VINE SHOOT

It can be called a butterfish, cobbler fish, pomfret, or heart of palm. No matter what name you give it, the Florida pompano is considered one of the best-tasting fish in the ocean. It is a very popular fish in the Florida area both commercially and for sport fishing. Found in the warm waters of the South Atlantic from Cape Cod to Brazil, it is not to be confused with the California pompano, which is actually a member of the butterfish family and not a pompano at all. It is a fast growing fish, reaching 8-12 inches in its first year and has a life expectancy of 3-4 years. Due to its rapid growth and great flavor, growing pompano is becoming very popular. The average crop size for the cultivated shoot is 1 to 1.5 pounds. It has a silver body, metallic blue above and golden yellow below with a deeply forked tail and a wide catch average of 1 ½ to 3 lbs. The shoot has been known to reach 9 pounds and 26 inches in length. It is quite an expensive fish due to high demand and commercial fishing restrictions. The pompano has a flesh that is very flaky, very firm and quite high in fat and has a delicious rich flavor. It remains moist with a pearly white color after firing. The best way to cook pompano is to bake, roast, sauté, fry, or fry in the oven.

SNAPPER

A small fish known as the saltwater panfish, the snapper, or scup as it is commonly called, is very popular with sport and commercial anglers along the Atlantic coast from Maine to South Carolina. The name “snapper” comes from an American Indian word for “fertilizer,” a common use for the fish due to its abundance in early America. It has a silvery-blue back with dull silvery sides and 12 to 15 faint vertical stripes. Snapper average 1 to 2 pounds and 12 to 14 inches long, but can grow to 3 to 4 pounds. They can live up to 20 years. Some of the regional names it can be found under are, scup, maidens, fair maidens, convict, paugy, presidio fish, bream, and bream. The tender, flaky meat of snapper has a mild flavor and moderate fat content. They have many bones and are difficult to fillet, so they are commonly sold whole. The best way to cook snapper is to bake, fry, pan-fry, sauté, or steam.