Instead of salmon or swordfish, consider sardines.
Rather than monkfish, eat mussels.
Go with oysters in place of orange roughy.
Canadian author Taras Grescoe calls it "bottomfeeding" -- eating at the lower end of the food chain -- and it's the environmental and ethical path he discovered after three years of research into the modern seafood industry. He found that "big-ticket predators" such as tuna and swordfish are more likely to be overfished -- and more likely to concentrate toxins in their bodies.
On the other hand, smaller and younger creatures often are neglected in modern American diets, thiough they are "often the tastiest and healthiest choices of all," he said in a recent interview to discuss his new book, "Bottomfeeder" (Bloomsbury USA, $24.99).
Sardines and anchovies, for instance, are abundant, and they're full of healthful omega-3 fatty acids, low in mercury and high in flavor. Mussels and oysters are farmed without chemicals, they clean the oceans and reduce the size of dead zones. Herring is sustainably fished, high in omega-3s and low in toxins.
It's a good approach to eating seafood, though sometimes a challenging one, said Ken Peterson, a spokesman for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, whose national Seafood Watch program helps consumers figure out which fish to eat.
Indeed, on a stroll last week through Pike Place Market, Seattle's temple of fresh seafood, not a single fresh sardine could be found. (They're stocked erratically, in part because they don't sell well, fishmongers said.) But there was plenty of orange roughy, a fish that does not start reproducing until it is decades old, and that is harvested with deep-seabottom trawlers in a way Grescoe compared to "burning down the Amazon so we could catch the fleeing parrots and macaws in butterfly nets."
But even on Cannery Row in Monterey, it's sometimes hard to persuade consumers to eat fresh sardines.
"They're more flavorful fish. They're stronger tasting," said the aquarium's Peterson. " It's kind of (a matter of) getting people's palates adjusted to that."
Grescoe says we should give such fish a chance. He finds the flavor delicious, and he says it's not as if people haven't changed their mindsets about fish before. They didn't always consider "steak-like seafood at the center of the plate" as the way to eat. As well, Peterson said, calamari "was once something you didn't see out(side) of the Greek or Italian communities, and now you can find them all over the place."
Growing up in British Columbia, Grescoe recalled that his mother would pay $20 for a fillet of wild salmon.
"That was a lot of money back then. ... It was valued back then," he said. "I remember it being a treat. But ever since the farmed industry came in, we've come to see salmon as sort of this choice we expect on in-flight meals, a choice with beef and chicken."
Beyond encouraging us to become "bottomfeeders," Grescoe's message is for consumers to know more about what they eat. When it comes to shrimp, for instance, the wild-caught spot prawns seasonally available in the Northwest are a great choice, though the price makes them more of a treat than a dietary staple. Conversely, a look at inexpensive, imported farmed shrimp is one of the more harrowing sections of Grescoe's book, which showcases an overseas visit to a farm where "naturally raised" shrimp swim in a pond bleached with chemicals alongside dying stalks of rice.
"The simple fact is, if you are eating cheap shrimp today, it almost certainly comes from a turbid, pesticide- and antibiotic-filled, virus-ridden pond in ... one of the world's poorest countries," Grescoe said.
Consumers are growing more accustomed to asking questions about land-grown foods, such as if there are antibiotics in meat or pesticides on vegetables, but seafood hasn't gotten the same attention.
"To a certain extent, seafood's gotten on the radar around issues like mercury in tuna and some of the other big predators," Peterson acknowledged. "But beyond that it gets a little fuzzier. 'Farmed salmon must be good' is sort of the intuitive reaction (and) 'because it's farmed you're not catching wild fish!' Yet it's on our red list."
Grescoe generally recommends against farmed salmon for "spreading sea lice to wild stocks, contaminating coastal environments, and consuming stocks of wild fish in the form of feed." In research that brings muckraking books such as "Fast Food Nation" to mind, he described farmed salmon fed on a protein diet that included chicken feathers and manure, their nets treated with "an anti-fouling paint originally formulated to make the hulls of boats so poisonous even barnacles would not stick to them."
"I thought the process of researching this book would sort of steer me to an empty plate in the end -- or turn me into a vegan," Grescoe said.
But the news wasn't all bad. He found the Filet-o-Fish at McDonald's was made from sustainable pollock approved by the non-profit Marine Stewardship Council, which he calls "the single most credible independent certifier of fisheries in the world."
In the end, Grescoe felt surprisingly hopeful. Choices remain for seafood that is both health-conscious and environmentally sound, he said. He eats more seafood now than ever -- just different kinds than he once did.
He also found some inspiration. In Japan and in England, for instance, even major supermarkets provide detailed labeling information on seafood to help consumers make the best choices. In their absence here, we can at least try to gain the same information.
Start, he said, with: "Where is this from? Which ocean? Is it farmed or is it wild?"
"Then," he said, "we have to start asking more specific questions. You're going to feel picky and like a nuisance at first, but they're going to have to start answering those questions."
ROASTED SQUID WITH BREAD CRUMBS AND OREGANO
SERVES 4
1 1/4 lb fresh cleaned squid Salt Freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano Aioli (recipe follows)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse squid and cut into 1/4-inch rings. Season the rings with salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Toss bread crumbs with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and toast in the preheated oven until golden, stirring them after 5 minutes to help them brown evenly. Toss with the chopped oregano while still warm and reserve.
Turn oven up to 500 degrees. Lay the seasoned squid on a baking sheet with sides (squid gives off liquid as it cooks). Bake for 5 minutes, until the squid is nicely roasted and lightly browned. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and pour off the liquid.
To serve, arrange squid on a platter and sprinkle with the bread crumbs. Thin the aioli a bit with water and drizzle over the top.
AIOLI (GARLIC MAYONNAISE) 3 cloves garlic, peeled (more or less according to taste) Salt 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten 3/4 cup pure olive oil 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (extra-virgin oil adds flavor but can be overpowering by itself)
Mash garlic to a smooth paste in a mortar with a pinch of salt. Remove 1/3 of the paste and set aside. To the rest of the garlic add 1 teaspoon water, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the egg yolk, stirring well. Combine the two types of olive oil. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, a few drops at a time. As the mixture starts to thicken, begin adding the oil in a slow, steady stream. If the aioli becomes too thick, thin it with a bit of water and continue. After all the oil has been mixed in, taste for salt and garlic and adjust accordingly.
Refrigerate until needed. Aioli should be used the day it is made, preferably within a few hours; otherwise the fresh garlic flavor dissipates and becomes unpleasant. Recipes from Alice Waters, in "One Fish, Two Fish, Crawfish, Bluefish: The Smithsonian Sustainable Seafood Cookbook"
SARDINE 'TONNATO' SPREAD
MAKES 1 CUP (use like tuna salad)
2 3 3/4-ounce cans brisling sardines packed in olive oil, drained 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 2 teaspoons drained bottled capers, chopped 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/8 teaspoon salt Mash together all ingredients in a bowl with a fork until combined well.
From Gourmet magazine via Epicurious.com
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