

If you’re canny, WRose offer the best zreductions when stuff hits the sell by date. Top grub cheaper than chips.

I'm with wee Nicola, anything but Salmon.

Mackerel,lovely.

Can't stand salmon, neither the fish nor the man. I like salamon shoes though

First choice Sainsbury Lightly Smoked Salmon Fillet.
The WR version is terrible not enough smoking and goes into a mush when cooked.
Not tried their Duchy version as I would choke on it as with anything under that label.

Mackerel meh as a pate with horseradish and some crusty bread maybe but prefer a chilli humous.

Susi Mackerel is supposed to be good but never tried it.

am alone in liking Pilchards and Sild.

They're not pilchards any more, they're Cornish Sardines, much posher

Pilchards on toast was a Sunday morning treat when I was a kid.

One interesting aspect of Brexit is that we might actually start eating the locally caught fish like Gurnard, Megrim (Cornish Sole!), Hake & Langoustines that traditionally get sent to europe because everyone in this country is obsessed with Cod.

PaulB2 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 4:26 pm They're not pilchards any more, they're Cornish Sardines, much posher

Pilchards on toast was a Sunday morning treat when I was a kid.

One interesting aspect of Brexit is that we might actually start eating the locally caught fish like Gurnard, Megrim (Cornish Sole!), Hake & Langoustines that traditionally get sent to europe because everyone in this country is obsessed with Cod.

<cough> we do this already. We go to our local fishmonger and buy whatever he's got a good deal on from the market. At the moment he is king of the Brixham fish market as the restaurant buyers are off the scene. Last week we had some Brill. Gurnard is a favourite and John dory as long as I don't look at it.

Can we please confine the conversation to the topic at hand? I don't mind straying into the herbaceous borders of inconsequence that is the sardines v pilchards debate, as they are basically just little mackerel anyway (yes, they are - end of topic) But if you wanna talk about other species, particularly Gurnard .... gak ..... start your own bloody thread ..... Jesus.

Oops looks like you’ve upset TBD, best stick on topic otherwise you’ll get A salted and battered

I dunno what he's carping about, threads always end up floundering in this plaice.

He’s got no sole?