On Food And Cooking Part 27

King, Chinook: Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

Fresh, smoked Fresh, smoked

Sockeye, Red: O. nerka O. nerka

Fresh, canned Fresh, canned

Coho, Silver: O. kisutch O. kisutch

Fresh, canned Fresh, canned

Chum, Dog: O. keta O. keta

Roe, pet food Roe, pet food

Pink: O. gorbuscha O. gorbuscha

Canned Canned

Cherry, Amago (j.a.pan and Korea): O. masou O. masou

Fresh Fresh

The Atlantic and the Pacific king salmons are well supplied with moistening fat, and yet don't develop the strong flavor that similarly fatty herring and mackerel do. The distinctive salmon aroma may be due in part to the stores of pink astaxanthin pigment, which the fish acc.u.mulate from ocean crustaceans (p. 194), and which when heated gives rise to volatile molecules found in and reminiscent of fruits and flowers.

Trouts and Chars These mainly freshwater offshoots of the salmons are excellent sport fish and so have been transplanted from their home waters to lakes and streams all over the world. Their flesh lacks the salmon coloration because their diet doesn't include the pigmented ocean crustaceans. Today, the trout found in U.S. markets and restaurants are almost all farmed rainbows. On a diet of fish and animal meal and vitamins, rainbow trout take just a year from egg to mild, single-portion (0.51 lb/225450 gm) fish. The Norwegians and j.a.panese raise exactly the same species in salt.w.a.ter to produce a farmed version of the steelhead trout, which can reach 50 lb/23 kg, and has the pink-red flesh and flavor of a small Atlantic salmon. Arctic char, which can grow to 30 lb/14 kg as migratory fish, are farmed in Iceland, Canada, and elsewhere to about 4 lb/2 kg, and can be as fatty as salmon. These mainly freshwater offshoots of the salmons are excellent sport fish and so have been transplanted from their home waters to lakes and streams all over the world. Their flesh lacks the salmon coloration because their diet doesn't include the pigmented ocean crustaceans. Today, the trout found in U.S. markets and restaurants are almost all farmed rainbows. On a diet of fish and animal meal and vitamins, rainbow trout take just a year from egg to mild, single-portion (0.51 lb/225450 gm) fish. The Norwegians and j.a.panese raise exactly the same species in salt.w.a.ter to produce a farmed version of the steelhead trout, which can reach 50 lb/23 kg, and has the pink-red flesh and flavor of a small Atlantic salmon. Arctic char, which can grow to 30 lb/14 kg as migratory fish, are farmed in Iceland, Canada, and elsewhere to about 4 lb/2 kg, and can be as fatty as salmon.

The Cod Family Along with the herring and tuna families, the cod family has been one of the most important fisheries in history. Cod, haddock, hake, whiting, pollack, and pollock are medium-sized predators that stay close to the ocean bottom along the continental shelves, where they swim relatively little - and thus have relatively inactive enzyme systems and stable flavor and texture. Cod set the European standard for white fish, with its mild flavor and bright, firm, large-flaked flesh, nearly free of both red muscle and fat.

Trouts, Chars, & RelativesTrout family relations are complicated. Here's a list of the more common species and the part of the world they came from.

Common Name Scientific Name Scientific Name Original Home Original Home

Brown, salmon trout Salmo trutta Salmo trutta Europe Europe

Rainbow trout; Steelhead (seagoing) Oncorhynchus mykiss Oncorhynchus mykiss W. North America, Asia W. North America, Asia

Brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis Salvelinus fontinalis E. North America E. North America

Lake trout Salvelinus namaycush Salvelinus namaycush N. North America N. North America

Arctic char Salvelinus alpinus Salvelinus alpinus N. Europe and Asia, N. North America N. Europe and Asia, N. North America

Whitefish Coregonus Coregonus species species N. Europe, North America N. Europe, North America

Members of the cod family mature in two to six years, and once provided about a third the tonnage of the herring-family catch. Many populations have been exhausted by intensive fis.h.i.+ng; but the northern Pacific pollock fishery is still highly productive (it's used mostly in such prepared foods as surimi and breaded or battered frozen fish). Some cod are farmed in Norway in offsh.o.r.e pens.

