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Greetings Helen,
Having been raised in Florida, in Panama City in fact just 30-40 miles from Destin, close to where the Mako was caught, I can attest to the fact that people DO INDEED eat shark. And quite happily, I might add.
Great White is the preferred favorite, because it's easier to tenderize (and more readily available). The Hammerhead is also sought after as well. Smaller sharks like the nurse, mako and sand sharks are faster, more active and leaner, so their meat is much tougher.
But not only do they eat shark, but in some restaurants, particularly down south (Miami, Sarasota, Key West, etc.), Shark is a higher priced delicacy and many folks go out just to dine on this predator from "The Deep". There's just something about eating meat from a creature, who in other scenarios might be dining on "YOU" in a much less than favorable manner.
But Shark is not a meat you can eat fresh out of the water like you can Grouper, Tuna, Mahi-Mahi, and others. It must be prepared and tenderized. Want a recipe for your next visit to the sunshine-state?
Approximately 50-60% of the Shark's weight will be quality edible meat. After gutting, skinning and cleaning the meat, cut it into steaks of appropriate size and weight (12-16 OZ) and about 2 inches thick, put the steaks or fillets into a deep pan.
PREPARATION: Then Prepare a marinade sauce of Sherry wine (Cold Duck works fine), lemon-juice, and sugar. You can use brown sugar also, if you want the meat to be a wee-bit sweeter. Pour this concoction over the meat slowly until it at least covers all of the meat in the pan, then cover with waxpaper. If the fillets try to float, put something on top of them to hold them under the liquid. Place them in the refrigerator overnight for at least 12 to 15 hours, or until ready to cook. This tenderizes them and makes them ready for cooking the following day.
COOKING: You can cook Shark several different ways. Baking, In a skillet, or my favorite, "Grilling". We will cover grilling, as everybody in Florida has a grill. I think it's a law down trhere or something (LOL).
Steps To Grilling Shark;
1) Fire up the frill and set a low to medium heat level. Don't ask me what temperature, every grill and shark is different. You want to cook about 20-25 minutes or so at around 200-degrees or so, I guess.
2) Put about 1/2 to 1 pound of butter (or margerine) in a pan and warm it up for basting. When it's melted, add Garlic salt or garlic-powder, to taste. This is applied to the meat regularly and often while cooking. Seasoning is optional and varies accordinig to personal tastes. Personally I use Lowery's seasoning salt, garlic-powder, salt (sparingly) and black pepper. Some folks also add, Tobasco-Brand tobasco sauce, but usually only after serving.
3) Remove the fillets (or steaks, depending on how big you cut them) and drain the marinade sauce. You can feed this to your cats if you wish and they will love you dearly, but may stagger for a few hours afterwards. Place them on a platter covered with waxpaper and deliver them to the GrillMeister (that's German - i.e., "Master of the Grill"). when your grill is ready place aluminum foil over the grill surface, and use a fork to punch as many holes in it as you can without tearing up the foil. Smear the foil with butter or PAM to keep the meat from sticking. If you use PAM, be careful, as it IS flammable and will get smart with you if you abuse it.
4) Place the fillets on the grill about 1" to 2" apart, and have a spray-bottle with water closeby in case the flames get too high. Let them cook on this low to medium heat about 5 to 8 minutes on each side until done. They will need to cook for about 15-20 minutes on this heat-setting. Flip them every 5 to 8 minutes or so, letting them cook on each side twice, and letting them brown slightly. Each time you flip them, apply a generous amount of butter and keep them moist, as well as the foil.
5) The meat will be tender and flaky when you first put it on the grill, but after it cooks will firm up just like any other fish or aqua-based meat. When they have a light to medium brown to thm, they are ready to eat and should now be removed from the fire.
6) Remove the waxpaper and dispose of properly, then use the platter (after you wipe it down with a towel) to put the fillets on, preferably on top of paper towels, to absorb the access butter and fish-oil.
7) Serve the fillets (or steaks with a tossed salad, and/or a Shrimp-salad, texas toast buttered, choice of potato ( I like mine with sour cream and LOTS & LOTS of butter) and your favorite flavor of Michelob. Oops, Don't drink? Then iced tea or soda works well, too.
And there ya' go! If all was done well and properly, your guests will love the meal and come back to see you often. If they have a phobia about eating shark, tell them it's Mahi-Mahi or Swordfish. Everybody loves a million-dollar meal in Florida.
Hope this helps, My fellow Adlanders. Have a great day, and Ipower2ya!
Benton Middleton @ The IpowerNetworK
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