Food Fight between Jamie Oliver and Clarissa Dickson Wright

[GB]

http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=1412552004

 

[mudbug]

 

[Darkstream]

I, personally, AS A MATTER OF OPINION, would not trust a Sainsbury as far as I could spit them.

 

[norgeskog]

I like Jamie Oliver, do not know who the lady is or the farm. I try to buy wild salmon in most cases because in my opinion it tastes better. I have heard of some questions regarding farmed salmon as they are in water pens not free to the sea, and the water is recycled and chemicals added, but I do not remember where these farms would be or where I heard it.

 

[Alix]

norgeskog, there are lots of salmon farms in BC and the issue you may have heard about is mercury. There are critically high levels of mercury in farmed salmon. They recommend that you eat no more than one serving of farm salmon per MONTH because of this. Wild salmon is still safe.

 

[norgeskog]

norgeskog, there are lots of salmon farms in BC and the issue you may have heard about is mercury. There are critically high levels of mercury in farmed salmon. They recommend that you eat no more than one serving of farm salmon per MONTH because of this. Wild salmon is still safe.

Thanks Alix for clearing that up for me. I do usually try to get wild, although I have heard that some farmed salmon is OK but do nto know which and I do not think the labels tell about the mercury.

 

[Michael in FtW]

norgeskog - Clarissa Dickson Wright is the surviving half of the famous BBC "Two Fat Ladies" cooking show duo, Jennifer Paterson, the other half of the team, passed away back in 1999.

I like Jamie, and I think he has done some great things ... especially the project he did by taking at-risk teens and teaching them to cook and then giving them a job. But, as far as the salmon thing goes, I think Clarissa is right for the reasons she stated.

 

[norgeskog]

norgeskog - Clarissa Dickson Wright is the surviving half of the famous BBC "Two Fat Ladies" cooking show duo, Jennifer Paterson, the other half of the team, passed away back in 1999.

I like Jamie, and I think he has done some great things ... especially the project he did by taking at-risk teens and teaching them to cook and then giving them a job. But, as far as the salmon thing goes, I think Clarissa is right for the reasons she stated.

Thanks Min FtW for clearing this up. I loved the two fat ladies but did nto recognize the Wright name, I watched it all the time.

As for the issue, I did state above that I usually only buy wild salmon and other fish as well.

 

[kyles]

I don't buy into the whole salmon debate, in England you cannot buy wild salmon unless you are wealthy, and even then finding a supplier is very difficult.

I think Jamie is very naive and a bit stupid doing the whole supermarket thing. He totally lacks credibility, he doesn't shop at Sainsbury's. He doesn't eat the salmon.

I support Clarissa wholeheartedly, I am sure she has never set foot in a supermarket either, but at least she doesn't advertise them.

 

[Lifter]

Its a pretty pricey "buy" in Canada and (probably) the States, too, Kyles...and we, too, need to "look around for it", unless you are on the "left" (aka "wet") coast...

While I "appreciate" what Jaimie Oliver tried to do with the disadvantaged kids, and hope that it worked out for some of them, he's hardly my favourite TV chef...I like Michael Smith ("Chef at Large") an American who has"come over" to Canada, and is pretty fun to watch, aside from Emeril (cringing, as everyone else zeroes in on my flinching carcass!), who I still like, in terms of explaining what, why and how of what he's doing...

Anyways...

Lifter

 

[Zereh]

If you've ever had the pleasure of tasting wild salmon you'd definitely go without before eating the farmed stuff. =P I don't do farmed fish or shrimp. I'm fussy, I admit it.

I don't get overly uptight about what someone chooses to endorse. /shrug We all know it's done for the almighty $ no matter how much they would try to convince you they do it for higher reasons. I guess I don't get excited about it since TV and radio have almost zero influence over my buying habits; I don't have either of them often enough to justify having cable bill or a evan radio in my car (but I have both haha).

mmm Copper River Salmon. I'm drooling just thinking about it...


Z

 

[Lifter]

Hi Zereh!

