Description of turbot fish and its difference from flounder. Recipe for king fish turbot with vegetables How to cook turbot in the oven

Turbot is a fish of the order Flounder. It may sometimes be called the Great Diamond or Sea Pheasant. This species is widespread in the Mediterranean, Black, Baltic and North Seas. This predatory fish is a rather valuable industrial raw material, it is often used for cooking. It has a unique aroma.


Turbot fish is similar to flounder

Description and characteristics of species

Turbot has significant similarities to flounder. However, the sea pheasant has two eyes, which are located on the left side. The body is flat and round. Top part has color environment, which makes it possible for the predator to successfully hunt other smaller species. The scales on top are practically absent, but there are bony protrusions. On average, such fish grow from 50 to 70 cm, but sometimes there are individuals up to 1 m with a weight of up to 20 kg.

This species reaches sexual maturity at the age of 5 years. The spawning period falls on April-August. Fish lay eggs at a depth of 10 to 40 m. One female can lay about 10-15 million eggs. The fry appear within 7-9 weeks.

Turbot is a valuable fishery species. Most often, such fish are caught together with haddock, flounder and cod. There are special farms where this type of fish is grown. They can be found in some European countries, China, Chile and Korea. The main European producer is Spain, and the world's largest producer is China.


Turbot valuable species fish for Food Industry

Depending on the habitat, the fish can be sea or oceanic. The most valuable are the oceanic subspecies, as they differ quite large sizes. They have softer meat. If it is fresh, then you can smell the light aroma of fresh cucumber.

The Black Sea subspecies of turbot is less in demand. This is explained by the fact that its meat has a gray tint, and there is also a slight aftertaste of mud. A separate subspecies is a fish caught in the Baltic Sea.

Beneficial properties and harm

The value of turbot lies in its beneficial properties. They are completely preserved when properly frozen and defrosted. The usefulness of such fish is:

  • Low calorie. The fat content in this product is minimal. The meat is very nutritious as it contains a large number of balanced protein. This fish is recommended for consumption by children, athletes, pregnant women and the elderly.
  • Contains a large number of mineral elements. Fish meat contains large amounts of phosphorus and calcium. These two components have a strengthening effect on the musculoskeletal system and teeth. The composition contains fluorine and iodine.

Turbot meat contains a number of useful substances
  • Omega-3 fatty acid content. These components help prevent the development of various cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and varicose veins.
  • The presence of a large amount of B vitamins. They help to establish normal functioning nervous system and relieve constant fatigue syndrome.

Turbot fish itself is not dangerous. However, if it grew in a reservoir polluted by industrial wastewater, then such fish will contain large amounts of mercury and heavy metals. You need to buy such a product only if there are documents confirming that the fish was grown in an environmentally friendly reservoir.

Use in cooking

The value of sea pheasant in cooking is explained by its tender, juicy and white meat. It can be sold both fresh and frozen, without losing its beneficial properties.

When purchasing fresh fish, you should carefully inspect it.. The carcass should have translucent grayish mucus. It helps maintain the natural moisture of the fish, so the finished meat will be juicy.


When choosing a turbot carcass, pay attention to the presence of mucus on its surface

Fresh fish are elastic and smell of iodine. The eyes may be slightly bulging. The gills should always be light red; if they are darkened, this indicates that the product is stale. If the turbot has a gray or greenish color, then it may indicate that it lived in mud, so its meat will taste like mud.

A product such as flounder is being prepared. It can be boiled, fried, baked and steamed. In the Baltic, it is customary to cook such fish in foil over a fire. A good option for preparing flounder turbot with asparagus and grilled vegetables.

To prepare a delicious dish based on such a seafood product, the following recommendations must be adhered to:

  1. For cooking, it is best to buy fish caught in the ocean or Mediterranean Sea.
  2. It is recommended to buy fresh fish only if it is on ice. In other cases, it is better to give preference to frozen.

To prepare chuobo, use as little spices and salt as possible.
  1. To prevent the meat from losing its taste and delicate aroma, it is recommended to use a minimum amount of seasonings and salt.
  2. An excellent side dish can be boiled potatoes or vegetables cooked on the grill.
  3. The fish can be served with a sauce based on white wine or low-fat yogurt.

