The striped red mullet is a fairly small fish; it has a small mouth out of which hang two appendages, the barbels, which are used to search for food on the seabed.
A bit of history
Since ancient times, this little fish has been considered one of the most prized species; in fact, the red mullet was thought to have erotic properties both for its rosy flesh and for its perfume, which was said to remove all inhibitions.
By the Latins it was called mullus and sold at a high price, because its liver was used both as a medicine and as a delicacy for cooking. In the seventeenth century, the mullet was attributed with aphrodisiac powers. According to Baldassarre Pisanelli, in fact, they were also able to remove negative magic, but if drowned in wine they made men impotent and women sterile.
Perhaps this is why Italian there is an Italian saying about flirting: do not make mullet eyes???
The red mullet is not the only fish to which particular powers have been attributed; find out what the Romans thought about the Sarpa Salpa.
