Excuses - Excuses

(Alder-Smoked Sea Scallops)




Okay, I have been wanting to write this post for quite some time. And let me start by telling you where this comes from. I get new folks through my doors several times day who are "Just browsing," or "Just curious to see what you have." And as they are walking out the doors without buying anything or talking with any of the mongers, I always make it point to ask what brought them in today. Almost every single time, it is simple curiosity. And most say they think fish is too complicated to cook, takes too much time, it stinks up the house for a week, or the number one excuse is, it is just too damn expensive. I am going to try to help these folks out and hopefully some of you as well. To the curious ones...

Fish is easy. I wont blow smoke here, it can be made difficult. There are some outstanding recipe's out there that can take hours to prepare, and you will be well rewarded when you are finished. But, the fundamentals of preparing fish is what I am talking about here.
Anyway that you can prepare chicken, you can do the same with fish. Bake, grill, poach, pan fry, deep fry, plank, soup, stew, smoke, braise, roast, and can. There are even some things that you can do with fish that I would never suggest you do with chicken like; raw, rare, pickled, salted, cured, and open-air-dried (recipe coming soon).

Just a few things to remember when cooking fish: 1) Most fish likes to cook hot and fast. 380-400 degrees in your oven or grill. 8-10 minutes per inch of thickness. 2) Most fish takes to simple seasoning. Salt, pepper, and some sort of citrus will take you a long ways. 3) Do NOT portion your fish before you cook it. 4) The fresher the better.

Talk to your fishmonger. If you are scared or just don't want to do it yourself, have them trim, skin, and/or steak it for you. If you are looking for special cut or trim, ask them to do it for you. That is why they are there and they (well, I do anyways) like to show off my skills as a cutter. Furthermore, I want you to come back.

You do NOT have to buy a whole pound of anything. If you want 8oz, make them cut you 8oz. If the customer asks me questions about a particular fish that they have never tried, I will tell them to get something they know they like, and I will cut a small portion of the curious fish and tell them how to prepare it for free. I would much rather a customer have a great experience than to try to sell them something that they may not care for.

Sorry, I got nothing for the stink. Even in my house, almost all my fish is cooked outside. Anything that can be cooked on the grill or gas burner is done outside. Other than that, ummmm, well...........I got nothing. Any suggestions here I would be happy to hear and share them.

Most definitely, some fish can be outrageous in cost. There are more variables for this than I wish to get into here. Shop around. Spend your time on the phone calling around asking what is fresh today and how much it is. You will find a huge difference in price from store to store. And when you find the cheapest price in town, call your favorite fishmonger and ask if he/she will match price. I do it all the time.

With all this said, I am looking for questions from you. Ask them. I am sure that you are not the only one wanting answers to that question that has been nagging at you.

Oh, I almost forgot.... That picture is of Alder Smoked Sea Scallops. These are the most fantastic scallops to experiment with. Try them on top of your salad, or layered on top of your pasta. Fantastic! A must try.

"Swear Off Salmon?" Are you kidding me?!....

(This article was taken from SeaFood Business last week. I thought it was a great editorial. Please read........)

In his June 9 New York Times op-ed piece "Sardines With Your Bagel?" Taras Grescoe, author of "Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood," states his case for passing on salmon, America's No. 2 fish in terms of per capita consumption. Unreasonably high king salmon prices, the unprecedented closure of the California and Oregon salmon fisheries and an environmentally unfriendly global salmon-farming industry impelled Grescoe to seek out fish low on the food chain, like sardines, and swear off salmon this year.

But doing so only punishes well-managed salmon fisheries and environmentally responsible salmon farms.

Sure, king salmon prices were off the charts when the Copper River fishery unofficially kicked off Alaska's summer salmon season in mid-May, when fresh fillets retailed for $40 a pound or more. But now that the season is in full swing, king salmon is much more affordable, wholesaling for $10 to $12 a pound.

If king salmon is out of consumers' price range, there are four other Pacific salmon species to choose from, which Grescoe fails to adequately explain.

As unfortunate as the collapse of the Sacramento River salmon population is, the West Coast salmon fishery is relatively small. Alaska represents 90 to 95 percent of North America's wild salmon harvest, and no Alaska salmon are endangered. The state's 2008 salmon catch is projected to eclipse 137 million fish, which would be down from a near-record 212 million fish last year but would rank as the 17th largest harvest since 1900, proof the fishery is well managed and sustainable.

