Fish Wednesday, Sad Salmon Edition

Bad news in salmon land. That’s what this article in Gourmet says.

Life is not good here. The fish are not running. And things are going from bad to worse. Due to the extremely low king return, fishing anything is entirely and wholly out of the question.

Given my extreme fondness for fish not just on the plate, but in the water, it was with mixed feelings that I stood in front of the seafood case today. We’re not eating King because, well, there are none, but it’s impossible to put any salmon on the plate without wondering how long it will be before there are no more Copper River, no more Sockeye, no more no more. The prices reflect the scarcity – good stuff starts around 16 bucks a pound. The spearfish is affordable, as is the American farmed catfish and the tuna, still, but our Northwest standbys – halibut and salmon – will set a fish eater back a pretty penny. The problem? The King are being scooped up with pollack way too soon, depleting the… oh, just read the article.

We were not deterred entirely. Sockeye, at 15 bucks a pound isn’t exactly cheap, but it’s been a while since we’ve had salmon and I had craving. I mixed up a quick sauce – mustard, white wine, olive oil, a little black pepper – coated the fish in it, and then pasted on a bunch of sage leaves from the plant by my back porch. I cooked the fish skin side down first, then turned it over so the sage smoked on the grill. The smell was amazing.

We ate the fish with grilled potatoes, a side dish that’s become a household favorite. You slice the potatoes, toss them in a big pot of water, and bring them to a boil. As soon as the water starts to boil, you turn them off and drain them. The idea is to parboil them just a little so they’ll cook all the way through on the grill. Then, you toss them in olive oil and salt and grill them over a low flame, turning them until they’re nice and brown on each side. We ate most of them as soon as they were done, pulling them off the hot grill and eating them with our fingers. Bad manners, good potatoes.

The fish was perfect and the sage leaves get a little crispy – a crazy good thing happens in your mouth when you take a bite of mustardy fish with crispy sage leaf. Full bellies, heavy hearts. The lesson? Eating sustainably matters – as do sustainable fishing practices. Eat your fish, it makes you smarter and more sensitive.