Beautiful coastal
As a tourist, the bonito arrives in the Bay of Biscay with good weather, in the month of June, and usually does not leave until the autumn has started. During the winter it lives in waters near the Azores, but with the arrival of spring it goes to the Asturian coast to hunt for another regional delicacy: the mouth. Bocarte or anchovy or anchovy. In Asturias it is called bocarte when it is presented whole or fried, and we use «anchovy» to refer to its fillets washed in brine. Asturians like to eat your mouth as much as the beautiful one, and since the two coastal ones coincide in time, when eating beautifully it turns out that the dish is twice good.
From June to October the beautiful round the Asturian coast. It has always been like this and he has always been fished to the hunt, one by one, with coastal fleet and during the coastal one. The hunt involves dragging a decoy from the stern; formerly it consisted of corn leaves forming a kind of brush that simulated the movements of a fish. The baits have been sophisticated but not this fishing gear. The hunt is accredited as responsible fishing and healthy, very far from the stress to which the tuna banks are subjected with the drag. Regrettably, litigation and claims by local fishmongers to the EU are frequent during coastal strikes due to the intrusion of foreign trawlers on the high seas - beyond twelve miles - where they fish in an abusive manner, mistreat carvings and put them at risk the species and the fishing grounds.
Unique in its kind and also in the cutting
As you fish in season in an artisanal way and close to the coast, without the need to freeze, its quality and freshness is guaranteed. It is a cult fish, highly anticipated and no less desired. In the rollers we can find ourselves from the so-called «monkeys», about three kilograms in weight, to extreme and very rare pieces that can reach 50 kilograms. In all cases, the northern bonito is characterized by the large size of the pectoral fins. This makes it unique. As well as the distinctive flavor and smooth texture that differentiates it from the rest of the tunas.
The bonito is the pig of the sea. Everything is used from him. A selective exploded view can include more than 20 different parts. Like sirloin, a strip of meat from the top of the tenderloin. Or the tenderloin itself, made up of large chunks of lean meat. The belly, an area of the muscle that covers the belly; the part most appreciated for its high content of healthy fat. The tarantelum is a triangular mass that is found on the belly and is also in high demand. Then we have the blue tail and the white tail, upper and lower part of the muscle of the bonito tail ...
Nutritional properties of bonito
In addition to moving fresh to the rulas and markets, bonito is an exceptional product for the canning industry, and its consumption is highly recommended by doctors and nutritionists. Your meat presents Omega 3 fatty acids, linoleic and oleic, being a healthy product in its maximum expression. Provides vitamin B2 (rivoflavin) and B3 (niacin) that activate the metabolism of fats and sugars; the vitamins B9 (folate) and B12 (cyancobalamin) that are involved in the formation of blood, in the proper functioning of the nervous system and in the activity of the immune system. Also vitamin A, basic for vision, good skin condition and to defend against infections. Y vitamin D responsible for the absorption of calcium in the intestine; a vitamin that is scarce and that the sun and the blue fish provide the clear ones. The bonito also contributes minerals: potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, iron and iodine; and it presents a very important proportion of proteins of high biological value.
Bonito Roll Recipe
If we talk about coastal tuna, the optimal time for its consumption, when it maintains its maximum balance...
Text: © Ramón Molleda for asturias.com
