We grew up eating fish almost every day. Born and raised in the port city of Casablanca, I had no fish aversions whatsoever to overcome. Au contraire! I grew up eating fish almost every day, prepared in every way imaginable, even for breakfast. With the eclectic selection of fish dishes I am including, I intend to make a fish lover out of you, as I have done for hundreds of guests, students, and customers.

Many home cooks have only recently (and timidly) started experimenting with fish. In the past, unsure how to discern its freshness or prepare it, let alone how and where to buy it, most cooks avoided unfamiliar fish and stuck with the old standbys: salmon, sole, and flounder (or frozen fish fillets). They further limited themselves by cooking these few varieties in the same repetitive ways—poached salmon, broiled sole, fried flounder.