Fish Unwrapped. C4.

[catherinecherub]

Did anyone watch this programme? If you didn't and you like fish and prawns then it is well worth watching.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/disp ... /episode-5

I am luckier than most as my son is a fisherman and I know where my fish has come from but after watching the programme,

There will be no more prawn meals in restaurants for me as they may have come from Asia and I will need to know that the Cod I have ordered is not River Cobbler, a cheap substitute that is farmed in the murky rivers of Vietnam.
I will also look more closely at the Fresh Fish counter in supermarkets and make sure that I read all of the label and do not buy something that has been frozen for nine months prior to making an appearance there.
It is the consumer that is being left in the dark again..............

 

[noblehead]

Thanks Catherine I use to love a prawn cocktail!

Can't believe that fish is frozen for 9 months and then defrosted and sold as fresh, far better to buy from the local fishmonger I say!

Nigel

 

[catherinecherub]

Hi Nigel,
The labels they showed on the programme did have a small print on the bottom to say that the fish had been previously frozen. I think we assume that a Fresh Fish counter does not have frozen fish for sale. I went to a supermarket today and bought a piece of salmon that did say it had been frozen. I asked the assistant if I could freeze it and she replied, "Yes". I then asked for the Manager and he got very flustered and said that his staff should make sure they are not telling customers that they can freeze previously frozen products. I gave him the fish back and told him that there must have been many customers who had accepted that they could freeze something that was previously frozen. Perhaps he should separate the counter for fresh and frozen fish but he pretended that he didn't hear that one.
I will never eat another restaurant prawn. The ones on the programme swam in sewage and chemicals and were injected to increase their size. The hygiene in the Fish Market there was non existent.

 

[Patch]

I didn't watch that show - but I think I should catch it on 4OD. I buy a lot of king prawns from my local Chinese Supermarket.

Don't think I like the idea of them swimming in sewage... :?

I also eat a lot of River Cobbler, from Tesco. Although I have done some research (can't remember where, though) that stated that Tesco does NOT import their River Cobbler from Vietnam.

I really like River Cobbler... :cry:

 

[catherinecherub]

http://www.tesco.com/recipes/product.as ... ler%20fish
Do more research Patch, they do sell it.

 

[Patch]

Cr*p. Now what am I going to eat? River Cobler is cheap and delicious! :x

 

[louismum]

Funnily enough I had some smoked river cobbler delivered in my Tesco order today to try for the first time. I intended to cook it like smoked haddock ...poach in milk...but the instructions say cook in the oven. How do you cook yours Patch ?

 

[cugila]

Cr*p. Now what am I going to eat? River Cobler is cheap and delicious! :x

Try Coley.

 

[Patch]

My missus cooks it in the oven, but that can dry it out. I just cut it into strips (short ways, about 20mm wide) and then fry it in hot oil for around a minute on each side. Goes a lovely golden colour, and stays moist on the inside.

I've tried it a few different ways, my favourite is fried as above, but using olive oil with garlic and chilli in it. Then, just before serving it, I put a splash of dark soy sauce into the pan and stir everything around to get a slight sticky coating.

(To make the chilli/garlic oil, I just squeeze some lazy chilli and lazy garlic into a bottle of olive oil. Give it a good shake before pouring it, and you've got a great oil that is fantastic for any type of asian cooking).

 

[catherinecherub]

How about mackerel Patch?

Loads of recipes online. This one is good.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1551 ... rry-spices

 

[Patch]

Mackerel is definitely on the menu! Try to get a minumum of 3 servings of oily fish every week. (Although I've failed since going back on induction - Rump Steak tonight!!!)

River Cobbler is really nice - but it's the cost that makes it so appealing. Show me another white fish that holds together when cooked that you can get for £2.00 for 2 good sized, bone and skin free fillets?

 

[louismum]

Thanks patch, I will try frying it.

 

[noblehead]

How about mackerel Patch?

Loads of recipes online. This one is good.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1551 ... rry-spices

Love mackerel and eat it every week!

Nigel

 

[Patch]

That site is blocked at work - somebody wanna cut n' paste the recipe into a PM for me?

Thanks in advance!

 

[noblehead]

Meant to say earlier, did anyone see Gordon Ramsay Shark Bait on Sunday night?... I kid you not it was truly disturbing!

He was investigating the trade in shark fins used in shark fin soup in Chinese Restaurants. The trade is on a industrial scale and all species of sharks are in danger of extinction, they cut the fins off the sharks and throw the bodies back into the sea, often this is carried out when the sharks are still alive. When Gordon was watching a shark conservation video of this barbaric act taking place you could see by his face that he was horrified by what he had seen, so much so that he is calling for a total ban on shark fin soup in this country.

