Several (10?) years ago celebrity chefs went on talk shows telling us to stop eating swordfish. They had been over fished and there was a danger of us eating all the swordfish in the sea so we needed to stop eating them and allow their numbers to come back to a sustainable level. I stopped eating swordfish.
About the time I might have considered eating it again we were warned of high mercury levels in large predatory fish. Swordfish are near the top of their food chain so they are high in mercury, but safe to eat once a week.......unless you are young, or pregnant or nursing and then you should avoid it all together. Something about being told there is poison in my food but I'm the perfect age for my body to handle it that puts my appetite off.
And here we are at French Friday and swordfish. I'll admit to a slight panic. The moral issue has been resolved. Swordfish numbers have rebounded and as long as we are eating harpoon caught from Canada and the North Atlantic or East Pacific we are purchasing fish caught in a manner that causes minimal damage to other types of sea life. Mercury in swordfish is unavoidable. Just don't eat too much of it.
So for the first time in many years I bought and prepared swordfish. The deliciousness helped me to forget abut the mercury. Swordfish really is a perfect fish...firm, not too fishy, everything we usually want in seafood (except that pesky mercury).
We loved it! The only thing I would do differently is sub some arugula for half of the parsley in the frilly herb salad. It had a tad too much bite. But all in all it was a big hit at my house! Usually after cooking fish inside we are spraying lysol for a couple of days trying to get rid of fishy smells. Not with swordfish!
This posts participates in French Fridays with Dorie. Happy Friday everyone!
About the time I might have considered eating it again we were warned of high mercury levels in large predatory fish. Swordfish are near the top of their food chain so they are high in mercury, but safe to eat once a week.......unless you are young, or pregnant or nursing and then you should avoid it all together. Something about being told there is poison in my food but I'm the perfect age for my body to handle it that puts my appetite off.
And here we are at French Friday and swordfish. I'll admit to a slight panic. The moral issue has been resolved. Swordfish numbers have rebounded and as long as we are eating harpoon caught from Canada and the North Atlantic or East Pacific we are purchasing fish caught in a manner that causes minimal damage to other types of sea life. Mercury in swordfish is unavoidable. Just don't eat too much of it.
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| Mediterranean Swordfish |
We loved it! The only thing I would do differently is sub some arugula for half of the parsley in the frilly herb salad. It had a tad too much bite. But all in all it was a big hit at my house! Usually after cooking fish inside we are spraying lysol for a couple of days trying to get rid of fishy smells. Not with swordfish!
This posts participates in French Fridays with Dorie. Happy Friday everyone!
nice salad
ReplyDeleteI forgot about the mercury! Yikes. So glad you enjoyed this treat :)
ReplyDeleteOk - now I feel better about cooking trout this week :-)
ReplyDeleteI like the look of the salad on top.
I used Sea Watch fish guide to pick the Swordfish.. also any fish from Wholefoods is sustainable. I don't think we have to worry about any of us eating too much of it...$$$$ Sorry, you had some anxiety... it is great that you are so aware of what you eat.
ReplyDeleteI had never eaten swordfish before, but I enjoyed this too. Have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delicious recipe for becoming reacquainted with swordfish. I enjoyed this one tool
ReplyDeleteWe really enjoyed this recipe, too. But, we used tuna because we had some that was fresh. I also agree about the salad.
ReplyDeleteThis week's swordfish had me reminiscing about the past as we'll and the way swordfish was ubiquitous on every menu and wasn't so expensive. I hadn't really gotten the memo it was ok again but my fishmonger assured me it was. I enjoyed it and loved the sauce flavorings.
ReplyDeleteWe loved it too! The marinade added such nice flavor to the swordfish. A delicious dinner for sure! Hope you had a great weekend, Guyla!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find swordfish and substituted Wolffish, not a great substitute! Think I would prefer this. Looks terrific! Hope you are enjoying your summer -
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