As I've said before, I've done this for a living for a while and I still get a little freaked out when presented with an Augustus Gloop Grouper. So I'm super excited that we have an AMA scheduled with Josh Niland, a guy who has a new book called "Fish Butchery" which clearly I need. Details and schedule ahead.

If you have any specific questions and comments, would be great for us to queue them up. We've gotten quite a few already, some of which I'll post below. Please add on, we'll have limited time with him but everything will be in the queue and we'll do our best to include as much as we can.

The enthusiasm so far has been really great. So many thanks to the sub.

Details:

The AMA will be on September 28, at 8am Sydney time [Thursday morning], NYC time is the day before, September 27 at 6pm and London is also September 27 at 11pm.

He has some amazing of books, and a number of restaurants, that are responsible for innovative use of fish, from storage to breaking them down to recipes. He is, I think, particularly known for three things, in no particular order:

• Dry aging fish;
• Using a whole lot more of the fish than most;
• Incredible presentations.

He has a new book out, called Fish Butchery, and he's going to do an AMA with us.

If you'd like to see his work, you can see some of it here: https://www.instagram.com/mrniland/

If you'd like to learn more about the book, you can see more about it here: https://www.hardiegrant.com/au/publishing/bookfinder/book/fish-butchery-by-josh-niland/9781743799192

If you can make the AMA, that's great.

If you can't make the AMA, please post your questions/comments here and we (the mod team) will queue them up.

Any questions or suggestions, please shout!

A collection of comments:

• Added to calendar. This is one of those topics where even most pro chefs struggle. The number of true fish butchery masters who aren’t traditionally trained sushi chefs that I’ve met in 20 years can be counted on one hand.

• Oh sooooo many questions!! I’m lucky enough to live on the coast and fish as often as I can - my head is reeling! Biggest and best catch was a chunky Blue Mowrong, guess I’d like an idea of multiple recipes for it as I think it would be a really versatile meat ?

• SUPER excited for this, and put that book on my xmas list. Already planning on buying it for friends. I'm big into fishing and it pains me when I see other fishermen fillet a fish and throw the rest of it away (SO much wasted meat). My question: what's the best way for us to advocate for less wastage across the food industry? I'll be sharing the book and learnings with my fishing friends!

• Very cool! Excited for this event and wanted to get a question in: want to really practice breaking down a fish and using as much of it as possible. If I'm looking to practice this skill at home, what fish should I get? Thank you, looking forward to the AMA.

• Added to calendar. This is one of those topics where even most pro chefs struggle. The number of true fish butchery masters who aren’t traditionally trained sushi chefs that I’ve met in 20 years can be counted on one hand.

• I’m not on the eastern seaboard of Aus and so will be madly trying to move my workday a bit or at least postpone some meetings first thing to be able to make it for sure

• Oh sooooo many questions!! I’m lucky enough to live on the coast and fish as often as I can - my head is reeling! Biggest and best catch was a chunky Blue Mowrong, guess I’d like an idea of multiple recipes for it as I think it would be a really versatile meat .

• Thanks for offering to post questions for those who can't make it. Mine: Any tips or tricks for adequately cleaning/preparing bones and heads for an excellent fish stock? Any recommendations for extracting the best flavor while avoiding overly pungent taste and odor?

• Thanks, I’ll see what I can do - I’d like to know which is his favourite eating fish to give to kids, his favourite to go catch, and the Aussie species he found most interesting (texture, flavour etc) which I’m sure may be quite varied answers! Thanks again

Looking forward to everyone's participation.

xx. Ness