Barracouta

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Name variations

 * Snoek

About Barracouta (Snoek)
Barracouta also known as snoek and sierra is a pelagic fish found in the southern hemisphere. Barracouta is a common fish in southern Australia and it usually travels in schools.

It is sold fresh, smoked, canned and frozen. It can be cooked by frying, broiling, baking and it can also be microwaved. It is also made and eaten as fishcakes in regions such as Japan. It is prepared most often by grilling, frying or smoking. It is oily, extremely bony (although the bones are large and easily removed from the cooked fish) and has very fine scales which are almost undetectable, making it unnecessary to scale the fish while cleaning. Snoek has a very distinctive taste. Though very popular in regions like South Africa, it was not so popular to certain generations of British residents during the Second World War due to it being considered a food item of deprivation. Canned Snoek was imported in large quantities into Great Britain and government marketing of the product was not successful and may have had a negative effect. In South Africa, it is mostly caught and eaten in the southwestern coastal parts of the country. It is traditionally served grilled over coals with boiled sweet potatoes. This is a regional speciality.