Just back from a jaunt to Berkley Spring, WV! Love it there. Lot 12 is a winter tradition, and this year’s dinner did not disappoint.  Also, I love anywhere where the chef is having a glass of wine at the bar with you before dinner.  Great atmosphere!

The night that we didn’t eat at Lot 12, we had this tasty fish.  The Ras el Hanout came from the internet and was delicious! There is something about ordering spices on the internet that really drives home the point that you can truly find anything in the world these days, anytime.  To me it diminished a bit the magic of finding stuff on your own, without the help of Google, but hey.  Ras el Hanout is good stuff, and surprisingly hard to find, even in DC.   I’ll take what I can get.  The hint of cinnamon provided perfect warmth for a cold winter night.

Although this seabass was Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified, there is a lot of debate as to whether or not people should eat it.  My understanding is that this certification has been granted to sea bass fisheries mainly because the sea bass are being caught on long-lines or with special nets, with attention to reducing bird deaths and other by-catch.   According to MSC, the ‘sustainable‘ means three things: 1) sustainable fish stocks; 2) minimizing environmental impact; and 3) effective management.  However, sea bass is still an extremely slow maturing fish, raising questions about whether or not large scale commercial sale of it can ever truly be  sustainable. 

Some argue that the return a few years ago of  MSC certified sea bass to Whole Foods and other vendors merely served to confuse consumers, and that some might begin to buy Chilean Sea Bass again with abandon.  I don’t  much buy paternalistic arguments like that; I think the answer is to educate the consumer (Oh geez, that’s the tag line of a cheesy discount store  in Maryland, but anyway…) 

Simply removing choices because we are afraid of consumer confusion is offensive and ineffective.  People should get used to reading labels and asking questions about where the heck their food comes from.  We’re not that dumb, we’ll be able to wrap our head around the idea that some sea bass is bad bad bad and that some may be OK.

As for me, the fattiness of this fish was perfect with this dish, and it really was such a nice change from farmed tilapia. BUT. I don’t think we’ll be eating it again soon. Maybe it will be a special-occasion fish, but I believe it would probably be better to avoid it all together. 

Sea Bass with Ras el Hanout, Tomatoes and Carrots

Ingredients:

1lb seabass

1 TB Ras el Hanout, divided

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 TB olive oil

1 1/2 onions, chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped

2 TB finely sliced fresh ginger

2 tsp turmeric

2 cans diced tomatoes, with juice

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400.  Rinse and pat dry bass.  Rub 1 tsp Ras El Hanout over top of bass.  Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add onions, garlic, ginger and turmeric and sautee for about 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes, and turn heat down to low.

Meanwhile, spray a cast iron skillet, or other ovenproof dish with cooking spray.  Heat over medium-high heat.  Add carrots, and sautee until fragrant and carrots are slighly browned.  Add carrots to tomato mixture in other skillet. Continue to cook mixture over low heat. 

Wipe oven proof skillet clean, and spray with more cooking spray.  Heat over medium-high to high heat.  Add fish, skin side down, and cook for about 4 minutes, or until skin is well seared. 

Remove from heat, and leave fish in oven proof skillet.  Add tomato mixture to skillet around  the fish.  Put skillet in oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until fish flakes easily.  Serves 2.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 at 11:19 am and is filed under carrots, policy, recipes, sustainable food, tomatoes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.