Well, it's 730pm and still super hot and muggy, so I thought I'd do a quick post as a follow-up to having dinner at Wrench & Rodent. Yep, that swordfish spinal fluid was still on my mind, so on my visit to Catalina Offshore the following week, I asked Tommy about it. Now I knew about Vesiga, the bone marrow of the spinal cord of the European Sturgeon….basically because, my mind being that cesspool of useless information, I recalled reading that it was served during the last meal on the Titanic. I asked Tommy about some background…..he explained that Norwegian fisherman used to consume the stuff to give them "energy"…..well at least he didn't tell me, "no worry….it make YOU STRONG!"
Which is how I ended up unwrapping the spine of a swordfish on my counter…..
Harvesting the stuff was totally brainless….I took a heavy knife; a cleaver actually and sliced through the seam of the spinal column. I then proceeded to scoop the wonderful gelatinous stuff out.
And by golly if it didn't taste wonderfully refreshing; slightly of the ocean, with some very faint sweet hints to it. Still, the flavor alone felt a bit incomplete….I felt it could use the most gentle touch of citric acid, so I added two drops of fresh squeezed lime juice…..which just made it perfect. It just kind of slides on down…..
The Missus watched me removing the gelatinous material from the psinal column and had Her doubts…until She got Her first "shot"…..and then She was hooked!
And I think you would be too…….get your hands on a fresh swordfish spine and have at it!
Cheers!
glad you were able to share this with the Missus 🙂
I need to find some marrow.
I am too Kat!
I hope you do Billy!
How much were the spines at Catalino OP? I’ll have to ask about those the next time I go, looks really interesting to try.
I don’t remember exactly Jason, but it was cheap….hey, these are bones after all. But I have feeling places are going to start using them.
You said the magic word! Also looks like the leftover bones would be good for making a fish soup/stock once the marrow is gone.
Hey Jason – You might want to just ask Tommy if he’s there.
Growing up we ate a lot of whole fishes and my Grandfather used to talk about eating the bone marrow. I’ll have to try it.
Hi Carol – If you like oysters, you’ll love this!
I was told by an old fisherman that gelatin or marrow was psychoactive… Is it?
It wasn’t for me Jennifer. I’ll ask Tommy when I see him.