Beyond = Salmon=20

Everything you ever wanted to know about buying and = cooking=20 fish (and other musing on all things yummy): by Helen = Rennie

Wednesday, May 9

Parasitologist came to dinner

Warning: This post is R rated due to explicit = parasite=20 content. Proceed at your own risk.

"Don't worry, Helen -- = I won't=20 tell anyone at this dinner what I do," said Dr. Harry = Palm as=20 we were packing up the food to take to the Boston food blogger potluck. = =E2=80=9COh no,=20 they are a very open minded crowd,=E2=80=9D I assured Harry. =E2=80=9CI = am sure they=E2=80=99ll find=20 your research fascinating.=E2=80=9D I tucked the plastic wrap around a = dish of home-made=20 gravlax and thought for a moment. =E2=80=9CWell=E2=80=A6 let=E2=80=99s = just wait to tell them the=20 details till after dinner.=E2=80=9D

Harry is a professor of = marine parasitology=20 at the University of D=C3=BCsseldorf, Germany. The fact that we ended up = sitting in=20 the same kitchen this weekend dissecting fish is a miracle of the = internet and=20 Google. I found his website while researching the risks of consuming raw = fish.=20 Since no chefs or fishmongers could give me the necessary details on the = issue=20 of parasites, I decided to go straight to the people who study these = lovely=20 creatures. The phone interview with Harry last summer turned out to be=20 invaluable to my posts on Cod=20 Worm, Anisakis=20 and Tapeworm.

Imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail from = Harry=20 telling me he is doing research at the University of Connecticut for a = couple of=20 months and is coming to Boston this weekend. Jason and I offered him to = stay=20 with us and promised to show him around Boston. As we were having tea = and=20 munching on croissants this Saturday morning, we asked Harry what he was = most=20 interested in seeing. He didn=E2=80=99t have to think long. =E2=80=9CThe = sight of the Boston Tea=20 Party and Stromateidae,=E2=80=9D he said. It took him a little while to = remember the=20 English name of the species since he calls them all by their Latin = names.=20 =E2=80=9CButterfish!=E2=80=9D he finally said. The butterfish we were = looking=20 for was a little fish (4-6 inches long) common to Atlantic waters, not = the=20 marketing name given to Sable in many stores and restaurants. = I=E2=80=99ve never tasted=20 butterfish before, but heard it=E2=80=99s popular in Chinese and = Japanese cuisines,=20 fried whole.

We packed a cooler and headed out to east Cambridge = in=20 search of butterfish. Luckily, we snatched the last 4 little fish from = the New=20 Deal Fish Market. The reason Harry was looking for them is that they are = a host=20 to a very unique parasite and this time of year, the chances of seeing = parasites=20 in this fish are extremely high. =E2=80=9CWould you like them cleaned as = usual?=E2=80=9D asked=20 Carl. =E2=80=9CNot this time,=E2=80=9D I said. To parasitologists, guts = are as interesting as=20 the flesh. We brought our catch home and set to work. While Harry was = dissecting=20 the butterfish and Jason was photographing the creatures that Harry = pulled out=20 of them, I sliced up some big-eye tuna for sashimi, and pan seared drum = fish,=20 sable, and scallops.

The first creature we found in butterfish = was not=20 particularly exciting.

It was a definite cod worm and those are common to = tons of=20 fish. It looks bigger in the picture because of the zoom. For reference, = the=20 fish fillet in the pictures is the size of a small sardine = fillet.

The=20 second one was much smaller and if it weren=E2=80=99t for = Harry=E2=80=99s experienced eye, I=20 would have never noticed it. It was a tiny, squiggly, and almost = transparent=20 worm (only 1/2 inch long and very skinny).

Harry told us it might be anisakis. The last one was = a tiny=20 little spec the size of a sand grain -- too small to capture with our = camera.=20 That=E2=80=99s the one Harry was most excited about since it might be = otobothrium=20 cysticum. When we finished our parasite search, we cooked up butterfish = and=20 added it to our feast. It was excellent with a delicate flesh of a tiny = fish=20 (kind of like a smelt), but flavorful and sweet. If you don=E2=80=99t = normally have a=20 parasitologist inspect your fish, please don=E2=80=99t panic. Once the = fish is cooked,=20 the parasites are dead, and pose absolutely no health risk to = you.

I=20 realize that the creatures Harry works with are =E2=80=9Cicky=E2=80=9D = by most people=E2=80=99s=20 standards. Hey, you are talking to the girl who screams at the sight of = an itsy=20 bitsy spider. Trust me, I was just as freaked out about parasites in = fish as you=20 guys when I saw my first one about 4 years ago. But even I find = consumers=E2=80=99=20 reaction to parasites in fish ridiculous. I can=E2=80=99t even count the = number of=20 people who e-mailed me to say they=E2=80=99ll never eat fish again = because they found a=20 little worm. Apparently, my explanation that ALL parasites are harmless = if the=20 fish is cooked didn=E2=80=99t do much for them. Have you never seen = worms in apples? Why=20 not give up those along with fish?

