oday, our special guest will be cod worm. I remember my first encounter with this critter about 4 years ago. As I unwrapped a cod fillet, I was greeted by a little worm squirming out of the fish. Good thing I heard about these worms before, or I would have thrown the fish in the trash and never set foot into that fish market (actually, it happened to be Whole Foods). In spite of my initial disgust (I am the kind of person who screams at the sight of an itsy-bitsy spider), I inspected the fillet, removed the worms and cooked the fish. It tasted just fine, and as you can see, I lived to tell the tale. These little worms are the pain of any fishmonger's existence because they freak the hell out of consumers. They are particularly common in white fish (cod, haddock, flounder, sole, and halibut), but I've also seen them in swordfish and monkfish. How often do you see them as a consumer? I cook fish at least 3 times a week and I'll see them a few times a year.
To prevent us, consumers, from having to look at these unsightly animals, the fish processors put all white fish through a process called "candling." They put the fillets on glass sitting over a lamp. This allows them to see through the fillet and remove any visible parasites. Think about this process as an airport inspection -- it makes everyone feel better, but it's not full-proof. On occasion, a few worms can escape the inspection and travel from the fish processing facility to your fishmonger and then to your kitchen. If this happens to you, don't panic. Remove the worms, and cook your fish the usual way. If you don't want to cook your fish after seeing the worms, I quite understand. Just don't go out of your way to ruin the fishmonger's reputation. The presence of worms has nothing to do with the freshness of the fish and I assure you that your fishmonger tried his or her hardest to protect you from this terrible experience. Last thing they want to happen is for you to find worms in your fish, but unfortunately this does happen sometimes.
