Nutrition

August 22, 2013 — Women who have diets high in omega-3 fatty acids derived from fish are less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those who skimp on fish, new research suggests.

Researchers surveyed Swedish women about their diets and found over the course of more than seven years, long-term consumption of more than one serving of fatty fish each week was tied to a lower risk of developing the condition.

"This study is the first to attribute the protective effect of fish against rheumatoid arthritis to its content of omega-3 fatty acids," Daniela Di Giuseppe, a doctoral student at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and lead author of the study, told Reuters Health in an email.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes joint inflammation, deformities and disability. People with the condition also have a higher risk of heart disease, some infections, anxiety, depression and blood cancers like leukemia.

According to the American College of Rheumatology, between 0.5 and 1 percent of the U.S. population has rheumatoid arthritis. Women are two to three times more likely than men to develop the disease, which most commonly starts affecting people in their 60s.

Di Giuseppe and her colleagues followed over 32,000 women born between 1914 and 1948 who were part of the Swedish Mammography Cohort. Information about fish consumption was gathered from diet questionnaires sent to women in 1987 and 1997.

National registries were used to identify new diagnoses of rheumatoid arthritis between 2003 and 2010.

Read the full story from Reuters 

August 22, 2013 — A New Yorker article on the cost of lobster caused a stir among seafood lovers and skeptical diners this week, positing that restaurant prices do not reflect the current glut of crustaceans — now selling for as low as $2.20 off the boat in Maine — but the implied prestige of eating them.

Several vocal chefs have defended their prices, however, saying there are myriad reasons for the markups.

Whether the cost of transport, cooking labor or the type of lobster, the combined price of what appears on your plate is more complicated than boat hauls and psychological associations, said New York City chef Marco Canora (Hearth, Terroir Wine Bar) who fired off a fuming tweet earlier this week in response to the media flurry.

"Here we go again: annual 'cheap lobster' article is out and once again no talk of Hard vs. Soft shell lobsters #makesnosense," he wrote.

During the late summer, Maine lobsters molt their hard shells by dropping some weight and wiggling out. The creatures then begin to create a new shell in a much larger size, filling the gap between their bodies and their soft-shell exterior with water as they continue to grow. This can be misleading when it comes time to purchase.

"The weight is there [because of the water], but you yield less meat from it," said Canora. "Every year, this kind of article comes out and every year no one talks about it."

The reduced meat per shell means restaurants have to order just as much, if not more, to continue preparing dishes like lobster rolls, lobster bisque or lobster mac 'n' cheese, some chefs have attested.

Read the full story at ABC News 

August 15, 2013 — Today, chefs like Besh have moved anchovies to the top of the food chain, showcasing them as elegant bar snacks, sophisticated bruschetta or the foundation for pasta dishes and stews.

“They make friends and enemies quickly,” says Seamus Mullen, chef-owner of Tertulia in New York City. “A bad anchovy is not a good thing. It’s a question of making sure you get the right ones.”

Getting the “right” anchovies has become much easier in recent years. The mushy, salty tinned anchovies eaten by Besh’s father are still out there. But more and more, the shelves of gourmet stores and upscale supermarkets offer high-quality anchovies preserved in olive oil, pickled in vinegar or sometimes even fresh.

More menus feature items such as “boquerones,” white anchovies, often dressed with vinegar. Fresh anchovies might be cooked over a wood fire or dressed with breadcrumbs and garlic. Sometimes, anchovies go undercover. Besh uses them as what he calls “nature’s MSG,” melting them into beef daube and lamb stew to intensify the savory flavors.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

NEWPORT, Ore. — August 15, 2013 — The lunch specials on this summer day at Local Ocean Seafoods come with an added bonus — QR codes — the symbols that tech savvy people know to scan with their smartphones for something extra.

In this case, that new technology connects them to an old-fashioned idea — buying right from the provider. Or almost.

It's called Fish Trax Marketplace and it's as good as meeting the fishermen who landed the catch. Scan the code and there's the captain. Click another tab and there's the vessel. Tap a third and you'll meet the dealer. There's a place for leaving comments, too.

