A unique cookbook and guide to healthful, eco-friendly seafood
Few people know more about fish than Paul Johnson, whose Monterey Fish Market in San Francisco supplies seafood to some of the nation's most celebrated chefs, from Alice Waters, Thomas Keller, and Michael Mina to Todd English, Daniel Boulud, and Alain Ducasse. In Fish Forever, Johnson offers a cookbook for anyone who loves fish, but worries about overfishing, contaminants like mercury, and other serious health and ecological issues.
Fish Forever reveals which species of fish you should and shouldn't eat, based on how endangered, contaminated, and tasty they are. Plus, Johnson includes amazing recipes from around the world that take advantage of those most abundant and delicious types of fish.
- Provides in-depth guidance on 70 fish species along with 96 international recipes that highlight the outstanding culinary qualities of the fish used
- Includes more than 60 beautiful color photographs, as well as plenty of cooking tips and helpful sidebars
- Winner of the coveted IACP Cookbook of the Year award
Fish Forever is a must-have kitchen resource for seafood lovers—and Earth lovers—everywhere.
Acknowledgments ix
TIMES HAVE CHANGED 1
Good News, Bad News 1
Fish Tales 3
Wise Choices 3
From Market to Table with Confidence 5
FROM COOK TO FISHMONGER 7
South by Southeast:The Bering Sea Moves 9
Fish Alley 9
Monterey Fish 11
SELECTING, STORING, AND COOKING SEAFOOD 13
Selecting Fresh Seafood 13
Storing Fresh Seafood 14
Cooking Seafood 15
Seafood by the Seasons 18
Balancing Risk and Reward When Choosing Healthy Seafood 20
The Search for Sustainable Seafood 21
THE BASICS:
STOCKS, PREPARING WHOLE FISH, THE PANTRY, AND TOOLS 25
Stocks 25
Preparing Whole Fish for Cooking 31
The Pantry: Basic Ingredients and Techniques 34
Basic Tools 39
THE FISH 41
ANCHOVY 43
BLACK SEA BASS 50
BLUEFISH 55
BREAM 61
Atlantic Coast Scup 61
European Daurade 62
New Zealand Tai Snapper 62
BUTTERFISH 68
CATFISH 74
CLAM 80
Hard-Shelled Clams 81
Soft-Shelled Clams 83
COD 92
Atlantic Cod 92
Haddock 93
Hake or Whiting 93
Pollock 94
CRAB 104
Blue Crabs: Hard-Shell and Soft-Shell 104
Dungeness Crabs 106
Stone Crabs, King Crabs, and Snow Crabs 107
Crabmeat 107
CRAYFISH 121
CROAKER, AT LANTIC 127
DORY, JOHN 134
GROUPER 138
HALIBUT, CALIFORNIA 144
HALIBUT, PACIFIC 147
JACK 155
LOBSTER 163
American Lobster 163
Spiny Lobster 165
MACKEREL 176
MAHIMAHI 183
MONKFISH 188
MUSSEL 194
OCTOPUS 204
ONO 210
OPAH 213
OYSTER 217
American Oyster 218
European Flat Oyster 219
Kumamoto 219
Olympia Oyster 219
Pacific Oyster 219
Other Varieties 219
ROCKFISH 227
Category 1 228
Category 2 228
Category 3 229
SABLEFISH 234
SALMON, WILD 239
Chum (Keta) 241
Coho (Silver) 242
King (Chinook) 242
Pink 242
Sockeye (Red) 242
Steelhead 243
SANDDAB, PACIFIC 252
SARDINE 255
SCALLOP 262
Bay Scallops 262
Calico Scallops 263
Sea Scallops 263
SEAROBIN 270
SHAD 276
SHRIMP, COLD-WATER 281
SHRIMP, WARM-WATER 287
SKATE 296
SMELT 300
SNAPPER 303
SOLE: AMERICAN FLOUNDERS 310
Atlantic Flounders 311
Pacific Flounders 312
Other Flounders 312
SQUID 317
STRIPEDBASS, FARMED 326
STRIPEDBASS, WILD 331
STURGEON 339
SWORDFISH 348
TILAPIA 355
TROUT AND CHAR 360
TUNA 364
Bigeye 365
Bluefin, Atlantic 366
Bluefin, North Pacific 366
Yellowfin 366
TUNA, ALBACORE 377
WEAKFISH 384
WHELKS 389
Periwinkles 390
WHITE SEABASS 394
WRECKFISH 399
Health Appendix 402
OMEGA-3S AND MERCURY: ABALANCING ACT 402
RAW SEAFOOD: HOW TO STAY SAFE 408
GLOSSARY OF HEALTH AND SAFETY CONCERNS 411
PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS (POPS) 417
Fishing and Aquaculture Methods Appendix 418
Bibliography 424
Index 425
"What Johnson doesn’t know about fish is, frankly, not worth knowing." (New York Times Book Review, December 2, 2007)
Paul Johnson is the owner of the Monterey Fish Market, which he founded in 1979. The company includes a wholesale market operated off of San Francisco's Pier 33 as well as a retail outlet in Berkeley. Johnson promotes sustainably captured fresh fish and encourages ocean conservation, and over the years he has become a supplier to many top chefs, including Alice Waters, Paul Bertolli, Thomas Keller, Tracy DesJardin, Michael Mina, Todd English, Daniel Boulud, and Alain Ducasse. A former chef at restaurants, including San Francisco's In Season, he is the coauthor of The California Seafood Cookbook and currently serves on the advisory board of Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program.
