A Rose By Any Other Name Would Be A Pilchard
The Daily Mail informs us that the fishing industry is busily renaming fish that formerly had, shall we say, unappealing names so as to make them more attractive to diners everywhere. So it is that we have the 'orange roughy'. That fish used to be known by the quaint name of 'slimehead'. The 'Chilean sea bass' used to be the 'Patagonian toothfish'. And so it goes.
Invite the average shopper to tuck into pilchards and the response is likely to be a swift: "No thank you".
Yet describe the same dish as Cornish sardines and they will be eagerly snapped up by health- conscious customers keen to enjoy the benefits of eating oily fish.
Marks & Spencer has seen a sales boom in fresh pilchards by the simple expedient of giving them the new name - dispelling memories of the mushy tinned product in tomato sauce.
And around the country fishmongers and restaurants are having similar success by replacing traditional names such as rat-tails and witch with the less off-putting grenadier and Torbay sole.
Faced with dangerously low stocks of traditional favourites such as cod because of over-fishing, the industry is desperate to tempt consumers to try lesser-known species.
So the slimehead is now orange roughy, and Patagonian toothfish sells better as Chilean sea bass.
We here at Blue Crab Boulevard can see where this is heading. Pretty soon an old boot pulled out of the water will be sold as 'fillet of sole'. A worn out tire will be called 'blackfish'. We are also smart enough to get in on the ground floor of this lucrative new opportunity. Therefore, we are announcing the availability of plenty of 'striped pork'. Please place your orders soon, we expect that this will be in high demand soon.
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Albino Ratfish Swarm Puget Sound! — Monday, 24 September , 2007 @ 6:51 pm
By Joyce Williamson, Monday, 24 September , 2007 @ 6:30 am
What would a fancy name for oppossums be? We have trapped six so far this month. And raccoon?
By Gaius, Monday, 24 September , 2007 @ 6:35 am
Pouched veal and chicken bandito.
By Bob, Monday, 24 September , 2007 @ 8:15 pm
Joyce, I believe a ‘possum would have to be a bottle-nosed rat. (Well, maybe ‘possum is better.)