The Second Time is Harder, Sashimi Tuna and a Neighborhood Plug

Dear Friends of  Fantastically Fresh Fish,

Neighborhood Plug
I had lunch last weekend at 1001 Nights at the corner of Wilson Road and 141 in the shopping center with Great Harvest.  I had been there before when it had a different name and was completely unimpressed, but last weekend I found out is has new ownership and great Persian food!

www.1001nightspersiancuisine.com

The Second Time is the Hardest

I took a vacation a few weeks ago and did two things I have always wanted to do.  I visited Las Vegas and I hiked in the Grand Canyon.  What a trip!  I flew into Vegas where it took all of one evening  to realize that I do not know how to gamble.  The next day I drove to Peach Springs, AZ for a three day hike to Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls.

Jumping off cliffs is something I would NEVER have done in my youth but something I feel much more comfortable doing as an adult.  On my Grand Canyon trip, there were lots of places to jump into creeks and waterfalls and I took advantage of every one.  I discovered something interesting about taking risks:  it's way easier to make the first jump than the second.  That seems strange because, if you are standing there contemplating the second jump, you obviously survived the first!  I can only explain it this way - I'm the sort of person who loves a challenge.  If you tell me the water is deep enough and that other people jump at this place all the time, I will gather up all my nerve and with very little thought at all, I will charge up that hill, trot right to the edge and JUMP! 

The second time must be harder because I have already proven that I can do it.   I don't have all the adrenaline rush that propels me to the edge.  Nobody is paying much attention to me jumping the second time.  There is time to contemplate, "What the heck was I thinking jumping off a cliff at 52 years old?"  There is a lot more to tell about this amazing trip but since this is really a seafood blog I have to make some connection to my work. Here is the connection:

I'm jumping off a different sort of cliff for the second time with my new store in Milton. 
The opening is just two weeks away.   And I'm having all those second jump anxieties.


Things are going along perfectly. The Milton community seems very excited at the thought of a seafood market in the neighborhood.  The new space is in a gorgeous building and is coming together just like I envisioned.  It's a chance for me to do all the things I wished I had done in Johns Creek.  After all, I opened the Johns Creek with my eyes squeezed shut.  With the opening of the new store, my eyes are wide open.  My fingers are crossed but my eyes are open.

And my Johns Creek customers are stopping by to check on progress.  Here's Johns Creek customer Pam Scripture checking out my new store in Milton. 

Opening day is scheduled for August 29th.  More details next week...

A Favorite Tuna Recipe
The lovely Sherry Tennant gave us this delicious recipe for sashimi tuna.  I stood in the kitchen and ate it out of the mixing bowl.  I mean really.  I barely got it to the table. 

Sherry's Sashimi Tuna 

1 lb tuna

2 serrano peppers, seeded and very finely chopped

1 T plus 1t finely grated ginger

1T toasted sesame seeds

1 clove garlic through garlic press

½ t kosher salt

¼ c canola oil

2 t sesame oil

1 t distilled white vinegar

1 t fish sauce

Toast sesame seeds.  Either finely chop or puree in mini-chopper the peppers, ginger, garlic and salt until somewhat of a paste forms.  Add sesame seeds.  Then add both oils, fish sauce and vinegar.  Add diced tuna and mix.  Serve with crackers or toasted won ton chips.

Back to School
Here they are...another year older!  Our babies' first day back at school. 

$20.00 in free discount fish to the first person who can correctly match each child with their Kathleen's Catch parent!

Hope everyone survived that first day!  Have a great first weekend!

Blessings,

Kathleen

We Need to Be Farming Fish if We Want to Continue to Eat Fish

We Need to be Farming Fish if We Want to Continue Eating Wild-Caught Fish

You and I both love our wild caught fish. At Kathleen’s Catch our cases practically overflow with beautiful Gulf red snapper, Alaskan halibut, Pacific cod, wild striped bass and, when it is in season, wild Alaskan salmon.  These beautiful fish are some of the greatest treasures available to us.   If our grandchildren and their children are going to enjoy wild caught fish, we have to support aquaculture when it is done correctly.  At Kathleen’s Catch we source our farmed fish from the very best aquaculture operations in the world.       

Let’s say that over the next 35 years, the US continues to set an international example for responsible, sustainable fisheries practices and other countries follow suit so that the number of fish in the sea does not fall to a lower level than it is now.  And let’s say that the per capita consumption of fish stays exactly where it is now.  We are in for some trouble because the United Nations estimates a global population growth to 9.6 billion by 2050.  This mean a 40% increase in demand for proteins. 

Knowing that resources for increased land protein production will be limited, the question then becomes how to increase protein production from the sea.  The only feasible answer is aquaculture.  And at Kathleen’s Catch, that’s not a bad thing because we believe that our food should come from operations with the highest levels of animal husbandry and the best tasting products available with a minimal impact on the environment.

The Carbon Finprint

Did you know that there is less environmental impact from the production of farmed salmon compared to other protein sources?  The carbon footprint of farmed salmon is 2.9 carbon equivalents per pound of edible product.    For chicken, it is 3.4 and for beef, it is as much as 30 carbon equivalents per pound of edible product.  If CO2 emissions are a concern to you, then farmed salmon on your dinner plate makes a lot more sense than a steak.

A Fish Out of Water?

In Norway, it takes 1400 liters of fresh water to produce 1 kg of edible product of farmed salmon and with the increased use of recirculating ponds that number is falling fast.  For chicken it takes 4300 liters of water.  For pork it takes 6000 liters and for beef, 15,400 liters of water per kg of edible product!  

I know that this seems to be a bunch of statistics that are hard to translate into the meal on your dinner plate.  Just think this.  The charge that farmed fish equals damage to the environment and the world’s oceans is not true!  If aquaculture is done correctly, you can eat some of the world’s best tasting fish without a moment of doubt about the future of the world’s oceans.  And you don’t have to worry about what our grandchildren and their children are going to eat.