"This is really to build a community, open up communication and foster sustainable practices," said John Lavrakas, president of Advanced Research Corp., the developer of the service. "Let us tell the story of the fishermen and let the fishermen hear back from the public."

The idea grew out of a consortium of state and federal agencies that used global positioning systems to record the location of fish. The information was then entered into a database. Lavrakas and his Newport team helped develop some of the technology that made that research possible.

Read the full story at The Oregonian

PORTLAND, Ore. — August 15, 2013 — If you want to see the guy who caught that fish you’re eating, you’re in luck.

And if you want that fish to be delicious and easy to prepare, Duncan Berry thinks he’s pretty much helped you hit the lottery.The company is called Fishpeople. Put simply, it’s local seafood meals in a pouch that are precooked without losing their flavor.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever sat down with a can of tuna and just eaten it – it’s a lot like cardboard,” Berry said. “There’s a reason we invented mayonnaise, and that’s one of them.”

You take the pouch. You boil it for three minutes.

You cut the top off, dump it out and settle in with your food to enjoy what Berry calls “eatertainment” on your computer.

“Meet Martin Rice,” Berry said, holding up a picture of a fisherman. “Every salmon that he catches goes into this particular pouch.

“One of the things we want is to make Martin transparent to our customers. We want them to know there’s a human on the other end of that line. We want to make sure that who’s enjoying that meal understands that they’re connected to somebody on the other end.”

Here’s how it works. You log on to the company’s website and look for the code stamped on the particular pouch of food you’re eating. Once you’re there, you’ll see who caught the fish, who churned the butter, who grew the onions – almost all of it locally.

Read the full story and watch the video at KATU 

August 16, 2013 — As September fast approaches, chefs are leaving behind summer’s lighter fare and returning to braising, roasting and crusting of in-season seafood paired with hearty side dishes featuring fall produce.

It’s still nice for chefs and diners to see the food seasons,” said chef Sven Mede. “I think people are ready for their taste buds to change.”



At Catch American Seafood, one of the five eateries Mede oversees as managing chef for By the Blue Sea Restaurants in Santa Monica, Calif., about 50 percent of the menu will change each season. Among the main dishes on deck for autumn are prawns that get a winter campfire-like smokiness from being cooked on cedar paper; local shellfish with miso broth; and cornmeal-crusted Rainbow Trout.

“From a technique point of view, it’s about moving away from grilling and searing,” said Mede. “It’s more about [preparations like] crusting.”



Mede plans to pair the autumn dishes with all types of squash and pumpkins, and whatever else he finds at the local farmer’s market.



At Liberty Kitchen Oyster Bar in Houston, chef Lance Fegen celebrates the cooler weather by pairing simply prepared seafood with indulgent, seasonal sides. “With all of the fish we do, we just simply grill it,” he said. “So the fish is by itself and it has something nice and comfortable next to it.”

Read the full story from Nation's Restaurant News

August 13, 2013 — Eating salmon at least once a week could halve the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

Oily fish such as salmon or mackerel had the most marked effect, reducing the risk by 52 per cent, a study found.

The same benefit comes from eating four portions a week of lean fish such as cod or plaice.

Eating salmon at least once a week could halve the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis

The difference is in the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, which are present in much higher level in oily fish.

Even eating just one portion of any type of fish each week for 10 years leads to a 29 per cent cut in risk of arthritis, compared with those eating less fish.

Read the full story from the Daily Mail Reporter

August 6, 2013 — Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., says after nine years it's time for the Food and Drug Administration to update recommendations on how much seafood pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children should consume.

She organized a letter, signed by 19 Senate colleagues, including David Vitter, R-La., asking President Barack Obama to move forward updated draft FDA recommendations "stuck in intra-agency review" for months.

The letter, dated Tuesday, said:

"According to the latest scientific studies, seafood rich in Omega-3s and essential nutrients improves cognitive and visual developments in unborn children and infants. Seafood is also high in protein and low in fact and supports the healthy lifestyle promoted by the First Lady's 'Let's Move!' initiative."