There's plenty of farmed Atlantic salmon to go around, too. But Grescoe deems the species an unhealthy alternative to wild salmon due to the use of the "pesticide" emamectin benzoate in salmon feed and an unsustainably high feed conversion ratio, among other reasons.

But the Salmon of the Americas trade organization - which harped on the Times' for its March 27 story "Salmon Virus Indicts Chile's Fishing Methods" - points out that emamectin benzoate is not a pesticide and is approved for use in the United States and that Grescoe's food conversion ratio (4 pounds of feed fish to produce 1 pound of salmon) is inaccurate.

Let's hope when they sat down with a cup of coffee to read Monday's edition that the Times' 1.1 million readers took Grescoe's misguided column, which was surely written to boost sales of his book, with a grain of salt.

Best regards,
Steven Hedlund
Associate Editor
SeaFood Business

Safe Shellfish Handling

I would like to thank my friend, Fishmonger, from the other coast at "Seafoodshop" for this article.
Great information, Fishmonger!

It is the time of year now when increased outdoor temperatures, and the natural inclination to spawn are upon us. To help prevent unwanted mortality follow these helpful guidelines.

1. Keep shellfish refrigerated and buried in ice in a container that allows drainage.
2. Proper refrigeration is important, but even more so during this time. Even moderate temperature abuse, or rough handling could cause your shellfish to spawn.
3. Gaping shellfish can be run under cold water to get them to close, if they still do not close they are dead or dying and should be discarded.
4. To prevent gaping , keep shellfish in a tightly closed mesh bag.
5. Spawned product should be rinsed in fresh cold water and put into a clean container.

Monitor these critical areas.

• Loading docks, limit time and temperature abuse.
• Ship product in refrigerated trucks only.
• Hot kitchens can kill shellfish in no time, keep product iced and refrigerated at all times.

ICE, ICE, ICE

Take extra care in all these areas and your shellfish will take care of you. Thank you to my friends at American Mussel for all the information, and inspiration.

How to tell what "Fresh" is

I was in a forum today, and got this question, "How do I know what "Fresh" is? And below is what I wrote back. Then, it dawned on me that this would be a great topic for this blog. It is a bit generalized, so if you would like a little more in-depth explanation, just post your question(s) using the comment section.

Yes. Smell is vary hard to mask. If it does not smell like the ocean with a hint of fish, then walk on by. You will know if someone is trying to mask the smell of old fish. It will simply not smell natural. Fish has an amnonia smell to it when it starts to turn. You simply cannot mask that without chemicals. And you will know the difference between chemical and natural smells. The other thing you can do is check the gills if they are present. They should be bright red. And, they should not be slimy at all. The gills are the first thing to turn bad.
The epitome is this: Always ask your fishmonger to let you smell the fish. If it looks bad, it is. For Ahi, it should be dark red without any brown on it at all. Most fishmongers slice their fish into steaks to display in their cases. That is NOT a good practice. If you are lucky enough to have a fishmonger who keeps his loins whole, ask for the center cut if he/she will do it for you. Fish is graded at the processing level. It is graded 1 -2 3 and other. Sashimi/Sushi grade is considered to be a 1 or even better, a 1+. You will pay top dollar for that. You monger better know what he/she is selling. And don't be affraid to ask for proof! All premium grade fish comes with documentation. Even if it is simply on their receiving invoices.
Fresh-Frozen or Fresh? This is a battle that will rage for ages. Some believe that Fresh Frozen preserves the freshness. Some feel that it takes the moisture out of the fish. And there are others who will tell you that they freeze it to cover poor handling. All of which can be true. And again, there are some fishers/processors out there who actually want to keep your business and baby their fish from the minute they hit the deck of the boat. As for Fresh? Who's definition do you want to use? Some believe that Fresh swordfish is what shows up at your fish stand that day, when in reality, it has been covered in ice on a boat for 2 -3 weeks before coming into port. To me, yes, that is still fresh as long as it has been handled right. Each fish has a definite "Fresh" cycle. In other words, each species has it's own expiration date. For some it is just a few days. For others, it could be as long as 3 weeks.
I hope this kinda answered your questions. As you can see, there is never one simple answer when it comes to fish.