The Annoying Tasks Whole Foods' Fishmongers Will Do For Free (Just Ask)

In terms of things which one can 'mong', fish is one of the better ones. Alongside cheese, it's certainly preferable to war or hate. And it's impossible to argue with the bountiful goods the fishmonger supplies. Are you looking for some quality salmon to fire up on the grill? Some fresh, tender crab for tasty cakes or chowder? Or some plump, delectable shrimp that practically beg to be dipped in a silky cocktail sauce? Your fishmonger will have you covered.

Just about any fishmonger you'll find in a supermarket will be a useful resource for a home cook, and the professionals at your local Whole Foods are no exception. They can offer you advice on how to cook your fish, information on where it was sourced, and special order certain things in advance for you. What's more, if you ask them nicely, they'll happily take care of some of the less savory parts of fish preparation — whether they be finicky, tedious, or just plain gross.

Let's face it: Deboning fish is an enormous pain. Although steady practice and good knife skills will take you far, it's still an inherently persnickety task. Fish bones are generally small and delicate, and require a long, flexible knife in order to fully excise them and scrape off all their precious meat. On top of that, certain kinds of fish (like salmon) have tiny pin bones embedded in their flesh. These aren't really bones, but rather hardened ligaments that can and will get caught in your throat if you don't pick them out with tweezers.

If that all sounds a little too high stakes for you, fear not. Your Whole Foods fishmonger will be an old hand at deboning. And at no extra cost they will set about your eventual meal with a knife and tweezers to make sure you won't get any extra crunch (or worse) in your fish filets.

If you want fresh shrimp, you'll have to deal with two things. First, you'll have to peel off the hard outer shell, which you can discard or set aside for seafood stock. Second, you devein the shrimp, which is just a polite way of saying you have to pull out its digestive tract. You don't have to do this, technically speaking, but leaving it in may make your shrimp taste grittier and, uh, earthier. If you don't want to deal with it, just ask your Whole Foods fishmonger, and they'll take care of it for you.

The same goes with crab. As succulent as crab meat is, certain people can get a bit squeamish with what it takes to get to it. All that cracking and popping and crunching, pulling off limbs and ripping through the outer shell and scraping out organs can make a casual summertime meal feel like the Grand Guignol. Again, don't worry about it if you can't handle it — just go to Whole Foods and ask your fishmonger for help.