[title type="h6"]Monday, September 9, 2013.[/title]
Everybody complains about July and August heat in New Orleans, but if you ask me I'd say the most sweltering month is September. Maybe it's an illusion created by the name (all the other "-ber" months are decidedly in the fall). But I don't think that's it this year. The past few weeks have shown the highest temperatures and least rainfall of the year. But--and this makes up for everything else--no hurricanes yet.
When the radio show ended, MA and I headed to the Camellia Café. She is fasting, so it didn't matter where we went. I started with the creamy artichoke and oyster soup. It's not as good as the one at Mandina's, but at least they actually do serve it when you ask for it--something Mandina's in Mandeville does one time in ten.
I arrived with red beans and rice with hot sausage on the brain. But here was a special of red beans and fried catfish. Beans and fish--the very reliable yet little recognized food pairing. It always works, and it did again tonight. (Although I think the beans-hot sausage duet is even more harmonious and more exciting.)
I meant to ask about the source of the catfish, but forgot. This is becoming an issue that I plan to make much noise about. A rapidly increasing number of local restaurants have taken to serving Vietnamese catfish. The restaurants I am hearing most complaints about are two I like: Zea and the Acme. Indeed, the menus in both places show that what had long been the basic fried fish had ceased being catfish and begun being a Southeast Asian product called swai or tra. They are in the large catfish family, but not the same genus or species as the native species in Louisiana.
Much debate has transpired among interests in the catfish business. We frequently hear that the Vietnamese fish have environmental or food-safety issues. I don't need to know about that to object to these fish being served in our area. My gripe is simply this: it's not local. But there is local catfish available! Why are these restaurants serving fish from thousands of miles away when there's lots of it here? Because it's cheaper and gives a better profit margin. Period.
I don't mind paying more for local catfish. I object to the invasion of exotic fish into local kitchens. It's about flavor and localism. And another thing. Why do so few restaurant have wild-caught catfish?
