# Smoked Chilean Sea Bass!



## leah elisheva (Dec 20, 2013)

Happy Friday Great Cookies!

Here's today's fantastic lunch!

It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Delicious!

And while I said "Happy SUNDAY" in my video, by habit, (as I usually do these on Sundays), I am indeed aware of the fact that it is Friday. (Must be that mad-cow or "mad-anchovy" is kicking in at times)? Smiles.

IN ANY EVENT, ENJOY! Cheers! - Leah













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## moikel (Dec 20, 2013)

Now thats a fish we don't have! Keep seeing it on TV cooking shows ,I think its close in flavour to some of our cod type fish.Anyway great looking meal.


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## leah elisheva (Dec 21, 2013)

Thank you Mick!

Yes, Chilean Sea Bass falls apart like a flaky and moist cod, and yet has more buttery flavors (without any butter added of course) and it's really wonderful when smoked! Happy weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cheers! - Leah


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## trikefreak (Dec 21, 2013)

Mmmmm, I love me some Chilean Sea Bass!

Does anyone know how similar Virginia Beach Black Sea Bass are in texture and flavor? Somewhere I watched a cooking show where they had these, and raved about the flavor and texture. I did some searching last year, and it is considerably cheaper than Chilean, but not sure how the two compare.

Thanks again for another entertaining video!


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## bdskelly (Dec 21, 2013)

Awesome series Leah.  Thanks for the extra effort!

Brian


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## chef jimmyj (Dec 21, 2013)

Nice job. It is fortunate that they are making a comeback after the extreme over fishing of the 90's. They are very tasty. I especially enjoy the texture of the thick large flakes of meat that is similar to Scallops, firm yet gelatinous...JJ


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## disco (Dec 21, 2013)

I haven't had sea bass in over a year. This post makes me miss it. Thanks Leah.

Disco


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## leah elisheva (Dec 21, 2013)

Thank you so much, Brian! And Disco! Delicious it was! Indeed!

And Chef JJ, I am with you! (On the scallop taste and so forth)!

These are treats when they come.

I had stopped getting them, as my favorite food on earth is "Cobia" and so I have my New Year's Eve delivery coming of Cobia, (how grateful am I), and had thus sort of stopped on sea bass altogether, until seeing it the other day.

Anyway, delicious stuff. And JJ, thank you tons for watching and for nice support! I value your expertise indeed!!!

And Trikefreak, if I am not mistaken, (and JJ feel free to correct me if I am wrong here) but the "black bass" that I know, and from living in Greece, (called "lavraki") is the "Mediterranean" sea bass which is an entirely different fish albeit also delicious! It's like bronzini etc. (White bass, black bass, it all goes into that category and they eat the whole thing, eyes, cheeks, skin, and it is WON-DER-FUL)!

But it does not taste at all like Chilean sea bass (to me) and so the closest thing I can think of in this country, (or specifically in New England where I am), is if you grilled a whole 'striper' and then yesm that would indeed taste like the "lavraki" in Greece.

Hopefully this helps in some way??? Otherwise, ignore me!!!! Smiles. But both Mediterranean Sea Bass, and Chilean, are fantastic, despite how different from one another they indeed are.

Happy all!!!!!!!!! Cheers! - Leah


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## geerock (Dec 21, 2013)

Leah,

Great piece of work.  And a wonderful visual and verbal presentation.  Chilean Sea Bass is a great fish that comes fresh here to New England every now and then.  I took a liking to it when I was in Venezuela many years ago and it hadn't been "market named" yet.  It was known as toothfish.....Patagonian Toothfish to be exact.  And it was one ugly looking sucker.  The name Chilean Sea Bass came around to get it more palatable for the marketplace.  A rose by any other name kind of thing.

Anyway, thanks again and looking forward to more.


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## dls1 (Dec 21, 2013)

Leah, a great looking dish with one of my favorite fish. As you say, it's not unlike buttery cod. Great video, also.

I always chuckle when I hear the name "Chilean Sea Bass", as no such fish actually exists. As geerock mentioned, a savvy marketer came up with the term around 30 years ago when he had trouble selling his specialty fish in the US and Canada with the correct, but unappealing, name of "Patagonian Toothfish". The term is used no where else, but in Japan it's known as mero, and in parts of Latin America, it goes by the name of merluza negra (black hake), and bacalo

Mick - Under it's correct name I'm sure you've had it, or at least have heard of it. It's a very deep dwelling fish found primarily in the the Southern Ocean Antarctic and Sub Antarctic waters. A large portion of the catch comes from the waters near the Australian external territory islands of Heard and McDonald in the Southern Indian ocean, as well as Macquarie island in the Southern Pacific. The company that pretty much has exclusive fishing rights in those waters is Austral Fisheries in Perth, WA , and domestically, they market the fish under the brand name of Glacier 51.

