last night’s dinner

when we live in southern france, a lot of our meals become STILL subjects. but here in the US, our foods arrive in the super market too far from their original state to qualify as STILL worthy. so, i was happy to have this little brown trout to photograph today–it reminded me of france. our daughter and her boyfriend are here from california visiting for a week. her boyfriend of five years, Omar, is a trout fisherman. this afternoon they headed east from the twin cities an hour and a half to the kinnickinnic river to try their hand on the tight, tree-lined, trout streams of the upper-midwest. Omar came home with this little beauty. we cooked her up immediately, and served her as a delicate, sweet, appetizer. and we drank our french friends wine, that had coincidently just arrived in minnesota the day before.  almost french, in minnesota.

(wild caught in minnesota) brown trout (Salmo trutta)

P.s. The brown trout is native to Europe, and has been naturalized here in the US.  In April 1884, the U.S. Fish Commission released 4900 brown trout fry into the Pere Marquette River in Michigan. This was the first release of brown trout into U.S. waters. Between 1884 and 1890, brown trout were introduced into suitable habitats throughout the U.S. By 1900, 38 states and two territories had received stocks of brown trout. Their adaptability resulted in most of these introductions establishing wild, self-sustaining populations.