Coley
An alternative to Cod and Haddock, also known as Saithe. A long tapered body,
with a slight blue tint, coley range from 500g to 6kg but are usually only available as
fillets. Coley can be a good buy, but needs to be as fresh as possible. The flesh is
often a dull off-white colour but lightens during cooking and it has a fine flavour.
Hake
Surprisingly not more popular in the UK – a large proportion of the UK catch goes
to the Spanish, Portuguese and Italians who love it. Ranging from 1 to 5kg, Hake
has a long, round, slender body and is mainly grey and silver in colour. Its shape
makes it great for cutting into steaks or loin suprêmes. The flesh is quite soft, but
firms up on cooking, has a good flavour, and is well worth trying. For a light, modern
alternative to battered Cod, try deep-frying Hake fillets dipped in a light tempura
batter.
Ling
Ling has a long slender body with a bronze tint, greenish brown marks, and a white
belly. It can grow up to 1.5 metres long, but is usually only available as fillets. It is
also often salted and dried. It has firm textured flesh and a good flavour, which
takes strong flavours well. Also look out for Tusk, a relative of Ling with similar
characteristics.
Pollack
Closely related to Coley, and the two are often confused. Whole fish range from
500g to 3kg. Pollack is a good tasting fish, and is popular in France where much of
our catch goes.
Whiting
A smaller fish from the Cod family, with a silvery-grey body and rounded belly, and
rarely found over 2kg. This is often an overlooked fish but, like Coley, Whiting fillets
are a good
buy when very fresh, but can be easily overcooked.
Hoki
A deep-sea fish not found around the UK, but in waters around New Zealand, South
Africa and off the Chilean coast at depths of up to 5,000 metres. Hard to get fresh,
but frozen is available. Unlike these other ‘Cod-like’ species, Hoki is not a member
of the Cod family. However, it yields bright white fillets, which make a good
alternative to other whitefish
