Fish tench

The lin fish belongs to the family Cyprinidae and is the only member of the genus Tinca. As a rule, the weight of this fish varies between 200-600 grams, while much less often you can find specimens weighing up to two kilograms with a length of up to half a meter.

Outwardly, the fish tench is characterized by a high, thick and short body, which is covered with tightly fitting small scales with a thick layer of mucus. Interestingly, the distinctive property of the line is its coloration, which varies depending on the habitat of the fish. For example, if the water is transparent and the soil is sandy, the color of the line is greenish-silver, and in a reservoir with silty soil, the body of the fish acquires a dark brown color with a bronze tint.

Fish tench fully justifies its name - in reality, the fish molts as soon as you pull it out of the water. So, in the air, the tench covering the body of the fish immediately begins to darken and form dark spots on the surface. Then the darkened mucus gradually molts - exfoliates, and macular spots take its place.

Fish is not suitable for food during the spawning period, but the highest gastronomic qualities and nutritional properties of the line are characteristic of its meat if the fish was caught in April-May. Often, due to the fact that tench fish live in swampy musty water, its meat can give away with mold and silt. This is easy to fix if you place the caught live fish in a bath of clean water or keep about half a bit in running water. But if there is no such possibility, it is recommended to cook the line with a fairly large amount of spices and spices.

In general, line meat has the most delicate texture and high taste, but it is necessary to cook this fish, paying special attention to the cleaning process. Due to the fact that this fish has little scales, you need to clean it with light scraping movements, trying not to damage the skin. At the same time, the most important thing is that it is necessary to completely scrape mucus from the surface of the body of the line, then when baking or frying, the skin will acquire an appetising golden crust.

You can prepare a wide variety of dishes from tench fish - they are boiled, baked, fried, made on charcoal, stuffed, pickled, stewed, cooked in wine or sour cream, and also make jellies and many other meals from it. If the fish is fresh, it is best to fry or bake it like carp - then the line meat will turn out to be as juicy and tender as possible. The calorie content of the line per hundred grams of fresh fish is about 40 kcal.