When buying turbot fish, you need to pay attention to its freshness. Otherwise there may be strong food poisoning. Dishes made from such a product are considered quite dietary, so they are perfect for athletes, people losing weight, pregnant women and children.


1 hour
4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 turbot flounder weighing 1.5 kg or more
  • 4 squid carcasses
  • 200 ml fish stock
  • 4 thin leeks
  • 6 sprigs each thyme and rosemary
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 70 g butter
  • 6 juniper berries
  • 4 star anise
  • 3 clove buds
  • salt, freshly ground black pepper

    • For the sauce:

  • 300 ml Noilly prat vermouth
  • 4 g squid ink
  • 6 medium onions
  • 1 leek
  • half a celery root
  • half a clove of garlic
  • 50 g butter
  • 2 tbsp. l. olive oil
  • 4 juniper berries

    • Cooking flounder - turbot

      Treat the flounder with turbot. Remove the fish fillet from the bones and cut into 4 pieces. Save the bones, head (removing the gills) and tail.

      Remove the dark green part from the leek. Cut each stem into 5 equal parts, place in a saucepan, add thyme and rosemary, crushed garlic, juniper, star anise and cloves. Add diced butter and fish stock. Cover tightly with foil and make 4-5 holes in it with a toothpick. Cook over low heat for 30 minutes.

      Clean the squid and put it in the freezer to freeze. Then slice as thin as possible.

      To make the sauce, add the remaining squid pieces to the leftover fish and fry it all in olive oil. Add pieces of peeled celery root, chopped leeks, garlic and juniper. Pour Noilly prat and 6 glasses of water. Bring to a boil, cook without boiling for 1 hour. Strain through a sieve, reduce to 1/3. Add butter and squid ink and stir.

      Brush the flounder with olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake skin side down in an oven preheated to 185°C until desired degree of doneness. Serve the turbot flounder with leeks and squid strips, topped with Noilly prat sauce.

    Not a single complete diet, even a dietary one, can do without fish. Due to their more tender and fatty meat and the small number of bones, marine and oceanic specimens deservedly enjoy great love. They also include a representative of the flounder-like family - turbot, also called large diamond and sea pheasant. Even a novice housewife can make a tasty and juicy dish from it, and the variety of recipes allows everyone to choose the most suitable option.

    Secrets of product selection and preparation

    Although the taste of turbot is almost impossible to spoil, experienced chefs advise following a few simple recommendations:

    • If you have a choice, you should give preference to specimens caught in the Mediterranean or oceanic spaces. In second place is the Baltic large diamond. The bottom of the rating is Black Sea turbot, the meat of which, according to reviews, is characterized by less juiciness and greater toughness.
    • It is better to buy fresh carcasses stored on ice. When purchasing frozen fish, it is important to take care of proper defrosting in order to preserve the largest number useful substances. It needs to be done in the refrigerator throughout the day.
    • When purchasing, you need to choose specimens with a slight cucumber smell, as well as transparent and clean eyes, without mucus or turbidity.
    • It is better to ask the seller to gut the fish, after which all you have to do at home is wash the carcass under running water and dry thoroughly.
    • In order to emphasize and not interrupt the delicate fishy taste, when cooking you should not overuse spices and salt. The best side dish would be boiled potatoes or baked or fresh vegetables. As for sauces, it is better to give preference to recipes that include dry white wines, low-fat yoghurts or fish broth.

    Any heat treatment is perfect for working with turbot - steaming and boiling, frying in a pan, grilling and oven.

    Sea pheasant baked with olives and cherry tomatoes

    To prepare four servings of this dish you will need:

    • a large diamond, weighing about a kilogram;
    • one hundred and fifty grams of Tajar olives;
    • cherry packaging;
    • two garlic heads;
    • sixty milliliters of any dry white wine;
    • forty-five milliliters of vegetable oil, preferably olive;
    • salt and pepper.

    Stuff the prepared fish with olives and whole, unpeeled cloves of one garlic head.

    For the turbot, laid out on a baking sheet, make two semicircular cuts on top from the head to the tail and two straight ones in the center. Add pepper and salt, not forgetting that the meat of marine specimens already has a salty taste, so there is no need to be zealous. Pour wine over the carcass and then olive oil. Place tomatoes with garlic cloves around and place the dish in the oven. Bake for at least half an hour at 200°C.

