FISH WORLD’S MOVIE STAR

With its distinctive looks and sweet firm flesh, John Dory is a popular choice – and it’s available all year round too.

With a Latin name like Zeus faber you could be forgiven for thinking this fish was a celebrated movie star. Rick Stein, the famous seafood gourmet, even describes it as a “lugubrious-looking, big-jawed fish” which could be the same description used for a tortured, soulful actor. Whatever the similarities to stardom, the John Dory is revered around the world as one of the best white fishes to catch, cook and eat.

DID YOU KNOW

John Dory is part of the wider family called Zeidae and there are more than five related dory fish. The Maori name is kuparu, and in Spain it is known only as San Martino, although these names are not widely used as monikers for John Dory.

The name is thought to be based on the French words ‘jaune doré’, ‘jaune’ being yellow and ‘doré’ meaning gilded. Also called St Pierre or St Peter’s fish, this term is thought to have come from the original St Peter who was the patron saint of fisherman, as it is believed that John Dory was the fish that Peter as a disciple of Jesus was told to catch and and feed to worshippers. Some say the black circle on the side of the fish is the thumbprint of St Peter.

According to another legend, John Dory or kuparu was one of the fish that the Māori of the East Coast gave to Captain James Cook on his first voyage to New Zealand in 1769 on the Endeavour. So much fish was given, that several casks of it were pickled for use on the voyage to find the great southern land.

DESCRIPTION OF FISH

Like other fish in the family, John Dory is a distinctive broad, flat fish with the head and eyes at the top and each side. The John Dory has a strikingly obvious difference to most other fish, with the large black/brown spot which is prominent on each side.

A John Dory can potentially get to more than 3-4kg in size. They are thinbodied, big-jawed fish, approximately 30-40cm long. The body is so thin it can hardly be seen from the front when in the water and they have a spooky-looking top dorsal spine fin.

In Australia and New Zealand, the fish is more likely to be muddy-brown to green-grey with wavy stripes and a distinctive blue ringed dot in the middle, whereas the Mediterranean