The ocean is (still, for now) filled with little fish and other tiny creatures that are triple whammies: nutritious, climate-smart, delicious.
These little fishies have gained new visibility with the tinned fish trend that swept affluent America a few years ago, and is still going strong. Though you don’t have to buy the $12 tins with the twee packaging to reap the benefits of tinned fish. You can buy the regular tins for $3, and then head over to MOMA.org to view beautiful graphics for free.
At the same time, a recent poll found that sardines, anchovies and oysters are among Americans’ least favorite foods. So there’s still a long way to go.
Fish populations around the world are on the verge of collapse. As food lovers, there are two things we as individuals can do to help: eat small. Eat diverse. Here is a nice, simple guide from NYT on this topic.
Eat small: The relentless focus on larger fish is resource-intensive. Because they need huge quantities of small fish to grow, large fish like tuna are inefficient delivery mechanisms for nutrition. As we go up the food chain, from little fish to big fish, energy is lost while contaminants are gained/accumulated. From the NYT article above:
“So, go for sardines and anchovies. ‘They are really, really nutritious sources of food,’ Dr. [Sebastian] Heilpern, [a sustainability scientist at Cornell University], said, ‘and they tend to be pretty productive and able to withstand all of that exploitation that humans put on them.’”
Eat diverse: Our fixation on just a handful of fish — salmon, tuna, shrimp, maybe cod — reduces resilience in fisheries. Creating demand for a greater variety of fish can encourage diverse fish populations, which can then better withstand disasters. So even if a new virus decimates a type of salmon species in a region, there are still many other types of fish thriving. Diversity in species — biodiversity — grows in importance each day in light of the destabilizing effects of climate change.
What’s frustrating about the fisheries collapsing is that much of it is caused by stagnant eating of mediocre meals. Take tuna salad. I grew up in an immigrant household, but based on my friends growing up and TV, my perception is that tuna salad sandwiches are dull, even a little gross, something someone forced you to scarf down as a kid. Then you become an adult and you start dieting and working out. You see a TikTok of a person with flat abs cooking a frozen salmon fillet with a squeeze of lemon and salt and pepper. They scarf down the salmon on camera, trying to prove to the world their commitment to discipline. Their enjoyment comes from bragging about their purity, not from the salmon itself.
My take is this. Get enjoyment from the salmon itself. Make a lovely meal for your spouse on your anniversary that showcases salmon’s rose colors and velvety texture. But also include the fish that salmon would eat in your repertoire — and get enjoyment out of those little fishies, too. It’ll benefit you, your spouse and the world at large.
Sardine salad with basil-mint mayo
Here’s my take on a disappointing tuna salad sandwich that’s not disappointing and not tuna. I replace tuna with sardines with zero sacrifice in flavor or lusciousness. In addition to a sandwich filling, this salad mixture would make a good dip with crackers or garlic bagel chips. Or shallow-fry into fish cakes!
Ingredients:
2 tins sardines, drained
A couple of large dollops of mayo -- around 4- 5 oz
Handful of basil leaves
Handful of mint leaves
1 lemon
3 or 4 radishes, diced
Chunk of onion, diced
Sandwich bread
First, make the mayo. Combine mayo, mint and basil leaves in a food processor. It’ll take a few minutes. Taste once or twice throughout processing, and adjust the amount of mayo and herbs to taste.
Mix chopped/smashed sardines, diced radishes and diced onions. Fold in basil-mint mayo and mix in several generous squeezes of lemon juice. Adjust to taste.
Spread on sandwich bread. Lettuce or arugula would be a nice addition. I added sliced tomatoes the next day as a sandwich topping, which also worked great.
Newsfeed
“Big Fish: The luxury tuna industry is killing the Mediterranean,” The Dial. “‘It's like raising lions for meat,’ said Emanuela Fanelli, a biologist at Marche Polytechnic University and an expert in marine ecology.”
“The Whole Fish Is Sacred,” Offrange. In addition to eating more diverse sources of seafood and eating lower down the food chain, eating the entire fish can help reduce the overfishing crisis — and help the livelihoods of fishers, too.
Here’s a fun interactive recipe database from La Vanguardia, Barcelona’s daily. Includes lots of recipes for sardines - Spain celebrates little fish in so many creative ways.
Li’l Nubs:
I admit I dismissed Marc Maron’s podcast for a long time because he’s a straight white man. But I loved the TV show Glow and his performance in it. I started listening to his podcast and I can tell it’ll be a source of comfort and inspiration for me as I continue.
After reading this book I feel perhaps shame is the single universal human experience. I recommend reading it!