Species sheet · The Edible River
European perch
Striped like a tiger, fried like a treasure.
- Fillets meuniere-style, Lake Geneva fashion
- Deep-fried whole when small
- Poached in a herb broth
- In French
- Perche commune
- Scientific name
- Perca fluviatilis
- In the water
- A fish of European lakes, ponds and slow rivers, in small shoals along the reeds and jetties a few metres below the surface.
- Season & buying
- Caught through much of the year; around the big Alpine lakes, ask whether the fillets really came from the lake, many are imported.
- Common length
- ~25 cm
- How to identify it
- Green flanks barred with dark vertical stripes
Orange-red lower fins and tail
First dorsal fin bristling with spines
On the plate
White, firm, flaky flesh with a clean, mild, almost sweet taste.
Avoid: Scaling it: the rough scales hold fast, so skin it or fillet it skin-on instead.
Perch fillets are the cult dish of the lakeside restaurants, yet the lake itself supplies only a small share of them.
In Umay recipes
2 Umay recipes call for it.
