Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Cook's Guide entry for Mullet along with all the Mullet containing recipes presented on this site, with 14 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Mullet recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Mullet as a major wild food ingredient.



Mullet. In cookery terms there are two types of mullet, the Grey Mullet and the Red Mullet. In actual fact, red mullet and grey mullet are not related. As such, they are treated separately below:

Grey Mullet

Grey Mullet (also simply called Mullet) represents a family of ray-finned fish in the Mugilidae family. They are found world-wide in coastal temperate and tropical waters (some species also live in fresh water). The family includes some 80 species divided into 17 genera (though over half the species are grouped in the genera Liza and Mugil). Mullets are distinguished by the presence of two separate dorsal fins, small triangular mouths, and the absence of a lateral line organ. They feed on detritus, and most species have unusually muscular stomachs and a complex pharynx to help in digestion.

They have been an important food fish in the Mediterranean since Roman times and Apicius has several recipes for them in the De Re Coquinaria.

The species, Mugil cephalus, the flathead grey mullet (known as the common grey mullet or striped mullet in the UK) is by far the most common and occurs worldwide. This is also the most commonly seen in fishmongers. The flathead mullet is an important food fish for many around the world, and can be both fished and farmed; however, it does not keep well after it is caught. If kept on ice it may remain edible for approximately 72 hours, after which it becomes nearly inedible.

The other mullet commonly seen in Britain is the thick-lipped grey mullet, Chelon labrosus which is quite a large fish that can grow up to 75cm in length and 6kg in weight. This fish is found throughout British waters, but is most common in the south and east. The relatively small but flattened head has a small mouth in which the snout is longer than the upper jaw. This fish has two well spaced dorsal fins, the first being fan like and composed of 4 membrane bound spines. The second dorsal fin has 9-10 branched rays, whilst the very similar shaped anal fin has 3 anterior spines followed by 8 to 9 branched rays. The pectoral fin is more straight edged and pointed than that of the Thin Lipped Grey Mullet. It also extends past the centre of the eye if pushed forwards. The caudal fin shows a degree of forking in it's profile. Coloration ranges from a dark greenish to bluish grey of the back and upper sides, through to a silver grey of the mid to lower sides, and the white of the belly. The sides also exhibit 6 to 7 darker bands running lengthways along the body.

Red Mullet

Though commonly called 'red mullet' the name actually refers to two species of goatfish, Mullus barbatus (image, top) and Mullus surmuletus (image, bottom) found in the Mediterranean Sea, east North Atlantic Ocean, and the Black Sea which are members of the Mullidae family. They are sometimes also called surmullets. The terms red mullet and surmullet can also apply to the mullidae family in general. The two species can be distinguished, as M surmuletus has a striped first dorsal fin, (for this reason it is sometimes called the Striped Red Mullet in English). The fish has been eaten since ancient times and the ancient Romans valued it very highly. So much so that, just like conger eels, they were reared in ponds and were often lavished with attention and caresses by their owners who would teach them to come to be fed at the sound of their voice or a bell. The best specimens might be sold for their weight in silver. Juvenal and other satirists decried the heights to which the pursuit of this luxury was carried as a form of extravagance. Red Mullets are excellent eating fish with firm flesh that can be baked, fried, poached, steamed and barbecued.