What People Are Saying

On June 26th the Highline News produced a feature article on Catfish, and of course, had to mention Catfish Corner and even featured a large photograph of Rosemary Jackson at the restaurant. The following is an excerpt from that article as written by Sundell Larsen, a times staff writer.

“Regional perceptions differ. Take catfish for instance. In the Northwest, salmon is king, but in the South, where catfish reigns supreme, salmon is court jester.

Our local ignorance of this surprising food and the reverence of people accustomed to it is a clear reminder that there are worthwhile foods and experience outside out realm. Catfish is unlike any traditional Northwestern dish – it comes from another place and time.

The first sight of catfish will leave you wondering if it is edible, but one taste and you will realize its looks don’t behoove it. The rumors of this fish as a junkyard scavenger will scare you, but one more taste and you will realize it has an undeserved reputation.

Aqua farming has tamed the taste and has led to prodigious growth in popularity throughout the United States. Yet catfish have not been able to flop themselves up the banks of the Northwest in large numbers.

Catfish was once considered no better than bait, but since has been referred to as the filer mignon of fish. Pulling the river-bottom scavenger from polluted rivers in the 40’s and 50’s gave catfish its bad name.

Hurt by falling agriculture prices, farmers in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana began converting cotton field hollows into 200 million pounds of catfish were harvested from 75,000 acres of ponds.

Pond reared catfish doesn’t taste fishy like most fish, even salmon. It is mild and sweet, like trout with the consistency of steak.

The only local restaurant to serve it exclusively, Catfish Corner serves traditional catfish dusted with cornmeal and quick-fried in vegetable oil.