Grindle
Not Kosher
Description
Bowfin meat was long considered poor, soft and bland, but it's eaten smoked, fried, blackened, in courtbouillon, or in fishcakes. In Louisiana the roe is processed into caviar and sold as Cajun caviar or Choupiquet Royale.
The bowfin lives across much of the eastern United States plus southern Ontario and Quebec. It ranges through the Mississippi River basin and Atlantic and Gulf coastal drainages, and it prefers vegetated sloughs, lowland rivers and lakes, swamps, and backwaters.
Also known as
- Bowfin
- Mudfish
- Mud pike
- Grinnel
- Swamp trout
- Choupique
Grindle in foreign languages
| Hebrew | Grindle |
| Yiddish | Grindle |
| Arabic | Grindle |
| Spanish | Grindle |
| Portuguese | Grindle |
| French | Grindle |
| Italian | Grindle |
| German | Grindle |
| Greek | Grindle |
| Russian | Grindle |
| Turkish | Grindle |
| Chinese | 格林德尔 |
| Japanese | グリンドル |
| Korean | Grindle |
| Hindi | Grindle |
| Bengali | Grindle |
| Vietnamese | Grindle |
| Thai | Grindle |
| Indonesian | Grindle |
Warnings & Kosher Issues
- Not kosher when in doubt. Grindle (another name for bowfin) is a debated case in practice. Ask a trusted rabbi.
- Kosher status is debated. The bowfin (grindle) has true cycloid scales per Wikipedia, which would make it kosher, but some authorities treat this primitive fish as questionable. Check with your rabbi.
- Can build up mercury at higher levels than smaller fish in contaminated waters.
- Easy to mistake for the invasive northern snakehead.