In yesterday's A La Carte section, a trout was misidentified in a photo.

The Sun regrets the errors.

It's too bad every copy of Pino Luongo's new cookbook "Fish Talking" doesn't come with a copy of Mr. Luongo, for such is the force of his charm and passion that he would have you doing in two minutes what it will likely take me a whole story to persuade you to try.

Mr. Luongo wants you to eat more fish.

Not more tuna, salmon and red snapper. Those are "the big guys" -- big fish, hugely popular, and expensive.

No, the fish Mr. Luongo wants you to eat are "the little guys," the mackerel, the whiting, the anchovy, the sardine, the black bass -- the small fish that pack a big taste wallop and don't make a big dent in your wallet. He's also an advocate for squid, clams, mussels and eels.

"This is all fish that has an outstanding, incredible amount of flavor," Mr. Luongo says in his exuberant way, waving an unlighted cigar for emphasis. "And the sense of freshness that you have when you eat this fish, because of the size and everything else, is so immediate, is so refreshing, that I always find [that] much more appealing in my meals than the classic grilled tuna, which I'm sick of."

Mr. Luongo, who was in Baltimore recently to promote his book, comes by his fish fervor naturally. He was born in Florence, Italy, and spent many summers near his grandparents in coastal Tuscany. He was trained as an actor in Italy, but came to the United States in 1980, looking for a better life. He found work -- and his future career -- in an Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village. Since then he has opened a string of successful %J restaurants in New York, including the three featured in "Fish Talking": Le Madri, Coco Pazzo, Sapore di Mare. He also wrote a previous cookbook called "Tuscan in the Kitchen."

In all the restaurants, his goal has been to re-create the wonderful flavors of Tuscany he recalls from his youth, including the "little guy" fishes that were so dear to his grandfather's heart. He is determined to teach Americans to eat like Tuscans -- to give them that "taste of the sea."

"Food has to give you some memories of where it comes from," Mr. Luongo says. "Sardines do this trick, they always remind you of the sea, they remind you of sea breeze and freshness and salt. . . . The taste of the sea is not about salt only; it's like the essence of earth is dissolved in the water."

Locally, as well, some chefs are beginning to broaden the fish horizon for their customers. One is Ashley Sharpe, executive chef at Piccolo's in Fells Point. Among his offerings have been fresh sardines with a raisin and pine nut stuffing, and calamari (squid), fried and in other dishes such as seafood risotto. "Some people freak out when they see squid on the menu," he says, but "I've had fairly good luck [offering] different kinds of fish."

He recalls when he worked at Harbor Court Hotel, whitefish, steelhead trout and Arctic char were all on the menu at various times.

The presence last week of Arctic char on the menu for the Clinton administration's first state dinner given for the emperor and empress of Japan, is likely to encourage more consumption of that fish, which Mr. Sharpe describes as "sort of a cross between a flounder and a salmon" in taste.

Encouraging restaurant patrons to eat more unusual types of fish, Mr. Sharpe says, "is a matter of basically educating the wait staff about it and having them sell it." He encourages servers to try menu items so they can explain them thoroughly to their customers. Once you get folks to try something, they discover they like it and seek it out, he says.

Chefs have an obligation to offer diners new experiences, he says. "If you don't try it, nobody's going to end up eating" anything but standard fare.

Mr. Luongo credits his own zeal for the "little guys" to his grandfather, a fisherman and strong anti-fascist. "He was a very important image in my life when I grew up," he says.

"He taught me so much sense of respect, and so much sense of outrage, to any discrimination or abuse done to people who cannot defend themselves."

But his grandfather's sense of social justice didn't stop with people, Mr. Luongo says. It extended to any species he felt wasn't getting its due. "He had this sense of justice toward the fish."

And that, he says, explains his "stubbornness in presenting [the little fish]. . . . There is, for me, a reason to believe that gastronomy could have a much broader language." And it's not merely for the sake of cultural diversity, he adds: "Everywhere fisherman are in trouble because species of fish are disappearing. It's time to come back with an alternative."

In the past, the Maryland Department of Agriculture, has tried to persuade people to eat such alternative or underused species as monkfish, squid and mackerel, says Noreen Eberly, a seafood marketing specialist there. But so far the economic and gastronomic impact has not been very great. "There's thousands of different species of fish available," she says, "but people tend to eat the same things over and over."

