Monkfish - in the Sea as Ugly as Sin, on the Plate a Beauty Queen

Man does not interest it as prey, so he should have no fear from it. That ugly sea creature with a huge head and an equally large mouth full of tiny sharp teeth is called a monkfish. Its appearance also gave it a name: it comes from the word hideous, ugly, and in Dalmatia, people also call it names like the devil, impish fish, rošpa, frog..... 

Culinary pearl in many dishes 

The monkfish is spread over all the world's seas. The Adriatic is inhabited by mrkulja, a fish of dark brown skin, camouflaging slimy armour, the only inedible part that must be peeled. The fact that it can grow up to two metres in length and 60 kg in weight sounds incredible. If a monkfish were ever to be encountered in such a format, it would probably be more than enough inspiration for fairy tales about ugly and dangerous sea monsters. 

As ugly and dangerous as it may be in its natural habitat, it is so delicious on the plate, and in many dishes, it turns into a real gastronomic beauty, a culinary pearl. It has compact, soft, relatively pliable meat of its body and tail, which is exceptionally important for children and those skilful to clean the fish, with no "dangerous" bones. In Zadar, we prepare monkfish in many ways and many dishes. It is excellent grilled, fried and breaded, roasted in the oven, and cooked in brodetto, of which there are as many types as there are chefs in Dalmatia. Along with conger eel is the most desirable fish, which improves the final taste of the dish and whose fillets are offered to the most honoured visitors. Good traditional chefs know to use its stomach as well, fill it with various delicious ingredients and turn it into a great dish. 

It is most often cooked, either alone as an "ordinary" lešada ( boiled fish) with perfect soup, or in gregada, a traditional Dalmatian dish made from pieces of different types of fish, crabs and shellfish and vegetables. It is best served in a pot in which it was cooked to arrive at the table in its original form, with all the ingredients in the soup to which they gave their flavours. In gregada, the monkfish is almost indispensable. 

"Harbor Cookhouse & Club" - the most exciting restaurant in Zadar 

Real connoisseurs also know how to enjoy an incredible monkfish's head. It consists of a set of soft and hollow, and gelatinous bones. That is why cooking it gives a great soup stock with the taste of the sea from the bones, which is used in risottos and sauces. Or just as bujon. And the cooked bones are enjoyed mainly by the chef.

And the head chef of the Zadar restaurant "Harbor Cookhouse & Club" Valentin Peroli produced a great dish in which the monkfish is the main star, but prepared in a way that suits its meat perhaps the most. He cooked its fillets using the confit technique by cooking its fillets in deep oil for a long time together with tomatoes, garlic and rosemary. But before chef Valentin finishes his dish, and we describe it and enjoy it, it is essential to introduce the restaurant "Harbor", which a few years ago figured the most exciting restaurant in Zadar in general, for several reasons.

The first is the location of the restaurant. It is located on the northern coast of the most important and deepest bay in Zadar, Jazine Bay, which divides and connects the old Zadar Peninsula with the newer city districts. Another reason is the exterior and, in particular, the interior of the restaurant. The outside is a spacious terrace with a unique bar, and visitors who come for a meal can be in the same ambience as guests who come for coffee or a good cocktail. The interior offers a fascinating story. It is dominated by fragments of a deconstructed wooden ship - from a large bow that "emerges" from the restaurant's wall through the steering controls to parts of the ship's engine. She arrived at the "Harbor" from Privlaka near Zadar, and while she sailed in the 19th century, she served to extract and transport sea sand. Reincarnated in the "Harbor", she is now living her new life. 

Monkfish poured over with jus and soaked in olive oil 

The next feature of "Harbor" is its culinary concept, which chef Valentino explained as "a combination of Mediterranean tradition offered in new, different ways and trendy novelties of the world of gastronomy." Indeed, in the "Harbor", you will eat an excellent snack from the depths of the Adriatic, but also phenomenal meat steaks that have long been aged in restaurant chambers. The breakfast that lasts in the "Harbor" until noon is an extraordinary and colourful story, just as the daily menus for busy people who will get excellent and plentiful food at a relatively low price.

And last but not least, this restaurant has an excellent cooking and waiter team that, it is evident at first glance, enjoy their work. The team led by Hrvoje Egić found the right measure for top professionalism and pleasant relaxation, which all results in good vibrations and positive energy that pervades the restaurant. In fact, this team acts as the crew of the ship scattered around them, which is at the same time dedicated to the job and always ready for a smile and a song.

Let's go back to the dish prepared by chef Valentin from the ugly monkfish. While we were revealing all the secrets of the restaurant, he had already cooked fish fillets, but also creamy polenta in which he mixed pieces of dried tomatoes and on which he would place the fillets. And the main touch, of course, comes at the end. The fillets will be garnished with dried tomatoes, and then the chef will pour fish soup over the dish. It is a fish variant of demi-glace sauce made by long cooking of fish bones and smaller fish and vegetables. If you add a few drops of wine and prosecco, they enrich the sauce and elevate the full taste of the monkfish by three times. A drop of olive oil, in the end, is an indispensable final spice in Zadar but also an inevitable ritual. 

In the "Harbor", they poured us a glass of great rose from the Zadar winery "Kraljevski vinogradi" with this dish. It would also suit some white wine like pošip and maraschino, but that is already a matter of personal taste. The wine list of this restaurant is more than rich, and it includes a selection of the best wines from Zadar wineries and the region, a little less from other wine parts of Croatia, and the least from abroad.

Still, you are in Zadar, the city of great wines and top Mediterranean food. And the monkfish? A big mistake would be to come here and not enjoy the meat of this delicious white fish.