In this final installment of “Nostril to Caudal,” I’m tackling the exterior of a fish—specifically the skin, fins, scales, and slime. Unlike offal, most people aren’t grossed out by the thought of eating animal skin. Pork cracklins and crispy fried chicken are delicacies in many countries, and fish skin is devoured around the world. When I was a little girl, we fought over the caramelized edges of butter-soaked, fried trout skin. But the skin is...

Casual anglers might struggle to gather sufficient organs for all the different preparations I’m covering in this series. My intention, really, is to show you that these organs are edible and encourage you to sample a few. If you find that you really like particular bits, you can do what I’ve done for a lot of this research, and source organs from a local fish monger. Really, though, I just hope that less of the fish you choose to harvest winds...

If you’ve been following this series, you know that we recently took a closer look at eating fish heads. For many North Americans, an animal’s or fish’s head is the most intimidating part to eat, followed closely by organs.
However, thanks to authors like Steven Rinella and Josh Niland, more and more meateaters are cooking the tongues, livers, and hearts from their kills. In fact, such recipes have become so popular it’s now common practise...