Below I have a link to the article in full, and it is well worth the read. More or less the article is a good expose on the culture, economics, and ecology behind today's fishing industry. One thing is very clear, our fish stocks are on the verge of collapsing.
Read all about Tuna's End.
On a gastronomic level, I definitely understand the desire to eat seafood. It tastes good, not to mention it has thousands of years of significance in the human diet and is ingrained into the fabric of many cultures around the world.
So for those of us who wish to keep eating seafood, I urge you to download your Regional Seafood Watch Pocket Book from the scientists at Monterey Bay Aquarium. This handy booklet will help you know what is local to your region and more importantly what fish stocks can be consumed sustainably. Enjoy responsibly!
Download Your Regional Seafood Watch Pocket Guide Here!
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Thank you for posting that regional guide. You are always keep me updated! Thanks love!
ReplyDeleteWow, Gastronome. This is so powerful. East Asian scholar Trevor Corson leading diners of Jewel Bako in the East Village through a historic tour of their sushi courses, and revealing the truth that sushi's most prized fish today, such as tuna, were rarely present in traditional Japanese sushi meals... that's important to remember. The way we eat today, all the delicacies, all the epicurean delights... all of it is farmed today, distributed in mass quantities, and ultimately, it is far less meaningful to eat now as it did back then. To capture and eat a ten foot tuna must have been a rarity enjoyed only by the Japanese Imperial Court, not something that could be found easily in the most casual of Japanese restaurants.
ReplyDeleteTha traditional Edo-period meal of snappers and jacks and other white meat fish makes so much sense. As the article points out, tuna and other red flesh fish rot quickly, so it would have been impossible to keep that meat absent of refrigeration. I also liked learning that the Japanese aristocracy was aware of this and disliked tuna as a result.
Otoro, the appreciation of that in bluefin, in a predominantly yellowfin appreciative Japanese society, is sooo interesting because in the article it is described that otoro came to be appreciated after the Japanese were exposed to fattier meat via Western dieting, such as steak.
It is irresponsible for restaurants to expect customers to make a choice about their food and offer endangered species. I understand that in catering to foodies, they don't want to limit their menus. But honestly, someone strolling in to a restaurant barking demands for expensive tuna is probably just some nouveu connoisseur trying to feel self-important. Because in the end, who wants to eat something that is endangered? I have moral qualms about that. I have more moral qualms about that then sex, politics, and religion. Because eating an endangered species is participating in genocide.
Oh and I am almost falling out of love with all the world's nations for maintinaing status quo and not working on a sustainable fishing future. :( Why do things have to go extinct before we REGRET something!
I was surprised also to discover that tuna is a warm blooded animal, and to read about its many amazing traits makes it feel as wrong to eat it as dolphin meat. I think it should be a once in a lifetime treat if at all.
It is so obvious that the bluefin have no true home, they are MEANT to roam the seas and change nests. Developing "feed" for them in light of their special metabolism seems like forcing domestication on something that won't be domesticated. Like our own farmed domestic meats, anything given a diet outside its natural eating habits deteriorates in quality and turns from animal into mere "food" material. Looks like bluefin are doomed to that same destiny. This is a response tot he section about fish farms and trying to up the protein quotient. Its like, we can never efficiently control them without transforming them into "substance" rather than "animal"! That's "soylent green" shit!
I love the ending, with Sea Food as a term. Frutta di Mare... fruit of the sea, implies that they just grow like produce. I like thinking of them as Sea Gifts. And this is one gift we should turn down and give back to the sea. :*