Trikefreak - The only thing that Patagonian Toothfish and Virginia Beach Black Sea Bass have in common is that they both are fish and both come from the sea. The "Virginia Beach" portion of the name was another marketers brainstorm in an attempt to create a unique regional product that really is no different than any other Black Sea Bass found along the US Atlantic coast. Similar to what some folks in Canada did a few years ago when they created the term Copper River Salmon. Also, as I understand it, the Black Sea Bass along that coast is actually a type of Grouper, but one found in waters further North.


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## leah elisheva (Dec 21, 2013)

Well Geerock, you sure are right on the money about name origins etc., (and now I just read Dls1 and his response too)! You all are amazing!!!

Indeed the "Marke_*teers"*_ of our great nation do diligence toward getting things sold! Regardless, it is so fascinating (and you gentlemen added details to make that even more so) to learn about how the fish market works, from names and games and prices and political doings even! I love learning and love it all! Thank you indeed for your terrific insight and posts!

This was delicious, and regardless of whatever it may be called in your area; I recommend it smoked, then the black bass (entirely other fish) as well, and then of course my world favorite - Cobia.

But now we only have days until the new year! Have I told you yet about the "New Year's Eve Curse?" (Put on me by a gynecologist in South Beach, Miami circa 1997 going into 98)? No worries, it's not as kinky as one would think, and perfectly safe for cyber/family site discussion.

That being said, and until that story therefore; New Year's Eve is coming, and so plan accordingly!!!! Cheers!!!!!! - Leah


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## moikel (Dec 21, 2013)

OK  now I get it,its Patagonian tooth fish .Yes we have that here & fishing boats that target it under very  strict quotas in Antarctic waters.

We also have a bunch of poachers from other countries that we round up using our navy patrol boats. 

Our navy famously chased one guy halfway back to South America  in some very tough seas to confiscate boat,catch etc.


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## leah elisheva (Dec 22, 2013)

Wow Mick! Such wild fish regulations and stories! Fantastic stuff!!! Happy Sunday! Cheers!!!!!! - Leah


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## dls1 (Dec 22, 2013)

Moikel said:


> OK  now I get it,its Patagonian tooth fish .Yes we have that here & fishing boats that target it under very  strict quotas in Antarctic waters.
> 
> We also have a bunch of poachers from other countries that we round up using our navy patrol boats.
> 
> Our navy famously chased one guy halfway back to South America  in some very tough seas to confiscate boat,catch etc.


Mick - I'm don't know anything about the South American chase, but I recall an event that happened in 2003 that was first brought to my attention by a friend of mine. He happened to be the reporter for the Wall Street Journal at the time covering the story, and later wrote a book about the event entitled "Hooked: Pirates, Poaching, and the Perfect Fish".

It was known as the "Viarsa Incident" and involved a pirate ship, the Viarsa, in the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters near Heard island in the Antarctic. An Australian Patrol boat, the Southern Supporter, had been shadowing the Viarsa overnight, and at daybreak, made it's move to apprehend the Viarsa. Rather than backing down, the Viarsa took off and made a run for it. That was the beginning of a 21 day, 4000 mile "Hot Pursuit" through some of the deadliest waters on the planet when the Viarsa finally surrendered off the coast of Capetown, South Africa.

At one point, the Viarsa got lost in Antarctic pack ice. The Australian boat backed off, guided them out to safer water by radio, and the chase started over.


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## moikel (Dec 22, 2013)

That's it I thought about that after I posted & realised I had my Souths mixed up:biggrin:
I can't remember what flag the boat was flying but they ran for South Africa ,lot of $ at stake.Crew a mix of nationalities. Our Navy does a lot of that work but is also kept very busy now with refugee boats coming from the North.I think they would rather be chasing poachers.


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## dls1 (Dec 22, 2013)

Moikel said:


> That's it I thought about that after I posted & realised I had my Souths mixed up:biggrin:
> I can't remember what flag the boat was flying but they ran for South Africa ,lot of $ at stake.Crew a mix of nationalities. Our Navy does a lot of that work but is also kept very busy now with refugee boats coming from the North.I think they would rather be chasing poachers.


Viarsa was flying the flag of Uruguay. It was very difficult to determine true ownership of the boat, but after piercing several layers of protective cover documentation it was determined that the owners were members of a Spanish family with several boats controlled by shell companies in Uruguay, Maurituis, and South Korea, all flying "Flags of Convenience".

Also, if I recall correctly, on that particular run, the Viarsa was carrying around 100 tons of toothfish. The captain and the crew were charged by the Australian government, but were eventually acquitted of all criminal charges.


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## leah elisheva (Dec 23, 2013)

These stories are so undeniably fantastic that I only wish we were sharing such over a table covered with fabulous food and then grand copious bottles of quite incredible wine!

The next lobster dinner, I'll just invite you all over and we can swap global tales and fabulous fodder!

Meanwhile Great Cookies, (and Chops), please make today DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers! - Leah


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