General Description: Bonito belong to the mackerel family and resemble small tuna, with which they are often confused. Bonito are extremely fast swimmers and aggressive feeders, swimming in shoals often 15 to 20 miles from shore and frequently leaping out of the water while feeding. Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda) have silvery bellies and sides and a steel to purplish-blue back with dark blue slanting stripes. Pacific bonito (S. chiliensis) are silvery brown and about the same size as their Atlantic cousins. The slightly larger striped bonito (S. orientalis) is found along the Pacific coast of North and South America. Fresh bonito are quite popular in Turkey, and they are highly prized in the north of Spain. In Basque country, this fish is served in marmite kua or marmitako, a fisherman’s stew ideally prepared and eaten at sea. Bonito is well-suited to escabeche. In Spain, the word bonito, especially bonito del norte, refers to the closely related albacore; the term oceanic bonito is also used for skipjack tuna. Bonito’s tasty meat is used fresh, dried, salted, smoked, and canned and may be cooked like mackerel and bluefish.

Locale and Season: Atlantic bonito are found as far north as Cape Cod in the western Atlantic and the southern coast of Great Britain in the eastern Atlantic. They are in season in New England in late July. Pacific bonito are found off the western coasts of North and South America from Chile to the Gulf of Alaska. The largest southern catches of Pacific bonito are in late summer and early fall; to the north, commercial fishing is mostly in the summer and fall.

Characteristics: Market average weight is 5 pounds. Bonito meat is firm, compact, and light in color with moderate fat content. The skin is not eaten.

How to Choose: This underrated fish may be had inexpensively on the U.S. East Coast in the summer. Bonito are often confused with skipjack tuna, but bonito have stripes on their backs, while skipjack have them on their underside. The flesh of the bonito is pale pink, while that of the skipjack is dark red.

Storage: Store bonito up to 1 day refrigerated.

Preparation:
Bake, broil, grill, hot smoke, or stew. Remove the skin after cooking and before serving.

Suggested Recipe: Grilled Bonito (serves 6): Sprinkle a 5- to 6-pound bonito with salt, oregano, black pepper, and olive oil. Cut slits into the meat and insert sliced garlic. Score the sides of the fish, brush with oil and lemon juice, sprinkle with more oregano, and grill using indirect heat with the lid on until the flesh is opaque, about 30 minutes. Remove the skin before eating.

Flavor Affinities: Bay leaf, bell pepper, capers, cayenne, garlic, lemon, lime, olives, olive oil, oregano, paprika, parsley, potato, red wine vinegar, roasted red pepper, thyme.