The noble whiskered wonder doesn’t get the same kind of play in New Orleans that it does in drier areas of the Deep South — but then, there’s tough competition for “marquee fish” status this close to the Gulf.
In nearby Mississippi, aquaculture turned the Delta into a veritable fish factory, churning out tons of grain-fed catfish that can safely escape the “bottom feeder” stigma that’s plagued the species for decades. These days, marketing campaigns have presented the Fish Formerly Known as Mudcat into a palate-friendly, not-gamey-at-all version of the other other white meat.
New Orleans cooks, always the contrarians, tend to dote on catfish caught in the waters near Des Allemands, Louisiana on the Lafourche/St. Charles Parish line. Because these “wild catfish” eat what they please, they’re known for having a more pronounced fishy flavor than their farm-raised counterparts. An overheard comment on the subject: “I want my catfish to taste like catfish instead of nothing.”