Species sheet · The Edible Ocean
Red scorpionfish
It picked this rock, and it is home.
- In a bouillabaisse, which is its whole purpose
- Roasted whole with garlic and thyme
- Filleted, on the plancha
- In French
- Rascasse rouge
- Scientific name
- Scorpaena scrofa
- In the water
- Rocky and coralligenous bottoms of the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, from 20 to 500 metres.
- Season & buying
- Autumn and winter, bouillabaisse season.
- Common length
- ~35 cm
- How to identify it
- Large spiny head, wider than the body
Skin flaps on the chin and above the eyes
Bright red mottled with darker patches
On the plate
White, firm flesh with a deep flavour, and the best broth in the Mediterranean.
Avoid: Trimming it without gloves. The dorsal spines stay venomous on a dead fish.
A bouillabaisse without scorpionfish is not a bouillabaisse. The Marseille charter says so, and it is the one fish you cannot leave out.
In Umay recipes
One Umay recipe calls for it.
