Our annual survey of seafood in Southeast Louisiana this year counts down the 33 best seafood species enjoyed in our restaurants, seafood markets, and homes. For the full survey so far, click here. Or use the links at the bottom to move up and down the list.
#32: Chilean Sea Bass
A member of the cod family--but not much like any cod you're used to eating--this fish burst onto menus in the 1980s. It's a big creature that gives beautiful servings of pearlescent white fish. The cut is somewhere between that of a fillet and a steak. It requires longer cooking than most fish, and when chefs cook it the way they do other fish, it can be more than a little tough. The "Chilean sea bass" name is pure marketing. It's not a sea bass, and not many of the fish live near Chile--although that's where the factory ships pull up to put their catch into the seafood stream. Home for the Patagonian toothfish (its real name) is the Southern Ocean--the one surrounding Antartica. In that part of the world, a lack of laws and enforcement in the 1990s and 2000s allowed the harvesters of this fish to reduce its population almost to the point of nonviability. Since then, treaties and trade policies have slowed down the catch. The problem is that these fish live about fifty years and are on along reproduction schedule. Result: we are not finding this fish on menus much anymore. Although it has many fans, the best appreciation of the toothfish would be to leave it alone. In my opinion, we're not losing much.