Christopher Gordon wrote:What was it's name?






signed,

just curious

We called it Tapey. Really.

When I saw the title, I had a feeling that I knew what this thread was about. We discussed anisakis in my food bacteriology class. My professor described it as "tingling throat syndrome" because sometimes when the live worms hit your stomach acid they...how to put this delicately...try to return from whence they came. I got over the hamburger, pork, and gas station slushy horror stories, but the mental image of those parasites trying to escape my esophagus was enough to put me off raw fish forever.

Some years ago I was working in a major seafood restaurant downtown and we got in some Patagonian toothfish from South America (I think this was during the whole Brazilian craze). Well, as I was cleaning them I noticed a lot of these kind of little spiny fish stuck in the gills of the bigger fish. I just yanked them out with my bone tweezers and threw them in the sink, planning to wash them down the drain in a few minutes. Unfortunately, just then the sous chef, a real jerk named Derek, called me over to talk about the condition of the bread station or some crap like that. And this new line cook, I think his name was Paolo, had just spilled marinade or something right down the front of his pants. He could have just borrowed some for the rest of the shift but he had the idea that he could just get into the sink-- which was huge-- and rinse the front off with the hose. By that point I was catching up trying to get 20 covers out and so I wasn't really aware what was going on. But all of a sudden there was this terrific scream from the sink and we saw Paolo running around like he was on fire, pointing at his crotch. It turned out some of the candiru I'd pulled from the toothfish weren't dead, and they had swum up Paolo's pants and, well, done what candiru do. Well, so far as most of us knew, there was only one cure for having a candiru up there and that was to cut it off before it swam up into the liver, and so a couple of the cooks instinctively grabbed meat cleavers and prepared to go through with it (already making jokes about tonight's special being fresh chorizo, which Paolo did NOT appreciate in his agony) but fortunately for him a couple of the Guatemalan busboys knew the traditional remedy which you drink to poison the fish and get it to release and pass naturally, and so they made some quick calls and managed to come up with the correct herbs at a tienda naturista nearby. It was a nailbiting, painful half hour for Paolo, but in the end he passed the candiru successfully and the last time I ran into him, had six beautiful children.

And that's why I don't order Chilean sea bass any more.

YIKES!!!

Um, wow.

I would wiki this just to learn how it is possible to arrive at the liver through that particular migratory route, but my body has assumed the fetal position and I'm furiously repeating my mantra to try to find my happy place. Not working.

Hi,

From the Straight Dope: Can the candirú fish swim upstream into your urethra?

Regards,

The candiru have long enjoyed their myth. Doesn't make the stories(like the one above) any less amusing. And there's always a mark who hasn't heard the tale of the penis-necrotizing fish. Might I interest you in a fine filet of chupacabra? Perhaps Jersey Devil cheeks? Mothman feeler?

Or pan-fried trilobite.

Mike G wrote:And that's why I don't order Chilean sea bass any more.

I applaud your efforts, via your use of the literary mechanism of farce, to discourage the consumption of patagonian toothfish, and whilst putting your pants at the risk of being on fire.

As an update, we made it to our Japanese fish market yesterday, and after a little confirmation (and sample of the aforementioned worm-y flesh + 2 worms) they kindly refunded the purchase price of my 5 monkfish.

Interestingly enough, the manager (whom we've "known" for years) stated that "worms [in ankou] is a natural thing, because bottom fish." He wasn't surprised (as I'd suspected they'd already be well aware their monkfish were rife with nematodes), and I'm not certain whether he was trying to put my mind at ease or was telling me that the next time I purchased monkfish to just cook it up worms-and-all.

Also interestingly enough, they had tons of monkfish for sale, some whole and some filleted. Of the fillets, I could still see some with the occasional (unpicked) worm. Ugh, no thanks... no more "bottom fish" for me...

We picked up some sashimi, then went to Meijer and picked up some wild Canadian white bass, ocean perch and Nova Scotia lobsters as well as a sack of littlenecks from Costco. Despite the worms, I just can't give up seafood.

I'll just avoid halibut, turbot, flounder, monkfish and cod for the time being....

about four months ago, I found live worms in purchased salmon that looked just like the ones shown on the wiki page liked to earlier. I took the salmon back to WF on Ashland and they refunded my money.

