• Last updated 2/16/10 by JackBlack

Cooking fish perfectly is an easy thing to do. This, you may say, is somewhat presumptuous coming from a professional cook, but it’s true—cooking fish is simple, and its preparation should reflect this. In fact, in most cases the simplest preparations are usually the best. Overly complicated and labor-intensive recipes are unnecessary. Actually, the most important thing to remember when cooking finfish is not to overcook them. If fish is extremely fresh there is none that I can think of that doesn’t benefit from being just slightly underdone. Now I’m definitely not... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by cemptor

Endorsements roll in for proposed U.S. Endangered Species listing; international trade officials freeze beluga caviar exports Article originally printed at www.caviaremptor.org (October 27, 2002) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's proposal to list beluga sturgeon - the source of coveted beluga caviar - as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act has been met with support from a Caspian Sea nation as well as more than 50 scientists, 70 chefs and thousands of individuals in the United States and beyond. The Service's 90-day public comment period... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by gchamberlain

FARMED SEAFOOD AND THE ENVIRONMENT: RESPONDING TO OUR CRITICS published in the Global Aquaculture Advocate, December 1999, vol. 2, #6Is it environmentally responsible to buy and sell farmed seafood? This is the question increasingly being asked of consumers and food retailers alike. Consumers do need to know more about the seafood products they buy and the impact of their purchases. Unfortunately, only one side of the story is being told. As aquaculturists, often more focused on fish farming than public relations, we need to respond clearly with the facts. Let's... read more

• Last updated 12/14/10 by Cristina7

When I was training in some of the great restaurants in France, I was amazed that all the scallops we purchased were in the shell, much like you would buy an oyster or mussel. They were beautiful specimens--tight and extremely sweet. It was all a romantic picture until I had to open and clean several cases of them as fast as I possibly could (the only working speed in these kitchens). Don't be misled--it's a tough job that ultimately yields a proportionally small amount of scallops. But what a prized delicacy it is. What we actually eat is only a small part of the... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by Nicko

ChefTalk.com would like to thank Chef Charles Weber of Riva Restaurant in Chicago, Il. for sharing some of his fast knowledge about fish. Recently Chef Weber put together a comprehensive document of fish descriptions for his wait staff to help educate them about the subject. At our last Chef's Journal we asked Chef Weber if he would share it with the ChefTalk community and he was more than happy to do so. The list is very comprehensive, in fact, the list is so comprehensive that we have broken it up into two parts. SEARCH TIP *(If you are looking for a particular... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by cweber

ChefTalk.com would like to thank Chef Charles Weber of Riva Restaurant in Chicago, Il. for sharing some of his fast knowledge about fish. Recently Chef Weber put together a comprehensive document of fish descriptions for his wait staff to help educate them about the subject. At our last Chef's Journal we asked Chef Weber if he would share it with the ChefTalk community and he was more than happy to do so. The list is very comprehensive, in fact, the list is so comprehensive that we have broken it up into two parts. SEARCH TIP *(If you are looking for a particular... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by jemmerson

In a culinary world where chefs quest for new commodities and methods of cookery it is understandable that the idea of cooking with trout does not purvey the concept of modern cuisine. Nor does it really spark the culinary imagination. This is certainly the way I felt - until I encountered the fish form Rushing Waters. In the heart of the Wisconsin countryside - Palmyra to be exact you can discover Rushing Waters Fishery. Rushing Waters is a trout farm with a difference. It is an operation that is focused on quality not quantity. A rare philosophy in the fish business... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by ckoetke

Diver scallops have been all the rage on menus across the country. To better understand what diver scallops are and how they are actually harvested, ChefTalk.com tracked down veteran scallop diver Tim Hunt from Deer Isle, Maine. Tim has been collecting scallops from the icy Atlantic for the last 20 years. ChefTalk: So tell us, what exactly is a "diver scallop". Tim Hunt: A diver scallop is exactly what the name means--scallops that are collected from the ocean by divers hand-picking each one. The majority of the scallops on the market are harvested by boats that drag... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by dcharette

Soft-shell crabs are one of America's favorite seafood delicacies. While all crabs shed their shells to grow, only a few species of crab can actually be eaten in this form. The Blue Crab is the only commercially available soft-shell product. The scientific name, callinectes sapidusis, is derived from Latin and Greek. Calli = beautiful; Nectes = swimmer; sapidus = savory. The translation is not only accurate but surprisingly poetic - the beautiful, savory swimmer. Blue crabs grow rather rapidly, 12 - 18 months, from the juvenile stage to adulthood. A full-grown Blue Crab... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by jrezny

Brown, White, Pink, Tiger, Shell-on, Prawns, peeled and deveined (P&D), IQF and block are all terms to describe shrimp. These, terms and brands, are used and misused in search of good quality shrimp. But before you get into the shrimp descriptors you have to start at the origin to fully comprehend quality. Our focus is on Gulf Shrimp; this can be applied to some South American product such Ecuadorian shrimp. There are two types of boats that catch shrimp, freezer boats and ice boats. Freezer boats are large "freighter" operations that catch the shrimp but also process... read more