The Salmon Catch
Wild vs. farm-raised? PCB threat muddies the water
The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, LA
Thursday September 11, 2003
By Dale Curry
Food Editor

“Talking about fresh salmon is like comparing automobiles. You've got the
VW and the Ferrari. The Chevrolet and the Cadillac.
Of course, there are personal preferences, and you may have a hard time
finding your first choice. Then, it's no easy task to know exactly what
you are getting.
One local expert says the best and freshest salmon smells exactly like
fresh watermelon.
‘If I get that, I make all the servers smell it,’ says Tenny Flynn, chef/owner
of GW Fins, a French Quarter restaurant that features more than a dozen
varieties of fresh fish on its menu at any given time.
‘When a salmon is truly fresh,’ he says, ‘you can close your eyes and think
you have your nose next to a watermelon.’ The last time that happened to
Flynn was with a farm-raised salmon from Ireland.
Irish salmon, an Atlantic variety, is Flynn's favorite farm-raised salmon while California wild salmon is his choice of wild. On Flynn's menu, each salmon is
listed with a label of the exact type of fish and is priced accordingly.
Yet, he doesn't sell a lot of salmon.
‘I don't think people come to New Orleans to eat salmon,’ he said.
But what about supermarket salmon, which Flynn refers to as the ‘Chevrolet.’
‘It's not bad,’ he says. ‘It's inexpensive.’
If it's not labeled to your satisfaction, you must rely on the person behind
the counter for your information, says Cliff R. Hall, sales director and co-owner
of the New Orleans Fish House, a wholesaler that serves many restaurants and
markets in New Orleans.
‘You've got your VWs and your Ferraris,’ Hall says, the VWs being chum and
pink, the Ferraris, varieties of wild Pacific salmon including the Copper River
king from Alaska. In between are a lot of choices, many of them good farm-
raised salmon from both East and West coasts.

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Most salmon available here in both restaurants and stores are farm-raised
Atlantic varieties, says Hall, although wild salmon is frequently available
at restaurants that specialize in fish and at Whole Foods Market, which
sells only wild salmon and salmon that is farmed with no antibiotics,
meat-based feed or hormones...
...What of recent reports that farm-raised salmon are laced with higher
levels of toxic PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) than wild varieties?
According to Gemus [seafood team leader at the Uptown Whole Foods],
trimming the fat where PCBs hide, and grilling or broiling the salmon
so that the fat runs out, will decrease PCBs, which are chemicals formerly
used by industry but banned in the United States decades ago. Some still
left in the environment can be drawn to fatty substances. PCBs have been
linked to cancer as well as to damage of the nervous, reproductive and
immune systems.
A month-old report by the watchdog Environmental Working Group said it
tested 10 samples of farmed salmon bought in the United States and found
seven contained 16 times the level of toxicity found in wild salmon. (Budget-
priced farmed salmon now makes up 80 percent of fresh salmon sold.)
Hank Steinman of Martin International, a Boston-based major wholesale
supplier of salmon to the New Orleans Fish House, said, ‘I think the consumer
can feel very confident that the salmon they are getting in New Orleans is as
high a quality of salmon as any place in the United States.’
As for PCBs, he says the recent study was not representative and that he is not
aware of any incidence of a rejection by the Food and Drug Administration of salmon for high levels of PCBs.
‘Every pound of fresh salmon imported to the United States is subject to
inspection by the FDA, a responsible unbiased agency in protecting the
well being of American consumers,’ Steinman said.
Like GW Fins, many restaurants in the Pacific Northwest put both farm-
raised and wild salmon on their menus, labeling them and charging accord-
ingly. Rob Clark, executive chef of C Restaurant in Vancouver, is a strong
supporter of wild salmon and puts five kinds on his menu.
‘One isn't better than the other,’ he told the Association of Food Writers at
a conference last year. ‘I'd just as soon have pink as sockeye . . . I want
different tastes.’ Although he doesn't eat farm-raised, he serves it to those
who do.
‘Some would prefer farm-raised as they would prefer Cheese Whiz over
gorgonzola,’ he said.
Geoffrey Howes, director of operations of The Salmon House restaurant in Vancouver, puts both on his menu and compares it to serving different kinds
of steaks -- filet, sirloin or ribeye. ‘We treat salmon the same,’ he said...
...Salmon is a relatively easy fish to cook and versatile in style as well. Here
is a collection of recipes from the Pacific Northwest:”

Market Sauté of Salmon
From The British Columbia Salmon Marketing Council

Serves 4 to 6

“Former salmon fisherman Jim Moorehead and his sons, Dave and Scott,
own and operate a retail salmon store in Vancouver's Granville Island
Market. They suggest this market medley for a quick, healthy meal.”

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillet, skinned and
cut into 1-inch cubes
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, slivered
1 tablespoon oil from sun-dried tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 bunch asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
6 cups cooked penne pasta

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat; add sun-dried
tomatoes, oil and garlic, and sauté for one minutes. Add the mushrooms
and asparagus and cook, stirring often, for two to three minutes. Add
salmon and green onions; sauté another five to seven minutes. Stir in
parsley and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over hot pasta.

Honey Mustard Basil Salmon
From The British Columbia Salmon Marketing Council

Serves 4

“This recipe is from Elna MacDonald, who, with her husband Neil
Davies, operates a 42-foot salmon trawler in British Columbia. It is
one of her favorites and is a time-saver.”

4 salmon steaks, about 1 inch thick
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey Dijon mustard
(or 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
mixed with 1 teaspoon honey)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Place salmon steaks in a shallow baking dish. In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, lemon juice, mustard and garlic. Stir in basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread mixture over steaks.
Place on a plate, cover loosely and marinate, refrigerated, for one hour.
Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes or until salmon just flakes when
pressed with a fork.

Salmon in Buttermilk Ale Batter
From "Salmon House on the Hill Cookbook"
by Dan Atkinson (Whitecap Books, 2001)

Serves 4

1 cup flour
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup pale ale
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup minced onion
Twelve 2-ounce boneless skinless
salmon fillets
4 cups oil
2 cups flour
8 lemon wedges
Tartar sauce

Combine the one cup of flour, buttermilk, ale, cayenne, salt and onion.
Don't over mix. Soak the salmon in the batter for two hours.
Heat the oil to 350 degrees in a deep, heavy pot. Dredge the salmon in
the two cups of flour. Fry the salmon in batches so they are not over-
crowded. Fry each batch for about five minutes. Drain on paper towels.
Serve with lemon wedges and tartar sauce.

Smoked Sockeye Salmon Cheesecake
From "Salmon House on the Hill Cookbook"
by Dan Atkinson (Whitecap Books, 2001)