It usually happens Christmas week. Near the fishing village of Cortez, the gray striped mullet move off the flats, balling up by the thousands for their annual spawning, the water rolling in black ...

Jean Richey, a native of Niceville, has been cooking mullet for about 79 of her 87 years. Growing up boggy, mullet was a staple. They ate mullet four times a week and loved it, Richey said. “I still ...