Net Gains

Chef Advocates Eating Seafood to Save It

By Warren Rojas

“For Cod And Country: Simple, Delicious Sustainable Cooking,” by Barton Seaver; Sterling, 304 pgs., $30

Local toque cum sustainable seafood champ Barton Seaver is tired of all the exclusionary agendas masquerading as health advice.

“My problem with all these diets to save the world is … we don’t need to reinvent eating,” he argues. “We know what we should do: Eat diversely. Including seafood. Including meat. Just not protein-centric.”

Eating that which one wishes to conserve may sound counterintuitive. But Seaver views it as modern commercialism. Because only by creating a demand for renewable, unadulterated, omega-3 rich seafood can we ensure the continued survival of the ecologically minded fisheries fighting for the same.

And rather than omit elements from our gustatory experience, Seaver wants to see more of them—just in higher rotation.

“Smaller portions of more diverse species more often (a couple times of week),” he proposes.

Moreover, Seaver wants folks to stop thinking of sustainability as some abstract academic crusade, and take action to speed the entire process along.

But where to begin? Dig out that can of tuna/salmon/sardines collecting dust at the back of your pantry for dinner. Reuse every bit of every animal (Seaver saves lobster shells for seafood stock; repurposes the roe as flavored butter). Or just get creative with low-cal substitutions (Seaver deploys smoked paprika in place of bacon).

If this all sounds terribly sacrificial, his mouthwatering recipes are anything but. Notable selections include: his signature Mussels Saint-Ex, sardine and capered egg salad sandwiches, smoked mackerel- and sour cream-topped potato pancakes, eggplant stuffed with smoky tomato-anchovy ratatouille, halibut with ginger-raisin crust, wahoo crudo with three different flavors and creamed carrots a la Ris (a nod to fellow D.C. toque Doris Lacoste).

Stocking Up – Where Seaver Scores His Seafood
Maine Avenue Fish Market (D.C. Waterfront) – “Everybody’s there, and it’s just fun … [but] you gotta know what you are doing.”
Wegmans (Multiple NoVA locations) – “They educate their people really well.”
Whole Foods (Multiple NoVA locations) – Tags all seafood with color-coded sustainability ratings created in conjunction with the Blue Ocean Institute.
Safeway (Multiple NoVA locations) – Wholly endorses their waterfront BISTRO frozen seafood line, praising their barramundi in particular.

HUNGRY FOR EVEN MORE? Preview one of Seaver’s recipes at www.northernvirginiamag.com/fccfeatures

(May 2011)