Casco Viejo, Casco Antiguo, Panama
Real Estate and Lifestyle at Panama´s Historic District
Lion Fish is defined by Wikipedia as a venomous marine fish (called Pterois). A couple of years ago, this plague got into our side of the world by mistake and having no natural predators, this lion looking fish has dedicated itself to “la dolce vita”, eating all sorts of native species and wiping our tropical reefs. Unfortunately, it is now in Panama, and we had the opportunity to see it in San Blas, floating around, looking quite innocent to say the least!
However, very few know that it makes for an excellent dinner! People tend to run away when the word “poison” shows up in the phrase, thinking about the Japanese fish that can kill you in 8 seconds. Lion Fish is far from that! The poison is only at the front and upper fins, but once it is cooked, the poison is no longer effective. Yes, I ate it myself. It is OK!!! and delicious!!!
Last week, we brought to Casco Viejo a small group of fish aficionados to taste it. French, German and Panamanians, they almost licked the plate at Las Clementinas. The first dish was presented with some soy-ginger sauce, the second with passionfruit sauce and the third one was just grilled (a la plancha), the full fish with fins and everything. Since it has most of it´s skeleton outside, there are almost no spines inside, which makes it really easy to eat.
Hopefully Las Clementinas will be able to include this new delicacy on the menu soon! and allow humans to do what they do best… but this time helping the environment!
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