Consumer Protection for Idiots

Seriously this story is on the front page of the Boston Globe!

The sliver of raw fish sold as white tuna at Skipjack’s in Foxborough was actually escolar, an oily, cheaper species banned in Japan because it can make people sick. The Alaskan butterfish at celebrity chef Ming Tsai’s Blue Ginger in Wellesley was really sablefish, traditionally a staple at Jewish delicatessens, not upscale dining establishments.

At Chau Chow Seafood Restaurant in Dorchester, the $23 flounder fillet turned out to be a Vietnamese catfish known as swai – nutritionally inferior and often priced under $4 a pound.

Seriously, this is above-the-fold materiel?

Look there’s an industry joke that when some unique or niche fishery comes up in conversation, and the inevitable quest of “What does X Fish Taste like?” comes up, the punchline is: “Like Fish!”

Now like every joke there is a grain of truth. As a Marine Biologist who’s earned all his salty-science money from the food-fish industry, be it commercial fishing industry or Aquaculture, I’ve eaten all kinds of fish from the common shit that you’ve heard off, to fish that unless you frequently wet a line or tow a net, you’ve never heard of.

And let’s face it, besides fish like the Large Tunas (tho between things like Yellowfin, Bluefin, and Blackfin, I don’t know if I could tell them apart)Salmon, and a few other species most fish has a flaky white mild flesh that all tastes VERY similar. The difference between them are VERY subtle, things like texture and some subtle accent flavors. Like the difference between Atlantic Haddock , and Atlantic Whiting is a very subtle (and in my opinion a very desirable) flavor, and if you got a whole fillet, a Whiting is a much more narrow fish. Now there are other species that I could totally pass off as each other, and can use it to save money and get better product.

Like the Red Snapper which seems to be a very vogue fish name is damn near identical in taste and texture to Atlantic Redfish. Now here’s the kicker, the Snapper is a more expensive fish, but its also a tropical fish. If you’re hitting the fish marts in the North that fish needs to travel a LONG way to get to the store, which means its older. Meanwhile the Redfish just got landed at a New England Port near you. Why pay more for spoiled fish?

A few years back I went out on a sport fishing trip and I landed a decent Atlantic Cod, which seems to be quite desirable in restaurants, but IMHO is a lousy tasting fish. My Boss (who landed the trip on a promotional deal) caught a Cusk. I’d never eaten one, but I’d cut up more than a few, so I asked her if she wanted to trade. Now a Cusk is a big ugly bottom fish, and when its been pulled up from about 150ft of water quite quickly they look uglier still (their eyes start to explode, and their swim bladder pops their guts out their mouth). She quickly traded with me.

Now apart from the skin which was VERY thick and fatty (I tossed my fillets on the grill where that fatty skin REALLY improved things) I found the meat to be damn near identical to one of my favorite eating fish, the Atlantic Halibut.

So now comparing Albacore (the “Tuna” you buy in cans) for Escolar is a bit of a dirty trick…but still in the story they talk about calling it “White Tuna” which isn’t a name for any specific fish, and seems a fair description for Escolar. Hell how many times have you seen “Perch” or “Ocean Perch” on a menu? Seriously those names are SO vague that it could almost be ANYTHING (FYI that Atlantic Redfish is often sold as Ocean Perch), one can’t be expecting anything specific.

Still in the end, if I order a rabbit pie and somebody bakes me a chicken pie, and I don’t call them out on it, who’s the fool?

Also when people order exotic fish that taste like boring local fish, are they ordering the fish or are they just excited about the name?

A dumb story about dumb people.