Don't like that Brazillian fish. Do NOT like it at all. Brrrrrrrrr.

But regarding the other fishy worms, I'm beginning to think maybe I should just look not so close, whistle louder, and cook the fish. I mean, it's all protein, eh? And maybe they add tiny bit of je ne sais quoi to the flavor, maybe?

I bought some live morels yesterday at Marché Jean-Talon, planning to eat them this afternoon, but now I'm sitting here wondering, 'should I drop those suckers in salt water, or just cook them whilst I whistle?'

What would YOU do?

Geo

Jay K wrote:
I'll just avoid halibut, turbot, flounder, monkfish and cod for the time being....

Perhaps you should add to the list all of the fish that are predators of bottom fish?

After taking a course in parasitology, I swore off raw fish, but was back in the fold after less than 6 months. I will still not touch raw fish that has lived any time in fresh water unless it has been previously frozen. Those parasites deserve a particularly wide berth.

Bill/SFNM

I once found live worms in my broccoli...
maybe that's a good reason to swear off green food?

But seriously I recently got home with such a DISGUSTING pair of trout form a store that features their seafood and ought to have been ASHAMED to sell these.
There is NO WAY the guy couldn't have noticed how slimy they were on handling them and I just wasn't paying attention close enough it being dinner hour, etc.

As soon as I opened it up at home. like 15 min later, it gave off such a stench and was so slimy, I was completely incensed!
Haven't been able to do whole fish/trout since and am just now making friends with nice clean filets again, and now I make them pass them over the counter and I take a big deep sniff before I let them wrap them up.
I've had enough of this garbage.

I took the offending slimers back for a refund and gave them a tongue-lashing to boot!
It was SHAMEFUL!

I cannot express how truly sorry I am to have read this thread. For the first time, I am almost glad Science Boy is allergic to fish. meaning I almost never make it. Hopefully, I can erase this whole thing from my mind and someday enjoy ordering fish when we go out...

"Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum."

Sometimes, blithe ignorance really is bliss...though I suppose I'll try freezing my monkfish from now on.

Does anyone remember when monkfish was first introduced to the U.S. market, back in the '70s? It was promoted as "poor man's lobster."

I was so disappointed when I tried it, and it was nothing like. I never really have cared for it ever since. I've been thinking how glad I am of that throughout this thread.

Well LAZ, I'm kind of contrary to you on that. Yes, I totally remember the "poor man's lobster" ad theme, apparently since, in those bygone days, we needed to be persuaded to eat fish and other seafoody stuff. I tried it, didn't get the slightest gesture toward lobster, just like you, but I also thought that the fish had some possibilities. So I checked it out in a couple of books that I had (sorry, I'm in Montreal and they're in KC, so I can't tell you which ones), all of which suggested that monkfish was a very valuable contribution to any sort of a fish/seafood stew one might care to make. I tried it that way, and had to agree: it was a really nice chunk of fish in a well-simmered stew.

That was years ago, when I could get monkfish in KC. I haven't seen it there in five, maybe ten years. These days we get farmed salmon, all the various international and national versions of farmed catfish, shrimp, moules, and not much else. Oh, except the three days a year we can get fresh halibut.

On the main topic, I don't get it, I mean, all this avoidance-frisson about things in our fish. Obviously, if you buy a fish to eat raw, then it's not very aesthetically, not to mention biologically, cool to have other life forms visibly inhabiting your chunk of fish. But, if you're going to cook the chunk of fish, then what's the big deal? Protein is protein. Just so long as the non-fish protein isn't biologically dangerous, or bequeathing of a lousy taste, who cares?

Close your eyes and eat it, enjoying all the way.

Geo

PS. Maybe I've taught logic toooo long...

LAZ wrote:Does anyone remember when monkfish was first introduced to the U.S. market, back in the '70s? It was promoted as "poor man's lobster."

I was so disappointed when I tried it, and it was nothing like. I never really have cared for it ever since. I've been thinking how glad I am of that throughout this thread.

I remember the first time I heard this statement about monkfish. I was at my French teacher's home for tutoring. It was the summer of 1973, she was preparing monkfish for her family. She stated, "Monkfish is the poor man's lobster." I was unaware there was an ad campaign, but I vividly recall this moment in my teacher's kitchen. I insisted on buying a monkfish, that I baked and served with lots of melted butter because I explained to my family, "It is the poor man's lobster." Nobody was convinced, thus it was nearly the last time we had Monkfish at home.

