Ocean Friendly Cuisine: Sustainable Seafood Recipes from the World’s Finest Chefs
By James O. Fraioli, with a foreword Jean-Michel Cousteau
Willow Creek Books, in association with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, 2005
Hardcover, 231 pages, $35.00
North Atlantic Seafood: A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes
By Alan Davidson
Ten Speed Press, 2003
Paperback, 512 pages
We Are What We Eat
These two new cookbook offerings, while sharing a focus on seafood, both have very different and somewhat unusual organizational themes. Ocean Friendly Cuisine starts with the principle that our gastronomic choices are also in effect ecological and political choices, and that it is high time to orient our seafood selections towards species and methods that do not further contribute to the depletion of limited or endangered ocean resources. These principles guide the very types of fish, shellfish and other ocean creatures that appear in the book, and each species included is given a two-page discussion of where and how they are caught, the health of the resource, and any bycatch or environmental damage associated with the fishery. Each fishery is given a rating of either Best Choice, Good Alternative, or Avoid (with the Avoid species not appearing in the book).
This discussion of the environmental impact of consuming one fish over another was fairly good, considering the limited space available for each species, but in my mind it was missing one vital component, namely the importance of choosing local fish that does not require fossil-fuel-sucking transport halfway around the world before landing on the plate. For many reasons I think it is always better to make a pot of Maine mussels over a New Zealand Hoki, not the least of which is simply to have something new to discover when traveling. (Incidentally, for mussels, there are two good variants on the usual method: Curried Mussels with Lemongrass, and Mussels with Spicy Tomato, Black Bean and Chili Sauce.)
The two example recipes that follow each entry have been developed by celebrity chefs across the nation, and are accompanied by large, lush, close-up photographs of the genre I have sometimes heard described as “food pornography.”
The recipes tend towards presentation of single portions of large, fillet-cut pieces covered with a tasty and exotic sauce, much as you might expect in a restaurant. Some of these ingredients might be a bit outside the home pantry, as seen in Porcini Mushroom Dusted Sablefish over a Mussel Olive Oil Emulsion with Roasted Baby Bell Peppers and Elephant Garlic. I myself tried Roasted Sand Dabs with Meyer Lemon Relish and Rosti Potato Cakes with Crème fresh and California White Sturgeon Caviar (benignly raised and harvested by Stolt Sea Farm in aquaculture cages in the dry, desert Central Valley), and found both recipes to be well presented and explained, albeit requiring a good amount of hand work. Both were well received visually and gustatorially at the table, and disappeared in short order.
The second book, North Atlantic Seafood, also starts with an organization by species, but with more of an emphasis on the natural history of the fish, where it is found, and how to judge and select good pieces. This book is mostly all text, with some illustrations of the fish themselves, and with no color plates at all. After the glossy pages of Ocean Friendly Cuisine, it seemed at first to be a bit of a wallflower, reticent and shy with her secrets. However, this first impression was entirely eradicated by the witty, readable and comprehensive treatment of all the issues. Author Alan Davidson is no stranger to fish cookery texts, with his earlier offerings entitled Mediterranean Seafood and Seafood of Southeast Asia demonstrating his encyclopedic approach. The organization of the first half of the book into fish groups and species is mirrored by a second half, which is classified by nation, sweeping comprehensively around the Atlantic basin country by country. Each national section begins with a discussion of the region and the local traditions and culture, thus properly placing the food into the larger societal fabric. These two sections are cross linked by the recipes themselves, thus enabling a host expecting a passel of Norwegians to descend for dinner to choose a fish that they would find comforting, or, on the other hand, for a chef to see how a variety of cultures would treat any particular catch of the day. The recipes tend much more towards country cooking than the earlier book, with plenty of olive oil and butter and other hearty and common ingredients. Classics like paella and bouillabaisse are of course well covered, as well as other simple but less well known dishes such as Galician Octopus Pie from rocky Spanish coast, or She-Crab Soup from the steamy South Carolina lowlands. I made Portuguese hake in Green Sauce, and found it to be a recipe not only delectable, but also one that is especially applicable to Maine, with Port Clyde-caught hake going for a very reasonable price in my local market.
Both of these books would make a fine addition to any seaside kitchen. One is exotic, colorful, and high-minded political refinement, like some visiting aunt in high heels from New York City, while the second is more folksy, satisfying, and thorough, like a wise old uncle in from his farm. As the holiday seafood season approaches, either book could assist in presenting something new with the sweet abundance of Maine sea products.
Ben Neal is a PhD. candidate at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and a former marine resources director at the Island Institute.