Species sheet · The Edible River
Eurasian minnow
A flash of school in clear water.
- Deep-fried, floured and dropped into very hot oil
- In fritters with a touch of garlic
- Fried then marinated escabeche-style
- In French
- Vairon
- Scientific name
- Phoxinus phoxinus
- In the water
- A small schooling fish of cool European streams and rivers, massed over the gravel from lowland brooks up to mountain lakes.
- Season & buying
- The summer fry-up fish, caught while river fishing is open; catches are regulated and it rarely reaches a fishmonger.
- Common length
- ~7 cm
- How to identify it
- Slim body, olive back marbled with dark blotches
Golden flanks, bright red belly on spring males
Tiny, almost invisible scales
On the plate
Tender, mild flesh eaten whole, crisp outside and soft within.
Avoid: Gutting them one by one: they are fried whole, and should rest on paper only as long as it takes to squeeze a lemon.
An injured minnow releases an alarm substance that sends the whole school fleeing: this chemical signal was first discovered in this fish.
In Umay recipes
One Umay recipe calls for it.
