Tilapia... Whats Your Opinion?

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

What does everyone think of Tilapia? I hear a LOT of great things about it, but everytime I have it.... its fair. Nothing special. I dont get it.

[Katie E]

We eat a lot of tilapia. For one thing, it's relatively inexpensive. It also lends itself well to seasoning. Yes, it is a "bland" fish, but it's not oily and "fishy."

I usually substitute it for fish that is not available here (a lot isn't) or fish that is way too expensive for our budget.

It's a good fish to use as a "canvas" for many seafood recipes.

[college_cook]

It's a versatile fish, in that it doesn't really have a ton of flavor on its own, so it plays well with any sauce or side you could think of pairing it with. But yeah, what you said is true. It doesn't really have any character of its own and while it's not a bad fish, it's very unexciting. I think it's popular because it's a lean and pretty cheap white fish, hard to mess it up pairing it with "wrong" flavors.

[Michael in FtW]

What did you expect it to taste like?

Tilapia is a fine-textured fresh water fish that is low-fat and although it grows in the wild - most sources these days are "farm raised" (aquaculture). Thus it is a sustainable renewable resource ... like farm raised trout and catfish - which don't taste the same as their "wild" relatives since they are eating a formulated diet and not foraging on aquatic plants like they would in their natural habitat. It's most suitable for baking, broiling, grilling and steaming - although it can be poached or breaded and fried if you treat it gingerly because it can break up quite easily.

As Katie and College Cook have noted - due to it's lack of a strong flavor it can be used in a bunch of ways!

[BreezyCooking]

I don't care for tilapia at all. But then I'm not a big fan of fresh-water fish in general, having been brought up on the north shore of Long Island & used to eating lots of salt-water fish.

Plus, I'm also not a fan of most farmed fish. After seeing both tilapia & trout swimming around in murky water - murky from their own feces & stale food, it's turned me off eating both. I also don't eat farmed salmon. Wild only here. However, I will purchase catfish if I know the farm they've come from - "Delta" is reliably tasty, & from what I've read about them, they do things environmentally right.

Sorry - but until aquaculture gets their act together, many of their products are not for me right now, thank you.

[college_cook]

Breezy is right about farmed fish in general. Living deep in the midwest all my life I've never been exposed to really good seafood, but even I notice a marked difference b/w farm-raised and wild fishes. I'm sure that there is a difference b/w farmed and wild tilapia as well, but having never even seen wild tilapia, I'd couldn't tell you for sure.

[StirBlue]

It's just hard to keep Six Billion people fed everyday without raising a few eye brows and turning up a few noses. Yours Truly....Mom.

[Uncle Bob]

My Thoughts on Tilapia mirror what everyone else has said.
I find the fish bland, tatseless almost. It "marry's" well with any seasonings, sauces etc. and lends itself to almost any method of cooking. My favorite method of cookig is baked/broiled and not over cooked. It's fair on the grill and in the fry pan. It's inexpensive making it a good subsitute fish in some recipes. I beleive it's popularity is driven by price mostly, followed closely by it's flavor (or lack thereof) for people who do not favor a "fishy" taste.

Miss Breezy..Delta Pride is an excellent Mississippi Farmed Raised Catfish label. A couple of others are Simmons and Country Select.

Enjoy!

[Constance]

I saw Robin Miller cooking tilapia the other day. She painted the fillets with a mixture of honey and mustard, dredged them in crushed cashews, and pan fried them.
That ought to give it a little flavor.

[Andy M.]

I prefer fish that have a stronger flavor. Salmon, swordfish, bluefish, etc. I don't enjoy cooking a fish with little flavor as a vehicle for seasonings and sauces.