    Large rhombus in onion sauce with potato “pillow”


    This simple recipe allows you to easily and quickly prepare a fish dish with a full side dish. Set of required products:

    • two diamonds, weighing up to a couple of kilograms;
    • forty-five milliliters of vegetable oil;
    • a pack of ready-made Provencal herbal mixture;
    • pepper and salt;
    • ten potatoes;
    • for the sauce: half a glass of broth from any fish, two onions, forty grams of creamy soft cheese, fifty milliliters of dry white wine, twenty milliliters of melted butter, half a glass of cream with a fat content of at least 10%, black pepper, a teaspoon of sugar and salt.

    Lightly salt the fish and sprinkle generously with the Provençal mixture, including the inner abdominal area. For a quarter of an hour, you need to infuse the vegetable oil with a mix of Provençal herbs, adding salt and pepper. Sprinkle the resulting marinade over the peeled potatoes, cut into slices, and place them in a “pillow” on a baking sheet. Place the turbot on top. Preheat the oven to 220°C and cook for an hour.

    To make onion sauce you will need to sauté medium-sized chopped onions, flavor them with a spoonful of sugar and melted butter. Having received the onion golden color, you need to pour in alcohol and simmer the mixture for another five to seven minutes. Add fish broth and cream cheese with salt.

    Wait until the cheese mixture is completely melted, then remove the pan from the stove, cool the contents for a couple of minutes and transfer it to a blender. Pour in the cream and whip. If you wish, you can not achieve a completely homogeneous consistency, but leave pieces of fried onion for piquancy. Return the whipped mixture to the stove, add pepper and, turning the heat to low, heat to a boil.

    Serve the fish whole or cut into portions. Don't forget to pour plenty of sauce on top.

    Sea pheasant in a tomato “coat”

    Who, if not the inhabitants of the Mediterranean, knows better than anyone how to prepare the most delicate dish from... sea ​​creatures. The Spanish love to serve turbot with a spicy tomato sauce.

    To do this, take half a kilogram of fish fillet and fill it in a frying pan with fish broth by at least a third. Add the grated zest of one citrus fruit, reduce the heat to low and simmer for a quarter of an hour. Remove the fish and strain the broth.

    Cut two hundred grams of onion into small cubes and saute it until the skin turns golden brown in vegetable oil. Pour boiling water over half a kilo of tomatoes, and then cold water, quickly remove the skin and chop finely. Add the tomatoes to the onions, adding:

    • two tea spoons of sugar;
    • half a teaspoon of salt;
    • a tablespoon of finely chopped basil;
    • crushed garlic clove;
    • a pinch of paprika;
    • a quarter of a dessert spoon of freshly ground black pepper.

    Boil the mixture over low heat until it becomes a thick puree.

    Pour one hundred milliliters of fish broth into it and simmer until a homogeneous mixture is formed. Pour the steaming sauce over the turbot and, closing the lid, let it brew for at least forty minutes. To serve, garnish with lemon and fresh herbs.

    Regardless of the recipe you choose, this tender and juicy fish will firmly enter your diet, worthy of decorating both everyday and the most formal table.

    Turbot or, in other words, a large diamond is a valuable commercial fish from the order Flounders. This fish is caught in Cherny and Mediterranean seas. By appearance turbot is a typical flounder, the eyes of adults are located on the top, dark side bodies. The underside is light. Turbot is a predator, she watches for her prey, small fish and crustaceans, half buried in the bottom sediments.

    The body of a large diamond is without scales, but the upper side may have bony outgrowths. This is how turbot differs from its closest commercial relative, the smooth diamond. Turbot is enjoyed by chefs and housewives in Spain, France, and Italy. The meat of this fish is white, tasty, there are no bones, except for the spine and rather large ribs. On domestic shelves you can also find chilled turbot and cook it in the oven with vegetables. The recipe is for three servings.

    Ingredients:

    • Turbot – 1.5 kg
    • Tomatoes – 2 pcs.
    • Red onion – 1-2 pcs
    • Sweet pepper – 1 pc.
    • Lemon – 1/2 pcs
    • Spicy herbs (dry) - to taste
    • Salt – 5-6 g
    • Ground pepper - to taste
    • Vegetable oil – 50 ml

    How to deliciously cook turbot with vegetables in the oven - step-by-step recipe with photos

    Cut off the head of the fish and remove all the entrails. If the size of the mold allows, then turbot can be cooked head on. In this case, remove the gills from the head and pull out the insides through a cut near the head.


