How to gut a fish

It took courage for Theresa Douthwright to co-found SoleShare. Now her customers are learning to gut her locally-caught fish

Unlike the shrink-wrapped, freeze-then-thawed, filleted and bone-free fish that people usually buy, SoleShare fish goes straight from the boat to SoleShare members, bypassing any processing or middlemen. Members soon get the hang of handling whole fish, and to help, SoleShare offers fish preparation classes to its members and the public. Here’s a quick guide:

Turn the fish belly up. Next cut up from the fish’s bottom to its head. “With a mackerel, for example, you will see a black dot on the last third of the fish toward the tail – that’s the fish’s bum,” says SoleShare co-founder Theresa Douthwright. “Put the blade there, then cut towards the head, up to the gills. This will expose the guts which you can just pull out with a good tug, or snip the tissue where they attach to the fish near the gills.

“Bearing in mind that most people find this step a bit messy, you can put a bag in the sink, pull the guts out with your fingers (squeamish people can use a spoon), decant the guts straight in to the bag, and transfer it to the bin.” Give the inside of the body cavity a rinse. “A blood line runs along the spine,” says Theresa. “It’s a deep red colour enclosed by a thin membrane. It can make the flesh taste bitter so scrape it with a teaspoon or rub with the back of the thumb and rinse. And that’s it… you can now gut a fish.”

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