The Delicious Cut Of Fish You're Not Embracing, But Should Be

When cooking with my Nicaraguan friend, I first learned about the culinary value of the collar, the most underrated part of the fish. We were prepping a whole snapper for frying, and I was tasked with cutting up the fish. I knew how to gut and cut a fish — I spent my adolescence on a farm in the Arkansas backwoods, where I learned to hunt, fish, and field dress small game and fish. So, when my friend asked me if I knew how to cut up the snapper, I said yes and proceeded to remove the head, tail, and fins and cut up the filets. 

I had piled the fish collar (along with the head and fins, including the tail fin) on a plate intending to throw them away, but my friend was horrified at the thought. "These are the best parts," he'd said. My friend told me to take the collar and put it with the rest of the parts for frying. When we sat to eat the fish, he talked about the flavor in the collar and the "good meat" on it that I was about to throw into the trash. He also said that people from Central America and the Caribbean cook all parts of the fish but that the collar, in particular, was worth savoring (with a slice of lemon, of course).

The fish's collar is the part that most modern cooks, like me, toss into the trash along with the fins, head, and guts. However, like the head and tail fin, the fish collar is surprisingly full of flavor, with plenty of tender meat and fat. The collar is under the gill plate just above the pectoral or side fin closest to the head. It's bony and may not seem to have a lot on it at first. But like the turkey neck, ham hock, and chicken back, there are pockets of meat you can't find elsewhere on the fish. The collars also don't have those tiny bones you find in the fillet and the rest of the fish. It looks like a "T" when fully removed. 

When buying fish from a fishmonger or the seafood counter at the grocery store, buy a whole fish and have it cleaned. Or ask them to cut it up while keeping the collar. You can also ask them for the collars of the fish they cut up for other customers. Call ahead and describe what you want to be sure to get them. Specify a certain fish if you have a preference. The collar of any large fish will yield a tasty and underrated surprise, and you can likely snag them at a great price. That is, if you don't prefer grilling the fish whole instead.