     Step 1: Remove the head

    Remove the fins and make a cut along the spine. This will not only allow the fish to cook faster, but also allow it to soak in the flavor of the vegetables.


     Step 2: Make a cut

    Sprinkle the turbot fish with lemon juice. Special gourmets can replace the juice with half a glass of white wine.


    Step 3. Sprinkle with lemon juice

    Salt the fish and pepper on all sides. Place the turbot in a mold covered with a sheet of foil. Cover the top with the edges of foil and bake the turbot in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes. Temperature + 180 degrees.


     Step 4. Salt and pepper

    While the turbot fish is cooking in the oven, chop the onion. Chop the pepper. Do the same with tomatoes. Fry the onion in oil until soft, then add the pepper to it.


     Step 5. Fry onions and peppers

    After 5-6 minutes, add tomatoes, salt the vegetables, add dry herbs. Simmer the vegetables for another 5-6 minutes. Remove the turbot from the oven, open the edges of the foil and place the vegetables on top of the fish.


     Step 6. Lay out the vegetables

    Place the fish in the oven for another 7-8 minutes. Turbot baked with vegetables can be served directly in the form. But it will be more convenient for guests to eat baked turbot if the fish flesh is removed from the bones and served in portions.


     Step 7. Turbot with vegetables

    If it happens that you did not find turbot in the store, then you can buy large flounder and cook it according to the recipe above.


    Taxonomy
    on Wikispecies
    Images
    on Wikimedia Commons
    ITIS
    NCBI
    EOL

    Taxonomy

    Turbot was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the classic monograph Systema naturae under the Latin binomen Pleuronectes maximus. In 1810, the American naturalist, zoologist and botanist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840) identified the genus Scophthalmus, into which the turbot was placed. For a century and a half it was classified under various Latin names. From the mid-1990s to the early 2010s, debate continued among taxonomists about tribal affiliation turbot. A number of authors attributed this type to the family Scophthalmus, while others placed it in the genus Rhombus(family Bothidae) or into a monotypic genus Psetta. A detailed analysis of all available sources on this issue is given in the work of Nicholas Bailly and Bruno Chanet in 2010. The authors concluded on the validity of the generic name Scophthalmus. And now almost all authoritative sources use only this generic name.

    Until now, taxonomists have not come to a consensus on the taxonomic status of turbot and Black Sea kalkan. Some authors consider them different types. The main differences are in the size and location of the tubercles on the body of the fish. It is believed that in the turbot the tubercles are always significantly smaller than the diameter of the eye and are located only on the ocular side of the body, while in the Black Sea Kalkan the tubercles are larger than the diameter of the eye and are developed on both the ocular and blind sides. However, it has been shown that in fish from Sea of ​​Azov Only the ocular side is covered with bony tubercles. In the Baltic Sea there are individuals with both large and small tubercles located on both sides of the body. The described differences in the number of rays in the dorsal and anal fins are unreliable. Genetic studies also did not show species differences between turbot and Black Sea Kalkan. Thus, Scophthalmus maeoticus should be considered as a subspecies Scophthalmus maximus maeoticus .

    However, both taxonomic options are found in the Russian literature. .

    Maximum body length is 100 cm, usually 40-70 cm, body weight up to 25 kg.

    The color of the eye side of the body varies considerably depending on the color of the surrounding substrate, but in general from light gray or yellowish to dark gray or dark brown with numerous dark and light round dots. The blind side is usually whitish, sometimes with scattered blurry dark spots. The fins are dark brown, mottled with light dots and spots.

    Biology

    Sea bottom fish. They live on a sandy, shell or pebble bottom at a depth of 2 to 80 meters. Juveniles under the age of one year stay close to the coast in desalinated areas of bays and bays. Adults can withstand significant fluctuations in water salinity; in the Baltic Sea they are found at salinities up to 2‰.

