Species sheet · The Edible Ocean
Florida pompano
Happy to be here, and it shows immediately.
- Whole en papillote, the New Orleans way
- Grilled with lemon butter
- Pan-fried in a pecan crust
- In French
- Pompaneau
- Scientific name
- Trachinotus carolinus
- In the water
- Sandy bottoms and coastal bars of the western Atlantic, from the surf down to 65 metres.
- Season & buying
- Spring and autumn, when it runs along the beaches.
- Common length
- ~35 cm
- How to identify it
- Short deep body, close to a disc
Rounded, very short snout
Sickle fins in orange-yellow
On the plate
White, fine, slightly rich flesh, among the most prized in Florida.
Avoid: Heavy sauces, which flatten a delicate flesh.
Pompano en papillote was invented in New Orleans for a visiting balloonist. The puffed paper bag was meant to look like his balloon.
In Umay recipes
One Umay recipe calls for it.
