At Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va., Executive Chef Michael Matarazzo, CEC, is quietly enhancing his menus with an unexpected star: dry-aged fish.

“There are two things members don’t want when it comes to fish: dry or old,” says Matarazzo. Yet, his use of dry-aged fish has shown notable improvements in both flavor and texture—and the members are taking notice.

This initiative began after Matarazzo attended a seminar by Liwei Liao, otherwise known as the “Dry Aged Fish Guy.”

“He discussed a different way to handle fish, focusing on increasing shelf life by draining any remaining blood,” Matarazzo explains. This technique, though common in game processing, is still relatively unconventional for fish.

“I was really skeptical when I went to this demo,” says Matarazzo. “But when he started telling us about the process, it all made sense.”

Liao’s methods stand apart from conventional techniques that use preservatives like smoke, salt, or nitrates. Instead of imparting smokiness or saltiness, his approach enhances the natural flavor of the fish, resulting in a more pronounced taste and a slightly condensed, buttery consistency.

Michael Matarazzo, Executive Chef of Famington CC, learned about the process of dry-aging fish when he attended a seminar by Liwei Liao, known as the “Dry Aged Fish Guy.”

“Traditionally, fish purveyors and chefs keep fish packed on ice until it’s sold,” says Matarazzo. “Any fish that’s not used gets thrown away because it starts to lose its quality.” This approach, while effective to a degree, leads to waste and limits the potential for flavor development.

“He cooked some salmon for us and sent it around,” says Matarazzo. “The entire crowd was like, ‘What’s up with this fish? This is incredible.’ He then said that the fish was 14 days old and he brought it with him from LA.”

Matarazzo needed no more convincing. He started experimenting with salmon, aging it for up to 14 days.

He then introduced the dry-aged salmon for the first time at the club’s annual meeting, saying, “We didn’t tell the members initially; we wanted the salmon to speak for itself.”

And it did.

“Members were going out of their way to find me and tell me it was the best fish they had ever eaten,” Matarazzo adds. “We sell hundreds of pounds of salmon a week at Farmington, so for members to single out this salmon and comment on it really underscores the impact of the dry-aging process.”

The success of dry-aged fish hinges on removing blood from the body, as blood is the single biggest contributor to decomposition in an animal after death.

To age fish free of blood, Matarazzo either purchases fish slaughtered using the ike jime method—a traditional Japanese technique involving instantaneous euthanasia by spiking the brain, thorough bleeding, and spinal cord destruction—or he buys the freshest fish available, cuts the gills from the spine, and lets the blood drain out.

“When we first started working on this, my fish purveyor would send pictures of the gills so we could ensure the level of freshness I was looking for,” says Matarazzo. “The process only works for whole fish that has not entered decomposition. You can tell by the color of the gills. After you sever them and hang the fish, there will be a small pool of blood under it.”

This meticulous attention to freshness and proper handling ensures the success of the dry-aging process.

The next step is the actual aging.

At Farmington, Matarazzo hangs fish in his dry ager for up to 14 days. “It can certainly go longer than 14 days, but we don’t have the space in our ager to go beyond that timeframe,” he explains. He also hangs fish in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours.

During the aging period, the fish undergoes a transformation in both its texture and taste as natural enzymes break down fats and proteins into fatty acids and amino acids. The controlled environment, which maintains specific humidity and temperature settings, slowly reduces the fish’s moisture content while concentrating its flavors.

While the dry ager is useful, it presents certain limitations that impact its broader application at Farmington CC.

“Given the success with salmon and the limited capacity of our dry ager, we began experimenting with hanging different types of fish in a regular refrigerator for 24-48 hours to drain the blood,” says Matarazzo.

This approach allowed them to explore the potential benefits of dry-aging more varieties without being constrained by the capacity of their dry ager.

Today, Farmington CC’s Blue Ridge Room exclusively sells dry-aged king salmon. Matarazzo is also hanging other whole fish like branzino, flounder, striped bass, and snapper.

Matarazzo has become so passionate about this topic that he plans to offer a live cooking demonstration on dry-aged fish at the 2025 Chef to Chef Conference in Baltimore.

Matarazzo recommends that other chefs give it a try by starting small: “Even just hanging the fish for 24-48 hours in a regular refrigerator makes a noticeable difference.”

By starting small, chefs can gradually familiarize themselves with the nuances of the process and gauge the membership’s response without committing extensive resources.

“Let the results speak for themselves. Taste is your best advocate,” he adds.

This new method has not only enhanced the dining experience at Farmington CC but also set a new standard for how Matarazzo handles seafood.

“Once you taste the difference, you see the value,” he says.

Matarazzo has become so passionate about this topic that he plans to offer a live cooking demonstration on dry-aged fish with sampling at the 2025 Chef to Chef Conference in Baltimore.

“If you want to learn more,” Matarazzo says, “come to Baltimore next year and taste it for yourself.”