Did you know flounder, the freaky pancake-fish with both eyes on top of their heads, are not born that way? They hatch with their eyes on both sides, like a typical fish, but as they grow, one eye migrates to the other side — a literal wandering eye. The strange maturation process is an adaptation that allows the flounder to lie flat at the bottom of the ocean; cover itself in sand, bulging eyes exposed; and ambush prey (shrimp and small fish) as they swim by.
It’s a quirky pescatarian curio, but also a tasty fish that you don’t see in restaurants as much as you’d think, given its abundance in New England waters. That’s why the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has launched a campaign celebrating the fish, with 10 area chefs featuring a flounder dish this month.
The fish’s catch quotas are well below the allowable amount (which varies by type of flounder) versus, let’s say, cod, perpetually near quota. The fish is also cheaper and more sustainable than many other proteins. “We go through so much cod, it’s also getting to be cost prohibitive. I think a fillet of cod wholesale is more than I pay for beef — significantly,” said Chef Will Gilson, owner and proprietor of Puritan Oyster Bar in Inman Square and a member of the state’s Flounder Chef Council.
Three of the council’s participating eateries are on this side of the Charles River: Catalyst and Row 34, in addition to Gilson’s Oyster Bar. For the promotion, Gilson is serving coconut-and-sesame-crusted sole lettuce wraps with pickles, herbs, and a green curry aioli: “Adult fish sticks,” as he playfully calls them. Jeremy Sewall at Row 34 in Kendall Square will offer blackback flounder with lentil and rice pilaf, blue crab, and a caper butter. Further up Main Street, William Kovel at Catalyst is plating an American plaice — a kind of flounder — meunière (flour-dusted) with braised leeks, haricot vert, and a grenobloise sauce (browned butter, lemon juice/zest and capers).
Plaice (or dab) is the same fish Gilson uses for his crispy wraps and one of five kinds of flounder that live in our immediate New England waters, in addition to yellowtail sole, blackback (also known as winter flounder or lemon sole), grey sole (or witch flounder), and summer flounder (commonly known as fluke). Kovel only offers his plaice Tuesday night through Thursday, and the Chefs Council campaign offerings run through the end of September.
Gilson, who is busy opening a new restaurant — the Puritan Tavern in his hometown, Grafton — says he’ll likely keep the lettuce wraps on the menu after the campaign ends. The crisp wraps, he notes, are gluten-free.
Kovel surmises that flounder doesn’t have the reputation it deserves because of its thinness and delicacy. “You don’t see a lot of dabs on menus, and you don’t see a lot of yellowtail flounder because they take a lot of finesse to cook.” He considers flounder a quality white fish on par with cod and halibut, a close relative. “It just melts,” Kovel said. “It’s awesome.” Lemon sole was one of his first dishes when he opened 15 years ago. “It’s one of my favorite soles to work with,” he said.
I’ve always been a fan and miss the über-fresh European Dover sole the Fishmonger in Huron Village used to sell; my sauté pan was forever an improvisational landscape with capers, paprika, white wine, lemon juice, and butter, plenty of butter. But if you’re not sold on sole, you still might be intrigued by its place in history. The flounder once posed a challenge to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
In 1871, biologist St. George Jackson Mivart challenged Darwin to explain how a partially migrated eye could benefit the fish. Darwin responded the following year in “The Origin of Species” that each step in the migration helps the flounder see better.
Eye moving to the left or right, it doesn’t much matter. This month, you can dine on a fine sole dish and feed your culinary soul. It may not be pretty; but then again, have you ever looked at a cod or a monkfish?
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