Nile Perch and Tilapia The mainly freshwater family of true perches are fairly minor foodfish in both Europe and North America. More prominent today are several farmed relatives that provide alternatives to scarce cod and flatfish fillets. The Nile or Lake Victoria perch can grow to 300 lb/135 kg on a diet of other fish, and is farmed in many regions of the world. The herbivorous tilapia is also a widely farmed native of Africa; it's hardy and grows well at 6090F/2035C in both fresh and brackish water. A number of different species and hybrids are sold under the name tilapia, and have different qualities. Oreochromis nilotica Oreochromis nilotica is said to have been cultured the longest and to have the best flesh. The Nile perch and tilapia are among the few freshwater fish to produce TMAO, which breaks down into fishy-smelling TMA (p. 193). is said to have been cultured the longest and to have the best flesh. The Nile perch and tilapia are among the few freshwater fish to produce TMAO, which breaks down into fishy-smelling TMA (p. 193).

Ba.s.ses The freshwater ba.s.ses and sunfish of North America are mostly sport fish, but one has become an important product of aquaculture: the hybrid striped ba.s.s, a cross between the freshwater white ba.s.s of the eastern United States and the seagoing striped ba.s.s. The hybrid grows faster than either parent, is more robust, and yields more meat, which can remain edible for up to two weeks. Compared to the wild striped ba.s.s, the hybrid has a more fragile texture and bland flavor. Occasionally muddy aroma can be reduced by removing the skin.

The ocean ba.s.ses - the American striped ba.s.s and European sea ba.s.s (French loup de mer, loup de mer, Italian Italian branzino branzino) are prized for their firm, fine-flavored flesh and simple skeletons; the sea ba.s.s is now farmed in the Mediterranean and Scandinavia.

Ba.s.s Family Relations

Sea Ba.s.s

European sea ba.s.s

Dicentrarchus labrax Dicentrarchus labrax

Black sea ba.s.s

Centropristis striatus Centropristis striatus

Striped ba.s.s

Morone saxtalis Morone saxtalis

North American Freshwater Ba.s.s

White ba.s.s

Morone chrysops Morone chrysops

Yellow ba.s.s

Morone mississippiensis Morone mississippiensis

White perch

Morone americana Morone americana

Hybrid striped ba.s.s

Morone saxtalis Morone saxtalis x x Morone chrysops Morone chrysops

Icefish The "cod icefish" family is a group of large, sedentary plankton-eaters that live in the cold deep waters off Antarctica. The best known of them is the fatty "Chilean sea ba.s.s," an inaccurate but more palatable commercial name for the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), which can reach 150 lb/70 kg. Its fat is located in a layer under the skin, in the chambered bones, and dispersed among the muscle fibers: toothfish flesh can be nearly 15% fat. It wasn't until the mid-1980s that cooks came to know and appreciate this lusciously rich, large-flaked fish, which is unusually tolerant of overcooking. Like the orange roughy and other deepwater creatures, the toothfish is slow to reproduce, and there are already signs that its numbers have been dangerously depleted by overfis.h.i.+ng.

Tunas and Mackerel Who would know from looking at a cheap can of tuna that it was made from one of the most remarkable fish on earth? The tunas are large predators of the open ocean, reaching 1,500 lb/680 kg and swimming constantly at speeds up to 40 miles/70 km per hour. Even their fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are normally white and bland, contribute to the nonstop cruising, and have a high capacity for using oxygen, a high content of oxygen-storing myoglobin pigment, and active enzymes for generating energy from both fat and protein. This is why tuna flesh can look as dark red as beef, and has a similarly rich, savory flavor. The meaty aroma of cooked and canned tuna comes in part from a reaction between the sugar ribose and the sulfur-containing amino acid cysteine, probably from the myoglobin pigment, which produces an aroma compound that's also typical of cooked beef.

Tuna has been the subject of connoisseurs.h.i.+p at least since cla.s.sical times. Pliny tells us that the Romans prized the fatty belly (the modern Italian ventresca ventresca) and neck the most, as do the j.a.panese today. Tuna belly, or toro, toro, can have ten times the fat content of the back muscle on the same fish, and commands a large premium for its velvety texture. Because the bluefin and bigeye tunas live longest, grow largest, and prefer deep, cold waters, they acc.u.mulate more fat for fuel and insulation than other species, and their meat can fetch hundreds of dollars per pound. can have ten times the fat content of the back muscle on the same fish, and commands a large premium for its velvety texture. Because the bluefin and bigeye tunas live longest, grow largest, and prefer deep, cold waters, they acc.u.mulate more fat for fuel and insulation than other species, and their meat can fetch hundreds of dollars per pound.

The Tuna FamilyThese major oceangoing tuna species are found worldwide.

Common Name Scientific Name Scientific Name Abundance Abundance

Bluefin Thunnus thynnus Thunnus thynnus (northern); (northern); T. maccoyii T. maccoyii (southern) (southern) very rare very rare

Bigeye, ahi T. obesus T. obesus rare rare

Yellowfin, ahi T. albacares T. albacares abundant abundant