Boston - 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. Those were among the findings of a five-month Globe investigation into the mislabeling of fish. It showed that Massachusetts consumers routinely and unwittingly overpay for less desirable, sometimes undesirable, species - or buy seafood that is simply not what it is advertised to be. In many cases, the fish was caught thousands of miles away and frozen, not hauled in by local fishermen, as the menu claimed. It may be perfectly palatable - just not what the customer ordered.
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I honestly don't care...When it comes to fish, Salmon is pink, just about everything else is white and you can call it whatever you want, I thought everyone knew that.
My feeling is, if you're sitting there telling me you can tell the difference from one fillet of fish to another, after its been seasoned, baked, fried, grilled, etc...Then I'll tell you to your face that you're full of shit. I mean the investigators didn't figure this out by eye balling it or tasting it or anything, they had to go back to the lab to run DNA tests on the fish! That's insane.
My feeling is, if you're sitting there telling me you can tell the difference from one fillet of fish to another, after its been seasoned, baked, fried, grilled, etc...Then I'll tell you to your face that you're full of shit. I mean the investigators didn't figure this out by eye balling it or tasting it or anything, they had to go back to the lab to run DNA tests on the fish! That's insane.
Basically my philosophy is, if the fish is over $15, I'm not buying it...because it all tastes the same. You could fish whatever creatures inhabit the Mystic River, fry it up, maybe throw some Cajun spices on it, put it on my plate and tell me its exotic Vietnamese Catfish, and I'd smile happily and devour it. Couldn't care less.
The only people who really care about this are the fish snobs getting ripped off for paying $20+ for a piece of fish they could've caught off the Tobin. The people who order a fish because it sounds fancy...I buy fish if the seasoning, style, and sides sound good. I've never once thought, mmmm, I need a piece of plain-jane Cod...No, I want that Cod beer battered and served with fries, and if you subsititute Haddock for that Cod to save money, that's fine by me, I won't know the difference.
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| Cod? Haddock? Tuna? Snapper? Don't know, Don't Care |
