A recent read of Read Food, Fake Food, by Larry Olmstead informed me of the incredible level of fakery in all types of seafood. As with many great books, Real Food educated me on many food issues and today I found direct evidence of Mr. Olmstead’s claims and the validity of his book. The specific topic is salmon. I really like salmon and I have really worked at cooking it on my Big Green Egg. I take great care to soak cedar planks for a few hours and I pay close attention to the temperature. I bring the heat up to about 500° for 20 minutes to saturate the grill. When I put on the cedar planks on, the temperature will drop and I don’t want it to go below 400°. The coals are hot but the air flow is reduced and the effective heat to the salmon needs to remain around 400° for the 12 minutes or so it takes to make perfectly cooked, medium rare salmon. We typically put it with a nice Caesar salad and yes, I make our own Caesar dressing. I take great care in the preparation of the meal and it should actually be salmon. Not sometimes, every time.
Well, it turns out that you have to read the fine print. I have been buying salmon from Costco for years and they consistently provide an excellent product. Today, I read a little closer when the fish just did not look the same and was listed as Atlantic Salmon. I learned in Real Foodthat Atlantic Salmon is exclusively farm raised. What I bought was worse than that. It was farm raised in Chili and the label stated that color was added to make the fish more colorful through feed. What? What the hell do they feed the fish to make it more salmon colored? I am feeding it to my family tonight, thank you very much. It did not taste bad but it did not have the same buttery excellence of other salmon that was wild caught and natural. There was a noticeable difference. Frankly, it pissed me off. What the hell are they feeding us and why do I have to try so hard to find good quality ingredients for my food? It really should not be so hard on the consumer to know clearly what they are buying and what is in it. I have to compliment Costco for their honesty as the label clearly stated what was in it. On the other hand, it was about 7 font and it’s a good thing I had eye surgery so I could actually read it. I should not have bought it but there were no other options. I was also a bit curious if the flavor would be dramatically altered. It was like many things in our food system – not terrible but just bland and un-exciting. Now I wonder where in the world I will buy real salmon. You know, the fish that was swimming near Alaska when they caught it with that natural pink color and delicious taste. Natural salmon eat krill and shrimp, giving them the reddish, orangish, pinkish color that they earned with their natural diet. It is the same diet that makes Flamingos pink and the color comes from a chemical called astaxanthin. Farmed fish don’t eat the same thing. They eat pellets with either crushed shells or artificial astaxanthin blended in. Either way, the fish are fed a diet determined not by nature or by natural selection but by some business man trying to maximize his profits by feeding the fish the cheapest food possible that meets whatever standards they have in Chili or wherever the farm happens to be. I don't know about you but that does not sound appetizing to me. It makes me really sad to think that I may never eat seafood in a restaurant again. I have no idea what I would be eating and now I have no idea where I can buy it for myself. According to my sources, Whole Foods is the most reliable and honest provider of seafood and other proteins. I don’t mind paying for it but it makes me sad that the vast majority of Americans have no idea what they are eating. I will take care of my end to things but the average consumer is paying for altered food. What a day....Disappointed by salmon.
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Dennis SmithHome Chef and Wine Snob Archives
October 2021
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