Food News and Views May 23, 2008

Food and Dining Radio Show Restaurant Roundabout– 5.23.08

Linda Gassenheimer (LG)

Richard Ives (RI)

Fred Tasker (FT)

Sean Bernal (SB)

LG: We’re so lucky in South Florida to have lots of seafood. We’ve all been eating more seafood lately because we’re told it’s good for our health and it’s delicious. But not all seafood is equal. Fish populations are at their lowest level ever and we don’t know if farmed seafood is good for us. So what fish should we eat? Our guest today is going to help us with that. His name is Sean Bernal and he’s the Executive Chef of Oceanaire Seafood Room in Mary Brickell Village. He only uses sustainable safe seafood in his restaurant. Welcome Chef.

SB: Thank you very much. It’s great to be here.

LG: Smiling in his usual seat is Fred Tasker. He’s the wine columnist for the Miami Herald and he writes wine suggestions for my dinner in minutes column. Fred, what are we drinking today?

FT: Well when you’re eating fish the wine match is important.

LG: I’ll be anxious to hear what it is. So Chef, what does sustainable mean?

SB: Sustainable means the fish reproduces quickly, can regenerate like stone crabs and something that can accept the pressure of fishing without going extinct.

LG: So it needs to reproduce enough not to disappear.

SB: Yes, and there are regulations. Like stone crab fisherman must measure the claws so that they can regenerate.

LG: But we’re confused. For example, Chilean Sea Bass. I’ve been told it’s endangered. I see it everywhere and when I investigate it I get conflicting answers. What’s the story here?

SB: Chilean Sea Bass is a member of a small family of fish and they are over fished illegally. To purchase it here it must pass through regulation. It has to have a stamp.

LG: So when we see it on a menu we don’t know.

SB: That would depend on the Chef and the purchaser and their morals.

LG: So you need to ask.

SB: Yes, a well educated Chef needs to know where everything is coming from so we can properly menu our items.

LG: We have several phone calls here.

Caller 1: Yesterday I read that because of concerns about mercury in tuna the safest alternative is to eat canned tuna. Do they scan tuna fish that’s canned?

LG: Depends on the type.

SB: Well tuna is tuna. Mercury levels are present in all ocean fish. What we need to do is limit the amount of tuna you eat.

Caller 1: They said you should buy a can as a solution. I thought that was crazy.

RI: I think that was geared toward pregnant women.

LG: It’s Skipjack tuna in a can that’s good. Albacore and blue fin have the most mercury.

SB: No albacore is the one that’s safest. That has the least mercury.

FT: If you’re my age there isn’t as much time for the mercury to build up so you don’t need to worry about it.

[laughing]

Caller 2: I love you restaurant Chef Sean. The service is superb. Linda, living in South Florida you say we have great access to all this seafood. But it seems to me you have to pay high prices at Whole Foods to purchase good seafood in the markets. There is a lack of great independent fish mongers. Can you recommend places?

LG: That’s a great question. Chef Sean has some good information.

SB: Definitely Casa Blanca Seafood, which is a restaurant as well.

LG: What do you do if you live in Broward County?

SB: My best suggestion is to start going to the Marinas and meet the charter boat captains. I can guarantee you they’ll be happy to sell you their catch. It’s all about who you know.

LG: We have another caller who wants to know if caught bonita tuna is safe to eat?

SB: Yes, definitely. Bonita tuna is also called Skipjack. It’s great to grill because it’s very oily.

LG: I mentioned you brought something to the studio.

SB: Yes, we are famous for our crab cakes. Right now we’re using colossal lump crab meat.

FT: This is the biggest piece of crab I’ve ever seen in a crab cake.

SB: We want more crab than cake.

LG: If I wanted to buy jumbo lump crab meat, where would I buy it?

SB: One of the fish markets or you can even go online. Try brown trading.

LG: Well it’s worth it. It tastes great.

Caller 3: I have a comment. I’ve got two places in Broward for seafood. Dorris’ Italian Market on Pines and Palm and they have another location on

44^th street

and university. Also if you go to restaurant depot and become a member. They have great bronzino there.

LG: Where is that?

Caller 3:

State Road

84 between University and…

LG: There’s one more question about where you can learn about fish that are endangered.

SB: Seafoodwatch.org. It’s produced by the Monterey Aquarium. It’s very informative. It also has a section on mercury.

LG: Well we’re talking with Chef Sean Bernal about sustainable safe seafood. We’ll take a break and be back with more.

[break]

LG: We’re back. We’ve been talking with Executive Chef of Oceanaire Seafood Room in Mary Brickell Village. He only uses sustainable safe seafood in his restaurant. So now it’s Dinner in Minutes time. Today is Thai Tilapia with a Peanut Coconut Sauce and Basmati Rice. For the recipe see my website, dinnerinminutes.com. Fred, what are we drinking? You’re mouth is full.

FT: No, I finished chewing. [laughing] Anyway I love to talk about wine and fish. I’ve been boning up all week for this.

LG: That was bad. [laughing]

FT: I’m looking at a menu from Oceanaire Seafood Room with the wine matches made for the menu. The first course was steamed halibut and with that they served a Portuguese wine that was very simple. The next was an Alaskan King Crab crusted Halibut. He served that with a Sauvignon Blanc. That’s a wonderful wine with fish. In Sonoma Valley wine makers will go to bars with a drink glass, drop an oyster in the bottom, put Sauvignon Blanc in that and drink it like a shooter.

LG: Wow!

FT: You can also match the wine with the sauce instead of the fish. And remember, if you want red wine go for it. The rule with drinking is drink what you like. So if you like red wine, drink it with fish.

LG: Fred, as a sad note we had an icon in the wine world who passed last week.

FT: Robert Mondavi died last week. He was a real pioneer of wine in California. In the mid-sixties he had a big fight with his brother so he had to leave his own home winery and start his own winery. He went to Europe and brought back the new methods they were using. He got that started and you see what has happened since. He was one of the real pioneers. One personal memory I have is that he was a great wine salesman. He staged a tasting in Miami one time with a really expensive French Bordeaux that cost 4 times his wine. If you know about French wine you know wines need many more years of ageing. So he took a French wine of the same year as his wine and his wine blew it out of the water. So he really was a great salesman.

LG: He really put Napa Valley on the map. It’s such a wonderful wine growing area.

FT: And we should mention that he had been a feud with his brother for over 20 years but just before the Wine and Food Festival this year they made up. They were given an award there jointly and it was nice to see.

LG: He’s remembered with a lot of love. Let’s go back to the fish Chef Sean. What should we look for when we buy fish?

SB: Look for clear bright eyes, the gills should be bright red, tightly adhered scales and there should be no fish odor. It should have a slight seaweed smell. For filets, look at the color and check the smell.

LG: Well another delicious week has gone by. Thank you for joining us.