"Sleeping with the Fishes" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Trout Quintet

The Trout Quintet is written for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass. It is a beautiful piece, but it is not Italian opera. Schubert also wrote a "String Quintet in C major" but it has no connection to fishes.

Answer: Patagonian toothfish

Sea bass is best the Venetian way: Orata Al Forno Con Gli Aromi (Roast Sea Bass with Herbs). Use butter instead of olive oil (sorry Godfather) and serve with a Soave wine. At a restaurant, always order sea bass by its proper name "Patagonian toothfish".

Answer: marlin

Hemingway won the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for "The Old Man and the Sea". It centers upon Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman who struggles with a gigantic marlin. I identified with Santiago, especially when he was fighting off sharks. This is my kind of book: it is only 127 pages.

Answer: sturgeon

Caviar is the salted roe of a large fish, especially the sturgeon and the salmon. Due to dwindling stocks of sturgeon, Russia began a 10-year ban on the harvest and sale of black caviar on August 1, 2007. No one in "The Family" was very big on caviar being included as part of the antipasti.

Answer: chinook

The salmon family (Salmonidae) also includes trout, char, freshwater whitefish and grayling. Not many salmon show up in my neck of the East River. I still crave the Balik and Scottish varieties of smoked salmon from Russ and Daughters on the Lower East Side.

Answer: yellowfin

Yellowfin tuna is commonly used in sashimi dishes at Japanese restaurants. I prefer this fish grilled. Refrigerate for one hour in a marinade (sesame oil, soy sauce or Maggi, lime juice, grated ginger, minced garlic, and sliced scallion), sear on both sides, and serve raw or rare.

Answer: halibut

The Halibut is the largest of all flat fish. "Halibut" is from hali "holy" + butte "flatfish". I still don't eat meat on Fridays.

Answer: anchovy

Peruvian anchovy fishermen traditionally used the term "El Nino" ("the Christ child") to describe the appearance, at Christmastime, of a warm ocean current off the South American coast. These warmer waters contained less nutrients, which meant less plankton, and, consequently, a poor anchovy harvest. I could use an "El Nino" at Christmas.

Answer: sailfish

Most sources agree that the Indo-Pacific sailfish is the fastest fish. I thought it was the marlin, a relative of this species. I lost a bet to Tom Hagen on this very question. He was always taking my money. I had to recoup my losses by betting Fredo.

Answer: Turbot

The Turbot War of 1995 culminated in Canadian government officers boarding a Spanish fishing trawler in international waters and arresting its crew. The Cod Wars of the 1950s and 1970s were between the United Kingdom and Iceland. Both of these "wars" were minor territorial matters with none of the parties going to the mattresses.