Fried Fish Fry Fish

Stay with me here.  There is fried fish, which is sometimes called fry fish.  And then there is fry fish.  The two are not the same. Fried fish, or lets say fry fish with a capital F, refers to the large, tasty, whole fried fish, for which Jamaica is well  known.  Fried fish is served at restaurants and larger street-side cook shops.  It’s the perfect partner to festival or to steamed or fried bammy.Now fry fish, lowercase f. is the less well-known variety.

These are the tiniest of fish, small, insignificant, nameless fish that cracks on the first bite, are finished on the second, and are meant to be eaten whole.ire r-t8niceties like time, utensils

Truth is fry fishis the real street food.  While fried fish vendors serve up parrot and snapper – fish that require niceties  like time, utensils and table manners for their consumption -  sprat, grunt, and macka back are the fish of choice for this mouth-watering finger food.  Small and crunchy, they pack a whopping dose of flavour per square inch, and all they require  an open mouth and a little cash.

Like pepper shrimp, fry fish is about quantity and quality.  It takes a lot of these little fellows to satisfy the taste buds.  It takes less than five minutes to cook a batch of fry fish.  Good thing – it takes less than two minutes to eat one.

The size of the fish as well as the season determines how much you pay.  The fish is served in layers of froil or brown or waxed paper.  With a vinegar based  pickle of onions, hot pepper and pimento seeds.  Yes, its fish, and yes, its greasy, but fry fish must be had with fingers only.  If you can’t  handle it, maybe you should stik to capital F fish.