Culture

Trash Fish

These items first appeared in our 2015 SAVEUR 100

By SAVEUR Editors


Published on January 23, 2015

#70 Cook with Trash Fish

By Allie WIst American butterfish isn't exactly a tasting menu star. It's a small, ugly little fish, often the bycatch of more desirable—and, thanks to overfishing, dwindling—species like grouper and tuna. Butterfish are often thrown back into the ocean, earning their place as one of the many so-called "trash fish." But now, chefs like Jason Weiner of Almond, in Long Island, New York, are mining these seafood scraps to transform their menus. Weiner says the oily, mildly flavored butterfish makes for perfect fish and chips. Ask your local fishmonger to recommend his or her favorite trash fish, and the best ways to prepare it.

#71 Know Where Your Fish Comes From

By Alexander Lobrano In Brittany, France, every line-caught fish sent to market by the Association of Breton Line Fishermen, an 8-year-old collective of small-boat fishermen, comes with a numbered tag. Using a code on that tag, consumers can go online to discover the person who caught the fish, his home port, and his fishing method. "Hook-to-table" fishing is growing in the U.S., too, where similar organizations include Montauk, New York-based Sea to Table; Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance; and Local Catch Monterey Bay.

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