Read the full story from the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Read a PDF of the letter

The signatories of the letter are reproduced below:

Mary Landrieu (D, LA)
Mark Begich (D, AK)
Richard Blumenthal (D, CT)
Maria Cantwell (D, WA)
Robert Casey (D, PA)
Chris Coons (D, DE)
Dick Durbin (D, IL)
Kirsten Gillibrand (D, NY)
Barbara Mikulski (D, MD)
Jeanne Shaheen (D, NH)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D, RI)
Elizabeth Warren (D, MA)
Saxby Chambliss (R, GA)
Jeffrey Chisea (R, NJ)
Tom Coburn (R, OK)
Susan Collins (R, ME)
Johnny Isakson (R, GA)
Mark Kirk (R, IL)
Lisa Murkowski (R, AK)
Marco Rubio (R, FL)
David Vitter (R, LA)

 

 

August 6, 2013 — In Paris last month, I was delighted, as one might expect, by extraordinary croissants, crêpes, paté foie gras, escargots, frogs legs, grand vins, Camembert, crème brulée and mousse-au-chocolat. What I didn’t expect there was a sublimely delicious seafood imported from New England — monkfish liver.

Before George Peterson became a state representative, he fished commercially and, with his beautiful wife Diana, owned and operated Peterson’s Fish Market in Grafton center. They introduced me to monkfish, sometimes called goosefish, when few people knew it even existed. I’ve favored it ever since. In Europe, it’s a very expensive delicacy.

Monkfish are a big, ugly species of anglerfish, often growing to 3 feet or more, with record fish weighing more than 200 pounds. They’re all head and tail. Projecting out of their head are three long, soft, worm-like filaments. They’re separated modifications of the front dorsal spines that seductively lure baitfish close to their wide, heavily toothed mouths, which suck in prey like a powerful vacuum cleaner.

For good reason, monkfish is commonly referred to as poor man’s lobster. It has a consistency similar to lobster tail and is frequently sautéed medium rare and covered with melted butter. Today, many gourmets rave about it, but few on our side of the Atlantic have tried the liver.

All my fish liver-eating experiences, beginning in my youth, were forced upon me by my health-conscious mother, who knew about the benefits of fish oil long before omega-3 fatty acids were being popularized. Growing up on a daily spoonful of unctuous cod liver oil left me unreceptive, though, to any future fish liver offerings. But monkfish liver proved wonderfully different. It’s a shame that it took a French restaurant to introduce me to an American delicacy.

Read the full story at the Worcester Telegram

 

August 5, 2013 — I tried to eat a shark last week and couldn’t find one. Recent estimates suggest that as many as 100 million sharks are killed by man each year whereas fewer than 20 people are killed by sharks. That means that I had about a 5,000,000:1 chance of being the eater, not the eaten, but I still struck out.

My plan was to kick off Shark Week by feasting on Squalus acanthias, aka Spiny Dogfish, and reporting my impressions. A local chef achieved minor celebrity status last year by feeding one of the omnivorous TV cooking show hosts the “best dogfish” he’d ever eaten. While this particular diner’s habits must be approached with caution– he pretends to like beetles and calf brains, for example–I thought this would be a fish I could try in good conscience.

Spiny dogfish are one of the few fish populations in good biological condition that New England fishermen can still catch, having recovered from a crash back in the early 1990’s. Once a fish despised because of the havoc it caused with fishing gear and its voracious predation on more valuable commercial fish, many fishermen who can no longer find cod or other prime species are turning to dogfish out of financial desperation. Eating shark for one meal seemed the least I could do to stimulate market demand.

Spiny dogfish has cycled through fish markets several times in the past. Stuck with a name that reminds many consumers uncomfortably of their cherished canine at home, dogfish mechandisers have resorted to various aliases over time, from “rock salmon” to “mud shark” to “Japanese halibut” (seriously!). The most recent New England marketing label is “Cape shark,” a reference to the swarming abundance of these sharks off Cape Cod.

While most sharks are decidedly more valuable left in the oceans, I was willing to make an exception for dogfish, at least in the short run. They, together with their cousins, the skates, have moved into the vacuum created by overfishing of cod and a number of types of flounder. More than “moved in” to that niche, they seem to have almost overrun it. Without some focused removals of dogfish and skates, some scientists think it might be difficult, if not impossible, for a number of groundfish species to recover.

Read the full story at Talking Fish