If it had really been like lobster, then we would have enjoyed it far more. That's the problem when the pitch and the reality don't quite match.

Regards,

If it had really been like lobster

...it wouldn't be the poor man's lobster.

My first introduction to Monkfish was via my mother's love affair with Julia Child (in the famous episode where she displayed one of the creatures by hoisting it by the tail) I believe she is the one who touted it as the "poor man's lobster" - and her piperade recipe does really make it taste like lobster - but the flavor (as I found the next time I made monkfish) comes from the onions and peppers rather than the fish. The Monkfish offers a slightly lobsterlike texture.

Simon wrote:about four months ago, I found live worms in purchased salmon that looked just like the ones shown on the wiki page liked to earlier. I took the salmon back to WF on Ashland and they refunded my money.

Oh, Jay. How I hate this thread with every shred of my being and have often hoped it would be locked away in some dank dungeon of moderation, never to see the light of day or the red flesh of a fish again.

Alas, ay, me, I found the same accursed worms pictured in your first post in wild open-sea sockeye salmon purchased from a certain organic food purveyor in a certain town across Harlem from mine. These were at least frozen and quite dead. Woe, I say unto thee! Ia!

So where can I trust open sea fish from these days? Or should I happily munch the critters as I would chapulines, being proud of myself for buying wild and sustainable, and being willing to stomach a parasitic infection for the privilege?

In any case, two strikes against wild salmon from this chain in the same thread. I hope training can improve so that the butchers catch this BEFORE the fillets are sold - I even had these skinned and cut to order for easy grilling. I mean, they look superficially sort of like the bones, but how could you not catch this if you're standing over it with a knife in the good lighting of a commercial facility?

Working in a professional kitchen and at home, I need all of my digits to count the number of times worms have crawled out of the food I was prepping. I'd love to say that I've hardened to it, but the truth is quite the contrary.

However, rather than lead me to be extra meticulous about food prep, this has led me to want not to know what's in my raw food. I'm not nearly as thorough in cleaning mushrooms as I used to be, and I usually close my eyes when I slice open a non-commercial pepper, rinsing down the drain whatever was inside with my sink's sprayer. Before I filet a raw fish, I do a couple of shots of tequila.

Surprised the worst offender of all hasn't been mentioned. Swordfish. I haven't eaten it since the mid 80's for this very reason. Used to have it on the menu @ EBC. I literally cut 1000's of pounds there. I'd say well over 50% had em. Long ones running the length of the loin. Enjoy.

And now you know why I really am not a big fish fan!

razbry wrote:And now you know why I really am not a big fish fan!

All things said and done, I'd rather eat a cooked worm than end up with BSE.... (I still eat beef though... but haven't had ox tail or true barbacoa in a LONG LONG time...)

John Rowley wrote:Seeing recipes calling for raw salmon: salmon tartar,salmon ceviche and such. Be aware a tiny oval beige tapeworm cyst may lurk in the meat. Two well-known restaurant critics I know of have had this experience, one twice! Not dangerous, just debilitating.
http://www.gourmet.com/foodpolitics/200 ... n-tapeworm

Cathy2 wrote:

John Rowley wrote:Seeing recipes calling for raw salmon: salmon tartar,salmon ceviche and such. Be aware a tiny oval beige tapeworm cyst may lurk in the meat. Two well-known restaurant critics I know of have had this experience, one twice! Not dangerous, just debilitating.
http://www.gourmet.com/foodpolitics/200 ... n-tapeworm

Interesting reading, but useless information. In the very last paragraph, he finally poses the one useful question that he could have really investigated, but then concluded without even remotely touching on an answer.

Useless Reporter wrote:So a better question is: How likely is it that you will get a tapeworm if you eat raw, unfrozen salmon that contains a tapeworm larva? According to Phillip Klesius, research leader at the USDA Aquatic Animal Health Research Laboratory in Auburn, Alabama, “The consumption of one live larva can result in tapeworm infection.” So until you find out if that salmon has been frozen first, it would be best to hold your fork.

How did the editors let him get away with using that useless Klesius quote to answer the important question he posed at the start of the paragraph?