From the destruction of the Grand Banks fishery to the decline of the Chilean sea bass, from mercury in tuna to PCBs in striped bass, choosing seafood that's both sustainable and healthful seems tougher than ever. Paul Johnson has long supplied seafood to many of the nation's leading chefs, and he's keenly aware of the ecological and health issues that surround fish today. But he's also convinced that fish remain among the tastiest and healthiest foods available, and that many fisheries are well managed and environmentally sound. Now, in this breakthrough cookbook and guide, Johnson leads you to today's best fish and shellfish choicesand shows you how to savor seafood at its best.
If you love seafood but worry about overfishing and contaminants, Fish Forever is an indispensable resource. Johnson provides in-depth guidance on 70 different fish and shellfish, pinpointing today's least-endangered, least-contaminated, best-tasting species, ranging from anchovies, bluefish, and clams to squid, tilapia, and weakfish. He details sustainability and health issues, discusses fishing practices and fish farming, and shares fascinating insights and anecdotes that put today's environmental concerns in perspective.
To top it all off, Johnson offers unbeatable tips on selecting fish at the market and preparing them in the kitchen, providing one or more delicious recipes for each fish he profiles96 sensational seafood dishes in all, such as Coriander-Crusted Tuna with Hot and Sweet Mango Salsa, Grilled Hamachi with Thai Green Curry and Melon Relish, and Mediterranean Mussels Baked with Bread Crumb Topping. Illustrated with more than 60 beautiful color photographs, Fish Forever is the one book you need to make healthy seafood choicesand create extraordinary seafood meals.
Paul Johnson will donate a portion of his royalties for this book to Save Our Wild Salmon, an organization that works to restore wild salmon runs.
Advance Praise for Fish Forever
"This is the best book on seafood I know and, frankly, one of the most useful books on food as well. Paul has masterfully integrated recipes, shopping advice, health information, and plenty of delicious seafood lore, while translating the ubiquitous mantra of 'sustainability' into a practical and inspiring approach to cooking. I learned something on every page and plan to order a copy for every cook at Zuni."
—Judy Rodgers, chef and owner, Zuni CafE, san francisco, author of The Zuni CafE Cookbook
"At last, we have the fish book that everyone has been waiting for—encyclopedic, original, eco-conscious. Paul Johnson has practically defined what it means to be a purveyor of fish solely from sustainable sources. He tells us everything we need to know about keeping fish on the planet and how to enjoy them. This is the book that finally will get fish onto your table—and keep them there."
—Patricia Unterman, chef and owner, Hayes Street Grill, San Francisco
"This is a book where even old salts—those who've spent decades battling to make our waters fishable and our fish edible—will find something new. It is destined to become the essential reference source on seafood for consumers and cooks. Paul Johnson offers an insider's insight into seafood decision making that will be good for the person and the planet."
—Zeke Grader, Executive Director, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Distributor: John Wiley & Sons
Publication Date: 07-02-2007
Pages: 480
Measurements: 239.20mm X 213.29mm X 39.300mm X 42.56oz
