Back with one of my All Time Treasure Books. This was written by the legendary, A.J. “Al” McClane. Google him if you like. He should be as well known as Grizzly Adams and a whole lot more real life.
His friend Curt Gowdy had this to say, “Al McClane was a full-blooded, sheepskin-carrying ichthyologist. He studied fish like Galileo studied the stars or Freud the libido.”
Whenever I seek expert seafood information I turn to a book I first purchased in the late 1980’s titled, “The Encyclopedia of Fish Cookery”. It is by the late, great A.J. ‘Al’ McClane. The book remains as relevant today as ever. His knowledge of the piscine world is incomparable. And he was a very nice friend to me. He came to the restaurant I was a partner in and cooking at in 1988. It was a warm June night. There was nothing on the reservation book to indicate a hero of mine was coming in. But he arrived with about five other guests. He was not the type to announce himself so I would bet that one in the party whispered to my partner Proal Perry of the great fishing expert and scholar was with them. Proal knew I was a huge fan and told me the news. You can learn how that went in the video. It still makes me smile.