a.k.a.: Dory, St. Pierre

Waters:Atlantic Ocean (Most are harvested off the coasts of Europe and Africa.)

Description (in water): This unusual-looking fish is yellowish-olive or grayish in color with a flat, compressed oval body that's spotted on both sides. The dorsal spines are particularly long, and the eyes and mouth are large.

Description (in market): A firm-textured white-fleshed fish with a mild, sweet flavor and low fat content.

Sold as: Whole, fillets

Best cooking: Here's a good fish to cook whole; like porgy, it's well suited to roasting or baking. Fillets can be poached or sautéed, or cut into chunks and added to chowders or stews like bouillabaisse. The bones add great flavor to soup stock.

Buying tips: Harvested mainly in Europe, the fish is often air-shipped to U.S. fish markets. Look for bright skin, red gills, and other signs of freshness; the scent should be sweet.

Substitutes: Porgy, grouper, monkfish

Notes: In parts of France, this odd-looking fish was once known as l'horrible; fishermen were inclined to throw it back to the sea. But the French have, in time, come to recognize the culinary merit of the John Dory, to which they now fondly refer as poulet de mer (chicken of the sea).