    Reproduction, development and growth

    Male turbots reach sexual maturity at the age of 3 years, and females at the age of 4-5 years. In the Mediterranean Sea they spawn from February to April; in the North and Baltic seas from April to August, in the more southern regions of the Atlantic in May - July. Spawning is portioned, individual portions of eggs are released every 2-4 days. Spawning is observed at a depth of 10-80 m above pebbly soils. The fertility of turbot females varies from 5 to 10 million eggs. The caviar is pelagic, spherical in shape with one fat drop, 0.9-1.2 mm in diameter. Duration embryonic development depends on the water temperature and is 7-9 days. At hatching, the length of the larvae varies from 2.2 to 2.8 mm.

    The larvae have a symmetrical body and lead a planktonic lifestyle for several months. Upon reaching a length of 25-27 mm, metamorphosis is completed, the eye moves to the left side of the body, and the juveniles switch to a bottom lifestyle.

    Turbot grows quite slowly. In the Baltic Sea, by the end of the first year of life, females and males reach a length of 20 cm. Subsequently, females grow faster than males. At the age of 3 years, the body length of females reaches 36 cm, and males 31.5 cm.

    The maximum life expectancy, according to various authors, ranges from 15 to 25 years.

    Nutrition

    Juveniles feed on invertebrates (calanus, euphausids, larvae of balanus and gastropods). Adults switch to feeding on fish (gerbils, European sprat, horse mackerel, whiting, Esmarck cod, juvenile haddock, flounder; sea bream and others). Sometimes molluscs and polychaetes are found in the stomachs.

    Area

    Distributed in the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean from Norway (the range extends beyond the Arctic Circle); in the North Sea, in most of the Baltic Sea; along west coast Europe, including the British Isles, and south to Boujdour (Western Sahara); in the Mediterranean Sea. Rare off the coast of Iceland. Absent off the coast of Greenland and North America. If we consider the Black Sea Kalkan as a subspecies of turbot, then the range expands to the Black and Azov Seas.

    Human interaction

    Commercial cultivation of turbot began in the 1970s in Scotland. Then it appeared in Spain and France. Initially, cultivation volumes were small due to a lack of planting material. In the early 1990s, biotechniques for producing offspring in artificial conditions were developed and methods for obtaining viable young turbot were improved. In Spain at that time there were already 16 production farms operating. In 2000, turbot aquaculture production reached 5 thousand tons. More and more countries began to commercially grow turbot. And since 2004, aquaculture production has exceeded natural catches. Spain remains the largest producer of commercial turbot products. Significant successes in the commercial cultivation of turbot have been achieved in Portugal, France, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, and Great Britain. Turbot was introduced to Chile and China.

    Turbot meat has excellent taste. Sold fresh and frozen.

    In culture

    Mentioned as a dish in the novel “Anna Karenina” and the story “The History of a City”, in the novel “The Arc de Triomphe”, as well as in “The Count of Monte Cristo” (part two, chapter X) and Flaubert’s novel “Education of Sentiments”.

    Notes

    1. Synonyms of Scophthalmus maximus(Linnaeus, 1758) in FishBase (Accessed April 14, 2019).
    2. Parin N.V., Evseenko S.L., Vasilyeva E.D. Fishes of the Russian seas: an annotated catalogue. - Collection of works of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University. - M.: Partnership of Scientific Publications KMK, 2014. - T. 53. - P. 523-524. - 733 p. - 500 copies. - ISBN 978-5-87317-967-1.
    3. Reshetnikov Yu. S., Kotlyar A. N., Rass T. S., Shatunovsky M. I. Five-language dictionary of animal names. Fish. Latin, Russian, English, German, French. / under the general editorship of academician. V. E. Sokolova. - M.: Rus. lang., 1989. - P. 401. - 12,500 copies. - ISBN 5-200-00237-0.
    4. Linnaeus C. 1758 Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. ii, 824 pp.
    5. Andriyashev A.P. Fish Northern Seas THE USSR. - Keys to the fauna of the USSR, published by the Zoological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 53. - M.-L.: Acad. Sciences of the USSR, 1954. - P. 470-471. - 567 p.
    6. Bailly N., Chanet B. Scophthalmus Rafinesque, 1810: The valid generic name for the turbot, S. maximus(Linnaeus, 1758) // Cybium. - 2010. - Vol. 34, no. 3. - P. 257-261.
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