“Do you have any questions?” he says to me, and yeah, actually, I do. I’ve asked the nice gal that works at Seattle Fish Company about the Chilean sea bass before and she assured me it was sustainable, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy it. So I ask again.
We get to talking, the fish guy and I, and he introduces himself. His name is Paul and he owns the market. I tell him how I’ve been writing about fish, shopping for and eating fish, for a while now. About my homework around buying fish for my plate, how I’ve talked to the conservation guys at the aquariums and oh, yeah, now I remember, I talked to the fancy organic market buyers too. Paul asks me when I’ve last had Chilean sea bass and honestly, I can’t remember. “Today might be the day, ” he says.
We talk fish. We talk about spot prawns (good), tiger prawns (I mention how they’re NOT good), wild fish versus farmed fish. He tells me how you can now buy organic fish, but it’s farmed, and how he doesn’t like to carry farmed fish even if it’s organic. But he’s specific, it’s farmed FIN fish he doesn’t carry, his shellfish may be farmed though none of it comes from China. He seems genuinely interested to hear what I’ve learned about how prawn farming in SE Asia is bad environmentally and he tells me about how tuna is now farmed in open water pens that are up to a mile long. He convinces me that the Chilean Sea Bass is okay, that activism has forced fish poachers out of the market, but concedes that if I’m a fish fascist, (my words, not his) I shouldn’t buy it. I cave and he carves me off a generous piece of the beautiful white fish.
At the register, he discounts my rather expensive fish. “Let me give you a break on this because you’re so interested,” he says. “You know, would you like to come down to the distributors with me? You can see where this stuff comes from.” I am delighted beyond words. “Wow, that would be incredible!” I effuse. “I can take my camera and talk to the distributors and see how the fish comes in…” “Lemme see what I can do,” he says. “Maybe I can introduce you to those guys and you can go back and talk to them. I’ll make some calls and I’ll get back to you. Have you tried the Opa? It’s a HUGE fish with a big round eye…” I hand Paul my business card. “I’ll call you!” he says.
At Paul’s advice, I get the oven good and hot, and since I’m doing so, I figure I’ll roast the exotic baby potatoes I have from my CSA. I scrub them, but good, chop the bigger ones in to more manageable pieces, and toss them in the skillet with olive oil, a few cloves of garlic, and some sea salt. While they’re sizzling away, I splash a little white wine over the fish, grind some black pepper on it, and sprinkle on a tablespoon of capers. When the potatoes are soft but not yet brown, I put the fish in the same pan. At about seven minutes, I turn it over, smash the now very soft garlic on top, and let it sit in the oven for a few more minutes. When the fish starts to separate, I toss a little fresh Italian parsley on it and sit down to feast.
The fish is perfect. It’s a flaky white fish that’s very moist inside and tastes almost buttery. The texture is something like salmon, but it’s softer. It almost melts in my mouth. The bite of the capers and the sea salt is the perfect counterpoint for the mild flavor of the fish. The little potatoes are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and sweating just a little bit of olive oil. I have a very cold glass of Washington State Fume Blanc to wash it down. I am feeling mighty pleased with myself. Nerd’s Eye View, this is a forty dollar meal, I think, and yes, I would like to see the dessert tray.
In case you think I’ve forgotten the educational portion of Fish Wednesday, here’s an article on the Whole Foods website about why they’re now stocking Chilean Sea Bass again. Here’s an interview by Tom Brokaw with Bruce Knecht, the writer of Hooked: A True Story of Pirates, Poaching, and the Perfect Fish, a book I clearly need to get my fins on. And here’s National Geographic on the Chilean Sea Bass – still in trouble, they say.
The jury is out on whether I’ll be buying Chilean Sea Bass again. At 24 dollars a pound, it’s not exactly a daily item on the menu. I can say for sure that I’ll continue to shop the Seattle Fish Company. It’s a fine thing to know where your food is coming from and to talk with the people that bring it to you.
How amazingly COOL! ALL of it! Congrats!
Carol (Fellow lover of the Market… never talked to the big bosses though!)