This will little effect in the far east and sadly this horrible trade will continue, the customers he spoke to in restaurants in China seemed unconcerned that shark numbers were seriously depleting and were more than willing to pay the equivalent of £100-200 for each bowl of soup. As I said its a vast trade and huge amounts of money are at stake, but love or hate sharks this practise of killing them solely for their fins are throwing away 95% of the body must be tighter regulated or ideally banned!

Nigel

 

[daisy1]

When the fins are cut off a shark and it is thrown back in the water it sinks to the bottom as it can no longer swim. They need to swim through the water in order to breathe. Therefore they drown - a slow and agonising death :evil:

 

[phoenix]

When I first came across Panga (the name for river cobbler in French) I looked it up , initially just to find out what it was and how to cook it. I soon came across mountains of vitriol and followed a tangled trail.

In France the criticims stemmed from a French TV programme which said that the fish was farmed in polluted waters, frozen in polluted water, was unsustainable, exploited the workers (boss in mansion, workers in shacks) and to top it all the females were injected with the urine of pregnant Chinese women!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xo87j_ ... inable_dev
(in French)
There have been similar reports in the US
However I also came across this article which was more balanced
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magaz ... wanted=all
This commenting on the French programme
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/ ... ch_reports
and this one containing the industries answer. (including what the fish were injected with ie hCG which is also used farming other fish including sea bass and bream and is injected into humans as a fertility treatment)
In French so use google translate
http://aquatrop.cirad.fr/encyclopedie/e ... ophthalmus

After all that, i'm still not sure about the sustainability and it certainly goes against my ideas of buying locally and seasonably . However, I don't think it's dangerous (I read elsewhere in my researches about the tests done on the Fish by the supermarkets and even watchdog) and it is certainly a cheap source of nutritious fish.

 

[mrburden]

I didn't watch that show - but I think I should catch it on 4OD. I buy a lot of king prawns from my local Chinese Supermarket.

Don't think I like the idea of them swimming in sewage... :?

I also eat a lot of River Cobbler, from Tesco. Although I have done some research (can't remember where, though) that stated that Tesco does NOT import their River Cobbler from Vietnam.

I really like River Cobbler... :cry:

I used to manage a fishmongers shop owned by members of my family. Sorry to shatter the illusion that fish swim in clean waters but in many areas of our own coastline fish are caught in water that does not meet EU swimming standards and is deemed "contaminated". We don't have to buy from abroad to find health problems! Anyone who enjoys shellfish such as whelks might not know that the best catchment areas for them are near sewer outfalls as they (and many moluscs) feed on it! The vast majority of our fish is unsustainably caught by massive trawlers and then cross-loaded at sea to factory ships and I can tell you that the factory ships are, in many cases, rusting hulks that you would have trouble walking on for the fish oils and guts spread across their decks. They too work in UK waters and cause health concers of their own.
It's true that some frozen fish can be called "fresh" because our rediculous food standards agency accept that fish factory ships process and freeze the fish within minutes of the net being lifted from the sea. This is the same for vegetables such as "Garden Fresh Frozen Peas", picked and frozen within the hour, as a well known company advertises.
Sadly, as with many trades, the supermarkets have taken the custom away from small fishmongers by offering cheap products. But if you still have an independant fishmonger in your area they will be able to offer sustainably caught, clean, fresh, top quality products when they are in season. Alas, they will also have to charge you more than the supermarkets do for the rubbish that they want to sell you

 

[diski34]

Funnily enough I had some smoked river cobbler delivered in my Tesco order today to try for the first time. I intended to cook it like smoked haddock ...poach in milk...but the instructions say cook in the oven. How do you cook yours Patch ?

Stick it in a steamer with a load of veg, sprinkle with lemon juice when cooked - delicious!

 

[BaliRob]

Dear Catherinecherub,

As you are aware, I always have great respect for your postings and contributions to this forum so please bear this in mind when I report the following.

One area of S/E Asia for the supply of crustacean and possibly larger than Bangladesh is Indonesia. I have personally witnessed the harvesting of such fish, usually twice a year, from their irrigated 'sea ponds' and being despatched for immediate freezing for onward travel to the US and the UK - their largest consumers. I have friends who own such ponds who just about scrape a living in this manner and who often suffer losses due to fungal infection because they do not use the chemicals that the article suggests. I have never seen bags of chemicals in their sheds purely because most fish farmers just could not afford them.

Another point I would like to make against the article is that most of use have seen the state of our oceans - the filth is so great that it congeals into large 'islands' - yes, even in the middle of the Pacific. It is often so bad that millions of dead fish are present having
been starved of oxygen. We have no excuse - we have known about the danger of eating all shellfish through mercury contamination for years. We eat fish at our own risk.