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Dory Fish - John Dory
John Dory Flavor Scale
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John Dory Flavor Profile

John Dory is a delicious fish which has firm textured white flesh with moist, fine flakes and a mild, sweet flavor with a low fat content.  This fish is related to Mirror Dory which is sometimes available in the U.S. and is very available in Austrailia.

Typical Cooking Methods

  • Bake
  • Broil
  • Deep-Fry
  • Grill
  • Poach
  • Saute
  • Smoke
  • Steam
  • Sushi

Alternate Names

St Pierre, St Peter Fish

Purchasing Guidelines

When purchasing fresh John Dory look for bright skin, clear bulging eyes and red gills.  The scent of the fish should be of sweet seawater.

Description (Zeus faber) 

John Dory is a deep-sea fish with a flat, round body shape, olive-yellow color with a silvery white belly and one large dark spot on each side.  Its scales are microscopic and sharp.  John Dory has an unusual looking head that is large and spiny with its eyes near the top of its head. It has 10 long spines on the dorsal fin. The John Dory grows to a maximum size of 2 ft (65 cm) and 7 lb (3 kg).

There are various speculations as to the origin of the name of John Dory fish.  Some say it is a variation of the French word dorée, which means gilded.  Others say it’s an allusion to the John Dory who is the hero of an old ballad.  And one legend holds that the dark spot on the fish’s side is St. Peter’s thumbprint, put there when Peter took the coin from its mouth.

John Dory jpg
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John Dory Fresh Availability

Fresh seafood availability chart: green areas show peak availability, light green show limited availability, gray indicates not available fresh.  John Dory is more available in Europe than in the United States.  The chart shows European availability as the fish can be air-shipped.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
                                                                                               

 

John Dory Butchering Yield Percentage and Recovery

ItemTo Skin/On FilletsTo Skin/Off FilletsNotes
Whole Round (Head/On Ungutted)   38% If you have additional yield info on this fish please leave a comment below.
Yield % varies according to a number of factors including: size of fish, season, sex, and the skill of your fishmonger.

 

Range & Habitat

John Dory is a coastal fish native to Europe.  It can be found in the coastal waters of Europe, Africa, South East Asia, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia.  It is rarely found in U.S. markets but can be imported from Europe.  They live near the seabed inhabiting depths of 15 ft (5 m) to 1200 ft (360 m) deep.

John Dory range
AquaMaps     Data sources: GBIF OBIS

How to Fillet John Dory

John Dory can be a little difficult to buthcher if you are not familiar with the method. Even though it is a vertical swimmer, it has a bone structure similar to halibut (horizontal swimmer) with a potential of four separate fillets. The video shows how to remove the fillets as two sides which could them be cut into four fillets.

Typical Wholesale Products

Fillets and whole fish.

 

John Dory Nutritional Information

based upon a 6 oz (171 grams) raw edible serving

* Calories/Calories from fat 154
* Protein grams 35
* Fat grams 1.2
* Saturated fat grams 0
* Sodium milligrams na
* Cholesterol milligrams 94
* Omega-3 grams  
 

 

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