In Twentieth century society, pictures can speak 1,000 words. An image often exceeds facts and has an ever growing importance. This mode of thinking is not a product of recent making, because it is believed that the napoleon phrase “you are ugly like a rockfish” is as old as time itself.
This is a phrase still widely used and not limited to just napoleonic areas.
The rockfish has the grumpiest looking face of all the creatures of the ocean, characterized by its big mouth (well- equipped with an extensive set of needle-like teeth, which reveal its eating habits) and equally as large protruding eyes, extending from a stocky body covered with hard poisonous spines and scales.
Given that we are dealing with a species of the Mediterranean, it is said that the worst rockfish to stumble upon (literally) is the black rockfish. In case you are stung, in order to ease the pain that will endure for at least a half an hour, the injured zone needs to be immersed in water or hot liquid.
On the whole, this fish may not be the most attractive, but it has an undeniable charm, especially in the wild where it blends in perfectly among the rocks of the seabed.
The rockfish can be tucked away and camouflaged so well with their surroundings that even to the touch, like stone fishes of warm seas, divers can almost never distinguish them from the ocean floor.
The typology of the fish’s teeth is immediate evidence that they are a carnivorous species. In general, it sleeps during the day and hunts at night and, like any ravenous species, it is not refined in its food selection.
They live in water that is normally deep, with an average depth of 200 meters and never exceeding 1000 meters.
Those that live at the greatest depths are the bottom feeding rockfish, which can be distinguished among the others for the particular overdevelopment of their eyes.
The rockfish is common in the Mediterranean, a bit less in the Adriatic.
It remains unclear why no one would say, as would be appropriate and understandable, “you’re as good as a rockfish”, the name derives from the greek scorpios, or scorpion, and belongs to the group of Teleostei.

Varieties

The varieties present on the market are numerous, but each one is essentially similar to another according to their organoleptic proprieties: the color and design of the skin and the size are the basic terms of differentiation.
To name the principal types of the species recorded:
the rockfish of the deep, with big eyes, of average size (measuring up to a maximum of 30 cm in length), dark red-brown in color;
the black rockfish, named for its brown-sepia skin, of medium size like the former;
the large rockfish, very similar to the black rockfish, but more reddish and lighter skin due to a discreet presence of spots; the pink monkfish, larger (up to 50 cm in length) with beautiful, clear pink skin, with hints of orange; and, at last, the red monkfish, with the same dimensions of the preceding, but with  bright red skin, and with flesh of superior quality to the others, even if such a claim is valid only for connoisseurs and experts.

Other varieties also exist, but the most common are those mentioned above and, from the culinary point for their substantial yield in the kitchen.
The common types are essentially identical; however, decidedly diverse is their economic value, which is strongly influenced by the size and color.
The fish weighing from the 500 to 1000 g are the most expensive (for their yield in meat and heads, which on average composes a third of their weight).
The price increases even more for the red and clear skinned, since they are most familiar and seems to give a greater guarantee of quality.
When, in reality there is no connection between the color of the skin and the quality of the flesh.
The many dialectical names for these types reinforce their popularity:  scrofula, scurpena, scrofana, scorfana tignusa, to name a few.
All these names, in the case of the red rockfish and the big rockfish, find a meeting point with the term tub gunard, and probably find their origins in the connotation of “big head” for the animal’s big head.
However it is not to be confused with the gunard that belongs to the Triglidi family, a close relative of the gillet and tub gunard.

Characteristics

There is not a great difference between the diverse varieties of the rockfish from an organoleptic point of view or from taste.
This is in large part due to the fact that the real treasure of this species is the famous big head, the best element for soups and fish broths.
When cooked, the fish head releases intense aromas, due to the fact that it absorbs the aromatic characteristics of marine plants over the course of its life.
Although just a hypothesis, there is no doubt about the flavors the head contributes to the recipes that use this fish.
On the other hand, filets, although delicious, are protected by long, thin and semi-transparent spines that make it difficult for extraction of the meat even for those with experience.
This means that, in cooking, you can consider the body like a sub product of the head. The meat is skinny, white, and tasty but delicate, but the spines render it accessible only for connoisseurs. Rich in proteins (around 15%)  having only traces of fats: there are 70 calories in every 100 g of the edible meat.

Use in cooking
As seen above, normally the rockfish is purchased for the head.
The rockfish, naturally, is special in stew, in used for classic fish stews or in soups without tomato, like bouillabaisse where, if the head is left whole, you can experience the best part of the rockfish, its cheeks.
The rockfish can also be prepared whole in the oven in a pan with thin slices of potato, sage and rosemary. It is better to cover the whole pan, so that the vegetables can cook in the aromatic liquids and vapor that the fish releases, and avoiding the risk of drying out the fish.
This method causes the extreme decrease of lipids so you have to pay attention that the meat does not become stringy.
Also, the rockfish is an excellent ingredient as a supplement for creams; while the fillets, flavored with a good dose of Cognac (and a lot of pepper), may become the main ingredient of a mousse … in practice, you can strike up a full and refined dinner based only on rockfish: some tarts with mousse, a cream also served cold with some toast, and not only a soup, but also a fillet with mushrooms.

Frozen yes or no
The rockfish does not freeze well due to the muscle system of the fish.
You may encounter a loss of softness due to the inevitable change of state that , in such a thin product, is not good.
Definitely do not freeze the head. The scents move freely and evaporate; however, affected by the freezing process they end up disappearing.