I can appreciate a whacking pile of "difference" between "east Coast" and "west coast" salmon, myself, but have never found a method of "discriminating " with shrimp or any other crustaceans for that matter!

Note that I bought a Christmas Candle today that the DW claims is "Scented"...but I certainly can tell it "smells", but hardly what it "smells like"

How do you tell "farmed shrimp" from those caught "in the wild"?

You must have some pretty finely drawn senses to do so!

But it would be enormously interesting, if you could open this one up for us!

Iffen, not, its still okay! I can understand and accept the comment as relates to salmon, trout, etc...but got curious about shrimp!

There's probably a lot unsaid here, in that there are "crab" and ""lobster" FARMS that don't produce as well as the the "wild" side give us...and therefore you are opening up a good point that we can all get an eyeball-full into...please do go on with this issue!

I'd love to learn more!

And this is a great point for all of us!

Thanks again!

Lifter

 

[marmalady]

I don't do farmed shrimp for taste reasons as much as for support for the local shrimp men here in Charleston. The industry is dying, as more and more restaurants and stores started buying cheaper farmed or overseas products. Fortunately, there's a huge campaign now to 'buy local, buy wild', and more of the restaurants are endorsing it, along with only buying local fish, also. So we see restaurants with all the local fish - grouper, snapper, tuna, mahi-mahi, flounder, and much less of the 'chilean' sea bass and salmon.

There is a taste difference between wild and farmed shrimp, tho - having experienced both, the fresh, sweet, oceany taste of freshly caught wild shrimp can't be beat.

 

[Lifter]

Sorry to be "dumb" here, but again, 'how do you "tell"' when you are standing at the fish-monger's counter?

Sorry, but I cannot tell one shrimp from another, when they are de-headed and iced...only white, "black tiger" or "green"...and, usually, here, "pre-frozen"...and thawed...

And the "kids" dispensing the product can be "trusted" to tell you exactly what you want to hear...they are hardly the "buyers" for the store chain...nor do us not bordering on the salt water have a local industry to support (you, of course, could buy produt off the transom of the local boats, and "really" support local Industry!)

Lifter

 

[Psiguyy]

I gotta admit. Other than price, I can hardly tell the difference between farm raised and wild shrimp. If I don't have the two side by side to compare taste, I can't tell the difference and even if I do have the two side by side, I may still not be able to tell the difference. I sometimes buy fresh farm raised shrimp that's just as sweet, if not sweeter, than wild shrimp. I've also bought, off the boat, wild shrimp that wasn't all that spectacular.

Same pretty much goes for salmon. I can usually tell that wild salmon has a deeper red color compared to farmed, but as far as taste goes? Wild's better, but for the price? I can eat farmed and still enjoy it.

 

[Lifter]

I gotta have that west coast "wild" sockeye...the Atlantic salmon (pretty much all farmed) just doesn't get it done...

 

[Zereh]

Depends on your fish counter, I guess. =) And how well you know those standing behind it. If it's behind the counter and it's not clearly labeled where it's from, I ask. But I can also pop into one of the fish markets at Pike's Place Market and know without a doubt that anything I purchase there is as fresh and as wild as it can be. And for the prices, it had better be. =P That's why it's a weekly treat instead of a daily thing.

If you buy frozen seafood it should be marked on the packaging where it comes from, usually in teeny-tiny letters if it's farmed.

There may not be a huge taste difference between some farmed and not-farmed stuff, but I believe in buying organic, unprocessed, wholegrain when ever I have the chance. That's why I love farmer's markets; I like to know who raised my vegetables!

I'd no more buy someone I loved a steak or milk from a cow that is pumped full of antibiotices and growth hormones than I would hand them a loaded gun. =P I am a firm believer that the myriad of chemicals that "processed" foods are stuffed with are making us extremely unhealthy. They are starting to publish studies that point to those chemicals as possible causes of things like ADD, ADHD, Alzheimer's, early puberty, etc. And even if they are never ever able to "prove" it I know in my heart of hearts that it's bad for us. How can it not be??

*gets off her soapbox*

<3
Z