Week 5: A sustainable seafood blog
INTRODUCTION:
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Cookery Topic: Sustainable Seafood
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The Menu:
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Crab Cakes
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Fish en Papillote
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Red Onion Confiture & Rhubarb Compote
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MY PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:
My knowledge of seafood has grown extensively since I started working at The Depot. Before this job experience, I had would try different types of fish with my family, and became particularly fond of shrimp, crawfish, and oyster rockefeller. Since starting at The Depot, I have learned how to shuck oysters properly, clean a fish, cure & cut gravlax, and still have more to learn.
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
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Explain the difference between wild-harvested and aquaculture seafood.
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List reasons why the world supplies of wild-harvested fish are being depleted.
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Discuss why improved abilities to transport fresh and frozen fish have affected demand for fish.
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Define bycatch and its effect on ocean ecosystems.
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Explain the different techniques for catching wild fish and their effects on other sea creatures or ocean floor habitats.
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Describe the role that aquaculture is currently playing to compensate for decreasing wild fish stocks.
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List the characteristics used to assess the sustainability of wild fishing operations.
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List the characteristics used to assess the sustainability of aquaculture operations.
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List major threats currently to the seafood industry.
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Explain how dead zones are formed and their relationship to agriculture.
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Discuss some of the factors that chefs should consider when making sustainable seafood choices.
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Explain what “trash” fish are and how chefs can leverage them in their operations.
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Describe why it is important for chefs to work with reputable seafood purveyors.
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List the two major families of algae and discuss their potential impact globally.
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Explain why it is important for chefs to work with and learn from organizations that provide current scientific information about sustainable seafood choices.
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Background:
Sustainable Seafood
This is an up and coming trend in the food industry and in the deep-sea fishing industry. The idea is to promote fish repopulation in the oceans by not overfishing; also keeps fishing companies from taking in too many fish & killing other wildlife during the process (bycatching). Ways to keep up sustainable seafood in the fishing industry could be: utilizing fish farms, fishing only in season, and communicating with other companies to keep enough fish in the wild-this will allow for better repopulation.
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Millions of Fishies, Fishies For Free?:
There are a variety of ways to prepare seafood, this is what makes it such a desirable food group, and partly why the resources are being depleted so quickly. This week, we are making crab cakes and fish in a bag. Crab cakes are made in a variety of ways, with potential binders such as breadcrumbs and mayo.
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Methods Used:
When I have helped make crab cakes at The Depot, we always accompany the plate with remoulade sauce drizzled over the top. I feel this is a great addition, and really ties the plate together. The fish-in-a-bag would pair well with risotto or orzo.
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Recipes & Plan Of Work:
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My Inspiration :
Crab Cakes
Morgan. (2017, April 26). Maryland crab cakes with horseradish-sriracha remoulade. Host The Toast. Retrieved September 15, 2021, from https://hostthetoast.com/crab-cakes/.
Fish en papillote
Lindsay, A. (2015, February 19). Fish en papillote. Vodka and Biscuits. Retrieved September 15, 2021, from http://www.vodkaandbiscuits.com/2015/02/19/fish-en-papillote/.
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Red Onion Confiture
Bousel, J. (n.d.). Red onion jam recipe. Serious Eats. Retrieved September 15, 2021, from https://www.seriouseats.com/red-onion-jam-recipe.
WEEK 5: REFLECTION
Lab Outcomes:
For week 5 lab, we focused on using in-season seafood, and and creating these dishes with the challenge of making them onion allergy friendly. Also, for the crab cakes, we had the challenge of utilizing the least amount of binders, while maintaining the cake's shape.
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Dish Results:
Crab Cakes: Our crab cakes came out perfect! The texture of the inside was soft & flaky, while the outside was firm and well bound together with the cracker crumbs. I believe the most efficient way to cook the crab cakes was to sear the outside, and finish them in the oven- this way the inside is definitely cooked all the way through. The remoulade sauce we made paired very well alongside the appetizer. When measuring out the crab cakes, it was a bit tricky, since we only had half a pound for each group. But we used the scale and measured out each cake to be 1 oz. before searing them.
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Fish en Papillote: The fish-in-a-bag was a super interesting dish concept! Our's turned out very moist and tender. We started by par-cooking the potatoes in simmering water, and then added them to the parchment paper with the red snapper, tomatoes and red peppers. We tried julienne slicing some zucchini, but after letting the slices roast in the oven, they still came out too limp. Overall, the fish was yummy and something I personally will be making again.
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Results Evaluation:
For the fish en papillote, the parchment paper technique worked pretty well. After class, some of us had a discussion, and figured out that the paper could have been folded in such a way that the fish would "slide" into almost a pouch- instead of having the top open. The final plating for the fish could use a little extra work, but we liked the pop of color underneath the white fish.
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