I guess the part that = frustrates me=20 about this whole issue is consumer self-righteousness. We love to whine = about=20 being taken advantage of by anyone and everyone from FDA to our local=20 fishmonger. On one hand, we want everything to be natural and wild; on = another=20 hand, we find the experience of unprocessed food too traumatic. I had = one vegan=20 woman tell me that she is giving up on her farm-share from an organic = farm and=20 going back to supermarket produce because the farm produce has too many = bugs and=20 worms. I asked if she was worried about killing bugs by accidentally = swallowing=20 them. =E2=80=9COh no, I just find them so disgusting. Maybe pesticides = are a good thing=20 after all,=E2=80=9D she said. Sorry guys, but fish doesn=E2=80=99t swim = in Styrofoam containers,=20 and lettuce doesn=E2=80=99t grow in plastic bags. Worms and bugs are = part of life=20 whether we like it or not.

Luckily, no one at the Boston food = blogger=20 dinner lost their appetite as Harry and I disclosed the details of what = we were=20 doing with the butterfish that afternoon. Not surprising, I guess, since = Joan=20 from Urban Agrarian = blog=20 raises and slaughters her own chickens and Tse Wei from Off the Bone blog volunteered to = become a=20 pig butcher=E2=80=99s apprentice just for the fun of it. We all had a = great time=20 laughing, sharing stories, and eating of course. This dinner was = organized by=20 Kathleen from the Seasonal Cook=20 blog-- the very woman who inspired me to start Beyond Salmon. It was = great=20 to see her and Diana from Off the Bone again and to meet Tse Wei = (Diana=E2=80=99s=20 husband), Joan, and Tammy from Food=20 on the Food (a new blog and most wonderful person I discovered = thanks to=20 Kathleen=E2=80=99s hospitality).

Over some of the best chocolate = cakes I=E2=80=99ve ever=20 had (courtesy of Kathleen and Tse Wei), Harry made an interesting = observation:=20 =E2=80=9CYou guys aren=E2=80=99t normal! Definitely not normal = Americans.=E2=80=9D We couldn=E2=80=99t agree=20 more.

posted by Helen @ 3:46=20 PM 11=20 comments

11 Comments:

At 9:12=20 PM, Danielle said...=20: That sounds great! Educational and delicious. Wish I coulda been = there.=20 Send my love to Tse Wei and Diana. ^^
=20
At 9:41=20 PM, Anonymous said...=20: So did you cook the butterfish and eat it? I thought you would have = shown=20 us a picture of your fish dinner for that evening.
=20
At 2:55=20 AM, Ilva said...=20: Really interesting post! Thanks Helen! And I want to meet Tammy=20 too....
=20
At 7:55=20 AM, SteamyKitchen said...=20: cooked little parasites =3D more protein for me!
=20
At 8:16=20 AM, Alex M said...=20: International travellers seem to visit the states and meet people = with a=20 little taste or education and commonly pronounce them "not normal = americans."=20

I'm curious as to the Americans they are normally associating=20 with...and why.
=20
At 11:36=20 AM, Helen said...=20: Yes, we cooked butterfish and ate it and as I mentioned in the post = it was=20 very yummy. No picture because once in a while I want to spend time = with my=20 guests and not my camera and won't put other people through eating = cold food=20 just so that I can post a picture on my blog.

Alex, I don't = think Harry=20 meant any insult by saying we are not "normal Americans." I think he = meant we=20 are a little different from most people in US and other parts of the = world as=20 well, actually. How many people do you know who are interested in = finding=20 parasites in their fish? Or how many people document what they eat and = report=20 about it on the web. Not that many (either in US or any other = country). I am=20 not saying we are more cultured or have better taste than anyone else. = We just=20 have a certain obsession that is somewhat uncommon and that's what = unites us=20 :)
=20
At 2:04=20 PM, Pyewacket said...=20: I think by "not normal" he definitely meant "a little crazy" - you = know, in=20 a good way.
=20
At 4:12=20 PM, Helen said...=20: Hi Pyewacket,

I couldn't agree more. We are "a little crazy = in a=20 good way" :)

Cheers,
-Helen
=20
At 3:00=20 AM, Anonymous said...=20: harry palm? uh heh huh!! someone had to say it...fascinating post - = thanks!
=20
At 12:44=20 AM, Kristin said...=20: Just so you know. I was joking about pesticides being a good thing. = And I=20 didn't give up my CSA.

I still don't like bugs. It sucks to = clean all=20 your food well, look it over, chop it up and put it in the steamer, = and then=20 find a worm crawling around with the kale scraps. It is not very = appetizing.=20 And your post about fish makes me happy that I am vegan (and I don't = even care=20 that I am ignoring your point). :)
=20
At 12:50=20 AM, Kristin said...=20: I asked if she was worried about killing bugs by accidentally = swallowing=20 them. =E2=80=9COh no, I just find them so disgusting.

Oh, = and on this=20 point - this is a bit of a misquote and taken a little out of context. = You=20 were asking me this at work in a public area where I generally do not = like to=20 discuss my veganism at work. I was probably just trying to end the=20 conversation.

Second, veganism is about doing as little harm = to other=20 beings as you possibly can. Many many more bugs are killed growing = grain for=20 cows than are by vegetables grown for human consumption. I obviously = do not=20 want to kill bugs, but I can't starve either and I do need to wash my=20 vegetables.

Post=20 a Comment

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Wednesday, May 9

Parasitologist came to dinner

11 Comments:

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