A couple of days ago I went shopping to my local Tesco and saw this new fish they are selling: River Cobbler. It looked like cod or haddock, but the price was nowhere near as high. I though, ok it is cheap and new so I'll try it.
Yesterday, I've covered it with white vine and while it was steaming, decided to have a look what sort of fish this is. Good thing that I am curious and do care about what I put in my mouth. I've discovered this website. After reading about river cobbler (also called, Pangasius, Vietnamese River Cobbler, Basa Fish and White Catfish, Tra, Gray Sole. see website) habitat and some readers' comments, the contents of my pan went straight to the bin.
Frankly, I don't care how they import this fish and what corporations this business supports. The important thing that said it all for me, is that it is a scavenger fish from one of the most poisonous rivers in the world - Mekong River. Many people wrote that they did indeed had an adverse reaction, so I figured - why risk it? Plus, I've bought a diesel (or gasoline) contaminated cod from Tesco once, so I wasn't surprised that they sell rubbish like that.
Of course there are many fish farmed in horrible conditions. I always try to buy organic fish and do look at the location it came from. For this reason, I personally will not eat river cobbler and wouldn't recommend it to anybody.
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Indeed, why risk it. It might be completely fine, but without a lab to test it, eating something from the Mekong is not something I as a health conscious person want to try. It might be that the Mekong is not that much worse than many other rivers, but better the devil you know... I am all for farmed fish as we seriously need to do something about dwindling fish stocks in the seas, but I'm more comfortable buying farmed fish from countries that I know are well regulated countries. It's no guarantee, but it's the best I can afford to do. Besides, eating fish imported from distant places, whether it's cobbler or tuna, is never ideal. The time and various stages of transport, freezing, unfreezing, etc. leaves too many opportunities for contaminants and spoilage.
ReplyDeleteTarostar said, "Indeed, why risk it. It might be completely fine,..."
ReplyDeleteNO IT IS NOT. This fish is injected with the urine of pregnant female humans, for one. REMEMBER: throughout most of Asia and India, there are absolutely NO controls over food. I cannot, however, believe that the US is allowing this waste fish to be imported. SURELY someone received a HUGE "incentive."
neo
Incidentally, no disrespect to Tarostar. I was merely taking the first part of his post out of context.)
ReplyDeleteI just want everyone to know - do NOT eat this fish!!!
Often, if you ask, "What is this fish?" You'll be told, "Oh, gee... it's so hard to pronounce... ping=pang-something-or-other..."
This is an example of how importers prey upon the ignorance of Americans who rarely set foot outside of the USA.