What is Rockfish called in the United Kingdom?

In the United Kingdom, Rockfish is known as Redfish.

What is Rockfish called in Spain?

In Spain, Rockfish is known as Gallineta.

What is Rockfish called in France?

In France, Rockfish is known as Sébaste.

What is Rockfish called in Italy?

In Italy, Rockfish is known as Scorfano di Norvegia.

What is Rockfish called in Germany?

In Germany, Rockfish is known as Rotbarsch.

What is Rockfish called in Portugal?

In Portugal, Rockfish is known as Cantarilho.

Rockfish

Fish · Sebastidae

Yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus). V. O'Connell, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Also called

🇬🇧Redfish🇫🇷Sébaste🇪🇸Gallineta🇵🇹Cantarilho🇮🇹Scorfano di Norvegia🇩🇪Rotbarsch

Rockfish is the market name for roughly seventy species of the genus Sebastes, the dominant nearshore catch of the US Pacific coast from California to Alaska. Colors range from the bright orange-red of yelloweye and canary rockfish to the mottled browns and blacks of gopher and blue rockfish, but all share the same kitchen behavior: lean, white, medium-firm flesh in small flaky sheets, mild enough to take almost any treatment. It is the default fish-taco and fish-and-chips fish of the West Coast, and it holds together in a stew better than cod. Buyers should know two things. First, Pacific rockfish is very often sold in the United States as "Pacific red snapper" or "Pacific snapper" — it is not a snapper, and the substitution is restricted under California law. Second, "rockfish" means something else entirely in the Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic, where it is the local name for striped bass, an unrelated fish. Across the Atlantic the same genus is a mainstay under different names: Rotbarsch is one of Germany's most familiar frozen fillets, cantarilho is standard in Portugal, and the deep-water Sebastes norvegicus is sold in Britain as redfish or ocean perch.

Names by country

Country	Name	Notes
🇺🇸United States	Rockfishprimary	Covers ~70 Sebastes species on the Pacific coast; frequently mislabeled "Pacific red snapper", which is restricted under California law
🇬🇧United Kingdom	Redfish	Sebastes norvegicus, the deep-water Atlantic species — also sold as ocean perch
🇫🇷France	Sébaste	Standard in France and a staple fish in Québec
🇪🇸Spain	Gallineta	Usually gallineta nórdica (Sebastes norvegicus); note that "gallineta" is applied to scorpionfish in some Spanish regions
🇵🇹Portugal	Cantarilho
🇮🇹Italy	Scorfano di Norvegia	Distinguished from the Mediterranean scorfano rosso (Scorpaena scrofa), a different fish
🇩🇪Germany	Rotbarsch	One of the most widely sold fillets in Germany, usually frozen

Culinary substitutes

Striped bass

These share a market name and nothing else. "Rockfish" means Pacific Sebastes on the West Coast and striped bass in the Chesapeake — one is a small-flaked lean fish from cold Pacific reefs, the other a large-flaked anadromous Atlantic fish. Read the coast, not the label.

Huachinango

Pacific rockfish is routinely sold in the US as "Pacific red snapper", but true red snapper is a Gulf and Caribbean Lutjanidae — sweeter, firmer, and considerably more expensive. Rockfish is the honest budget stand-in for snapper preparations, not the same fish.

Cabillaud

Both are lean, mild, white-fleshed fish used interchangeably for frying, tacos and chowder — rockfish flakes smaller and holds its shape better in a stew, cod breaks into larger, softer sheets.

Often confused with

Rockfish vs Striped bass Rockfish vs Huachinango Rockfish vs Cabillaud

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