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Fishing season begins soon in the Washington, Maryland and Virginia area, and though I’m not an angler, a few readers tipped me off to a distressing situation in the Chesapeake Bay. “It would be wonderful if your column would post recipes for using blue catfish, which is local, sustainable and taking over the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries,” Kathy Tillman of Columbia, Md., wrote. “If everyone in the area consumed catfish it would help the bay!”
According to the Chesapeake Bay program, “blue catfish and its cousin, the flathead catfish, were introduced into Virginia waters by the state several decades ago to establish a recreational fishery. Since that time, these large, long-lived fish have expanded throughout much of the Chesapeake Bay region.”
Because catfish live longer, multiply rapidly, grow large enough to consume a variety of prey and adapt easily to different environments, they’re negatively affecting the ecosystem of local waters, causing declines in native species by as much as 91 percent, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Striped bass, shad, herring, Atlantic sturgeon, blue crab and more local species are affected. In March, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore asked the federal government to declare the expanding population of blue catfish, flathead catfish and snakehead a commercial fishery disaster.
My local grocers and fishmongers carry blue catfish, so I decided to buy some and play around with it in the kitchen. Catfish fillets are firm and white, larger than tilapia and more iridescent than cod, but just as easy to cook. The flavor is rather mild, a little like rockfish or striped bass. It’s nice fried in butter with capers and lemon zest. It stays moist when covered in mustard and dill and roasted. But I liked it most when I fried it Southern-style — dunked in buttermilk, dredged in a seasoned cornmeal and flour mixture and fried it until crisp.
You could certainly do that with whole catfish fillets, but I decided to turn my Southern-style fried catfish nuggets into tacos. A cabbage and radish slaw, with lots of lime juice and cilantro, gives these tacos extra crunch. Ripe avocado offers a creamy contrast to the fried fish, and a squeeze of lime perks up each bite.
Catch up on this week’s Eat Voraciously recipes:
Tuesday: Tofu Tikka
Wednesday: Stir-Fried Shanghai Noodles
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2023-05-11 12:47:26Z
CBMiU2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9mb29kLzIwMjMvMDUvMTEvYmx1ZS1jYXRmaXNoLXRhY29zLWludmFzaXZlLXNwZWNpZXMv0gEA
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