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  #1  
Old 07-30-2002, 04:46 PM
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Question Escolar, good fish or bad fish?

We recently had a food critic write about a fish that we find very popular in our restaurant. The fish is Escolar and it is a by-catch of the Tuna. Some call it White Tuna and I have heard it named Oil Fish, but that was a name given in the Far East. Her view of the fish has people running for the toilet even before tasting it.
I was wondering what if any experience anyone has had, positive or negative, response to serving this fish. Our customers think it is the best fish they have ever eaten. My wife on the other hand cannot eat it as the oil content is too much for her. If people are not used to a certain cooking technic, they will have various issues from trying new cuisines. we use much olive oil in our cooking and this has the same effect on people that eat Escolar when they are used to eating Shrimp.
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Grouse
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Old 07-30-2002, 06:32 PM
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Hi Cucina, and welcome to Chef Talk. You'll find plenty of other culinary enthusiasts- pros and amateurs alike- to answer your question. However, I'm moving your post to the Cooking Questions forum, as that's where more people will be likely to see it.

Good luck! Please enjoy visiting and posting in our forums, and don't miss a look at our archives.
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Old 07-30-2002, 09:06 PM
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Hey there Cucina!! One of the chefs I used to work under loved Escolar. We used to serve it quite often and never had a complaint about it. From what I understand, it is not the oiliness of the fish that causes problems, it is the fact that it contains a high amount of histamines. It does cause issue with people who have a low tolerance of histamines, but again, in all the time we served it, I have never heard of anyone having a problem. About 2-2 1/2 years ago, a Chicago newspaper ran an article about Escolar, talking about both the pros and cons of the fish, but we didn't run Escolar for awhile after that. We just didn't want all the attention to influence our guests perception of it. After the hype wore down we were running it again, and people loved it!
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Old 07-31-2002, 03:20 PM
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An excellent fish. Extremely easy to prepare and very satisfying to consume (allergy issues aside; something I've never directly been aware of happening).

My only complaint is that away from larger cities, it is not always available.
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Old 07-31-2002, 04:26 PM
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There was some discussion a while back about Escolar. Check out...
http://www.cheftalkcafe.com/forums/s...hlight=escolar
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Old 08-01-2002, 04:37 PM
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I love escolar.
I think for it to send you to the toilet you have to eat heaps of the stuff.
I only recently heard about this phenomenon, never had trouble with it myself.
I don't even find it too oily, but obviously you wouldn't deep fry it. It's great with acid based dressings and it can stand up to a bit of crispy pancetta and red wine sauce.
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Old 08-04-2002, 05:42 AM
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The biggest problem is finding a reputable source for Escolar. It's not properly regulated in the southern waters off of South America where the main catch is aquired. Many times a cousin of Escolar with even higher oil content is sold as the real deal. Peopl have been made sick from eating it and at least one person , in Texas I beleive died.

I ate it and had no problem then my head waiter ate it and was sick all night.

I leave it alone.

Jon
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