Overfishing of the most popular fish can be a problem -- rockfish in the bay, for instance. When Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme popularized blackened redfish, Ms. Eberly points out, it became such a sensation that Mr. Prudhomme has been blamed for wiping out the redfish in Louisiana.

And eating other species of fish has budgetary benefits, Ms. Eberly says, with mackerel and other species costing $3 or less, while salmon can cost nearly $10 a pound.

Another benefit is the presence in "little guy" fish of omega-3 fatty acids, which are linked to reduced risk of heart disease. Among government and health professionals, "there's been encouragement for people to eat fish," says Natalie Partridge, a dietitian who works for the Food and Nutrition Information Center, part of the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville.

"There's also a small group of health professionals pushing the so-called Mediterranean Diet," with its emphasis on pasta and grains, fruits and vegetables and more fish than red meat, because of the lower instance of heart disease and other diseases among Mediterranean populations.

Most of the fish and seafood Mr. Luongo admires are available at fish markets in the Baltimore area. Bill Devine, owner of Faidley's Seafood at Lexington Market, says mackerel, squid, eels and black bass "have been around for years."

Black bass, he says, is also called sea bass. "There's some small ones in the stall right now." Some of the more exotic items, like sea urchin, might be harder to find, he says. "I used to carry all that stuff, but I threw out more than I ever sold."

Mr. Luongo does worry that without direct experience, people might not be sufficiently adventuresome to try the dishes in "Fish Talking."

"I understand it's not a book that everybody would be interested in reading," he says, "but it's not only just a book about fish, it's one more time for me to take the occasion to talk about a different type of Italy, or the way we Italians have a certain relationship with life, with the way life is approached.

"It's a sense of quality of everyday life that I think is what I probably miss most [after living in the United States for 13 years]. I go back often, I mean, a lot. So knowing where I belong and where I come from, it's always very clear to me. But also, in the meantime, this country did a lot for me, so . . . my best way of participating, to improve where I live, . . . is to share whatever I think is a way to improve life. Even if it's only just about food -- so what's wrong with that?"

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To get started with the "little guys," Mr. Luongo suggests people "choose the one they think is the least challenge, such as sardines or the whiting or the mackerel.

"In the book there are enough simple recipes to cook these fishes in a way that they will have an outstanding result. And once they appreciate the flavor of this one time, I hope they will see it's something that can be in their daily dining as often as possible."

Here are a couple sample recipes from "Fish Talking: Recipes from Le Madri, Coco Pazzo, and Sapore di Mare" (Clarkson Potter, $20).

Anchovy and Roasted Pepper Sandwich

Serves 1

5 or 6 salted anchovies, rinsed and filleted

olive oil

2 red or yellow bell peppers

fresh oregano, chopped

1 large sourdough roll or 1/2 baguette

Roast the peppers by holding them on a large fork over the burner of a gas stove, turning until charred on all sides. You can also roast them under a broiler, turning to char on all sides. While peppers are still hot, place them in a paper bag, fold the bag closed, and set them aside for about 20 minutes. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove the charred skin, taking care to remove all the black specks. Core, seed and cut them into 1/2 -inch strips.

Place the anchovies and peppers in a bowl, add oregano and olive oil to taste, and marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Split the bread lengthwise, spoon on the anchovies and peppers, close the sandwich and serve.

Roasted Baby Black Bass With Olives and Oregano

Serves 4

salt

pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cups white wine

1/4 pound black olives, pitted

4 garlic cloves, peeled

4 black bass, about 1 pound

2 rosemary sprigs, chopped

1 bunch oregano

Have the fishmonger clean the fish and remove all the scales.

Heat the oven to 475 degrees. Open the fish cavity and sprinkle liberally with salt. Stuff with the herbs and garlic and place the fish in a well-oiled roasting pan. Sprinkle the skin of the fish with salt and pepper to taste, and drizzle with the olive oil and the white wine.

Place the fish in the oven and roast for about 10 minutes per pound. When the fish is cooked, juices from the cavity should no longer be pink. Two minutes before the fish should be done, sprinkle the olives around it and let it cook for the remaining time. Add more wine to the roasting pan if it starts to dry during cooking.

Remove fish from pan with a spatula and serve whole on a platter. Pour juices from pan over fish.