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Island Fever ~ Tastes& Tales of Cayman
Lookin'FreshFish? Mitchell's Tilapia Crop is Ready!
By BarbaraCurrie Dailey
Get those Cayman limes and seasoning peppersready! I've found fresh local fish at only $3.99 a pound that'sso sweet and delicate you can eat everything but the bones. Thelatest crop of Cayman-raised Mitchell's Farm Fresh Tilapia isnow available at the Farmer's Market and the supply is going tolast at least 10 more weeks.
You can taste local Tilapia there duringlunchtime on Friday for the next few weeks, according to Manager,Mr. Brian Crichlow. The Farmer's Market is featuring a fried Tilapialunch special to introduce as many people as possible to thistasty local fish.
You might have missed my April column onTilapia and have no idea what I'm talking about. At this year'sAgricultural Show, I learned this small perch-like freshwaterfish is being farmed right here in Lower Valley. Like most Caymanresidents, I had no idea Roy Mitchell's Farm Fresh Tilapia aquacultureproject existed. Mr. Mitchell and his son Leroy launched Cayman'sonly commercial fish farm in 1993. So far it has remained a small-scaleoperation and their local Tilapia is unfamiliar to most residents.
This mild-flavored fish has a fascinatinghistory, but its strange, foreign-sounding name makes people suspicious,assuming this simple, homegrown delicacy is some fancy importedseafood. Tilapia, pronounced till-AH-pee-ah, is a freshwater speciesthat looks like a lake sunfish or perch or a small silver saltwatersnapper.
This fish, whose scientific name is Oreochromisspp. is good for you. Nutritionally, it is protein-rich and hasvery little fat -- almost no saturated fat. A 4-ounce servinghas only 100 calories-and 0.5 grams of saturated fat.
Its firm white or slightly pink flesh hasa sweet, mild flavor that might remind you of farmed USA catfish.Most of the Tilapia sold today in this hemisphere is farm-raisedin Costa Rica, Honduras and Columbia. It has become a hit withtrendy North American chefs who find its mild flavor and delicatetexture a winning combination that can be prepared many ways.
What inspired Mr. Mitchell to get involvedin such a complex venture?
"I watched our local fish supply beingdepleted and our reefs slowly dying and I thought, 'What are mygrandchildren going to be left with?', " he said. "Whatcould we do to ease pressure on our local marine life? I learnedabout Tilapia farming while visiting my brother in Jamaica about10 years ago and that gave me the idea. It's a very good fish:there are so many things you can do with it. It is delicious anyway: steamed, roasted, fried or grilled.
Tilapia has become very popular overseas.Today, there are successful Tilapia farms all over the world inwarm climates and we could have a much larger operation here.But it is hard work and we need to create local awareness of whatfish farming could do for Cayman," Mr. Mitchell said.
That's an understatement. Aquaculture isa complex and challenging business. It demands constant, diligentmonitoring of tank conditions, including water quality and foodsupply. Mr. Mitchell's stock averages about 3000 fish that growin three large tanks constantly replenished with fresh well water.
He buys the food supply, usually fry, fromFlorida. He prefers to harvest his fish when they reach 9 monthsand weigh between 1 and 1-1/2 pounds. That's the ideal size andhe sells them whole (fresh, never frozen) to the Farmer's Market.By the time they reach customers in the fish section, they arecleaned, scaled and ready for the skillet.
I stopped by the Market early this weekto check out the Tilapia supply and found the fish counter well-stockedwith fresh fish-you can tell by the clear eyes and glisteningskin. These fish are the perfect size for seasoning and steaming,roasting, frying or cooking escoveitch-style. If you have fussyeaters who insist on having "him own fish," on theirplate, this is the answer.
However, for the squeamish eater offendedby a fish head, they are also easy to filet. And there's no needto remove the skin: Mitchell's farmed Tilapia is so fresh thatits tender skin lacks the oily, unpleasant fishiness of otherspecies. It also easily peels away after cooking if you want skinlessportions on the plate. Don't go looking for the 6-8 ounce Tilapiafilets sold year-round in local seafood counters. Those are importedand come from larger 3-4 pound farmed fish.
Tilapia's colorful history is the oppositeof its drab appearance- it is one of the world's oldest delicacies.It's popularity can be traced back over 4,500 years through hieroglyphsand carvings depicting this small fish that indicate it was thefood of Egyptian Kings and Pharaohs. Native to the Nile River,Tilapia spread to the fresh waters of Africa and Asia and hasbeen eaten for millennia-and farmed since 2,500 BC. Tilapia hashad many names-- including St. Peter's Fish, which was how itwas first sold in Jamaica 16 years ago.
But no one ever bothered to explain thatname, which might have had tremendous marketing value.
Remember the Bible story of the miraculouscatch at Galilee that turned Jesus' disciples into "fishersof men?"
Tilapia is believed to have been the humblefish referred to in Luke 5: 1-10. After Simon Peter and his companionsfished all night and caught nothing, Jesus instructed the wearyfishermen to go back out and try again. As the huge crowd of followerswatched, their nets were soon filled to breaking, almost sinkingthe boats. Hence the appropriate name, St. Peter's Fish.
Mr. Mitchell's favorite way to prepare Tilapia?Escoveitch-style.
(Barbara Currie Dailey is the author ofTortuga Rum Fever & Caribbean Party Cookbook.)