TROUT

20th December 2023

Photo Credit: Photographer3431 (Getty Images), CANVA

Observe him, for the love of mockery, for I know this letter will make a contemplative idiot of him. Close, in the name of jesting! Lie thou for here come the trout that must be caught by tickling.

MARIA: Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 5

TROUT (Brown Trout: Salmo trutta)

Maria in Twelfth Night uses the imagery of Trout tickling to play a trick on Malvolio. Tickling involves stroking the Trout’s belly to calm it so that it can be pulled out of the water. It is an ancient form of fishing by hand. The 1594 cookery book, ‘A Good Huswifes Handmaide’, contains a recipe for baked Trout with Eels, Cloves, Mace, Ginger and Currants.

Brown Trout are a complex and diverse species which can live in both freshwater and sea water. They have a wide range of markings and can breed with other Salmo species. Trout need rivers with sufficient oxygen, range of habitat types within the river and on the river bank to survive and flourish. Rivers which have healthy Trout populations also support a range of other river species.

The Wild Trout Trust has a vast range of information and resources about the ecology and conservation of British Trout species.

More Information

Foods of England: 1594 A Good Huswifes Handmaide

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): Salmo trutta

Wild Trout Trust: Visit Site