Opah (Latin name: Lampris Regius) is an exceptionally colorful and beautiful looking fish that most people do not know much about. It is sometimes referred to as Moonfish because of its large round shape. Opahs can grow to almost 200 lbs, but typically range somewhere between 60 and 200 lbs. They have a silver/grey upper body color that shades to rosy red, dotted with white spots toward the belly. Its fins are crimson red and it has large, bright eyes that are encircled with golden yellow that really make them stand out. All Opahs are long-line caught.

There is no directed Opah fishery and you don’t see it sold in abundance anywhere in the United States other than Hawaii. It certainly isn’t consumed much here on the East Coast, but I am here to say that perhaps it should! Since it is an incidental catch by fisherman, it is available more often than not. Most of the Opah sold commercially is caught in Hawaii.  However, right now there is a small Opah fishery off of the Catalina Islands located off of the Southern California Coast that runs through January 31^st (starting in mid-November), weather permitting.

Opah has a very rich flavor, due to the high fat content in the fish. While it gets consumed raw (sashimi), I found it best served broiled where the oiliness really comes off the meat and on to your taste buds. I have seen it smoked and since the fish is so oily, I am sure that it “smokes up” well and tastes great!

Seafood Distributors purchasing Opah will more than likely receive what is referred to as the “rack” (head removed, tail and fins removed, and much of the lower two quadrants of the fish removed ). When the fish is cut to be sold, the “top loin“, or the meat at the top halves of the fish, is most desired. The meat is firm and bright pinkish red in color. The bottom loin, while edible, can be grisly, and generally ends up as kabobs or in dishes like tacos.  

Hopefully, you now know much more about this magnificent looking and tasting fish than you did before.

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Cephalopods are in big demand during the Christmas season.  The three major types that are purchased and consumed are:  Pulpo/Octopus, Sepia/Cuttlefish & Calamari/Squid.

Many people do not understand the difference between these three and tend to lump them all together.  However each type is a distinct animal.  Cooking methods can be quite similar but there are distinctive characteristics to each.

Pulpo or Octopus: 

Sold as large cleaned (each individual octopus weighs one to several pounds) or baby cleaned (several octopi per one pound).  These are typically boiled for salad or stewed in tomato sauce and transcend several cuisines:  South American, Mediterranean and Asian etc.  The cooked meat is chewy but flavorful. The tentacles are quite long and are cut into pieces while the head meat is sliced.

Sepia or Cuttlefish: 

This cephalopod is not as well known in the USA as its cousins the squid or octopus.  However, in Europe and Asia, this is the prized cephalopod for flavor and consistency.  The animal is a cross between both the squid and octopus in appearance.  The thick meat cooks up snow white and is tender with a subtle flavor.  It is delicious when grilled or stewed but is just as tasty fried or boiled. The tentacles are shorter and the body (or tube) is where the thick slices come from.  Once again the forms sold in the marketplace are either:   large cleaned, large uncleaned or baby cleaned.

Calamari or Squid:    

Most everyone knows this cephalopod.  The tube and tentacles are fried or the tube is stuffed.  Product is sized by tube length and there are many tubes or tubes & tentacles per pound. 

Happy Holidays!  May cephalopods be included on your holiday menu!

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Oman Lobster Tails

by Robert Landy

In the USA, what we commonly refer to as Oman Lobster Tails are actually processed in the United Arab Emirates ( U.A.E. ).

These lobsters are caught in FAO area # 51 - Arabian Sea. The countries that are in this fishing area are Oman, Yemen, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, India, etc .

Species & Catching method

The primary lobster Species caught is the Panulirus Homarus. It is a small lobster; average body length is 20-25cm.  The majority of the lobster tails fall within the 2oz to 5oz sizes.

The lobsters are caught by netting, diving and/or traps depending on the country/region.  In Oman & Somalia they are caught by nets and diving.  In Yemen they also use traps. In India it’s mostly diving with some use of traps and nets in Mumbai.

Processing

The processing plants receive primarily frozen whole lobster or tails. They defrost the lobster, then clean and separate the lobster tails by quality. The lobster tails are then dipped into a Meta- Bisulphate solution.  They limit the amount of this chemical on the finished product to 100 parts per million. The lobster tails are then individually wrapped, then frozen in a blast freezer on metal trays. After frozen, they are graded by size + - 1/2oz tolerance. For instance, a 5oz tail will be 4.5oz to 5.5oz.  They are then packed in 10lb boxes, 4 boxes per master case.

Seasonality

The lobster season is divided into 2 parts:

The first season usually starts in September and ends in December. The second season resumes in Mid Feb and ends in May. During the first season, sizes are mainly in the 3-7oz range and during the second season, the sizes are predominantly in the 1-3oz range.

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Sustainability

Bringing the sustainable issue home to the everyday consumer is something that we have yet to do.  I wonder what the result would be if we each went home and asked our spouse, children and friends what MSC meant; how many would come back with the correct answer?  If your results are anywhere near the results that I have seen over the past few days, it’s pretty dismal.  Out of 8 people I asked - only one had the correct answer.  This is from a group of individuals that you would think by sheer proximity to the issue would have known the answer through osmosis.  If this small group from the seafood industry does not know what MSC represents and tries to create in terms of sustainability -  how can we expect the consumer at large to know the answer? 

 The seafood industry needs to address the issue of sustainability with the consumer quickly and directly.  It needs to speak to the myriad of news articles that lead the American consumer to believe that, as an industry, we have disregarded our responsibilities as stewards of the environment.  MSC needs to make itself relevant to the end consumer.  Once the MSC reaches the end consumer, it will make itself more relevant to the industry as a whole and not just the supplier community. This means that more time and energy needs to be spent developing a dialogue with the end consumer.  This can be done through well place print ads highlighting the fisheries that are certified sustainable by MSC along with a targeted Public Relations campaign.  The MSC and seafood industry can raise consumer awareness and in the process, increase consumption of seafood.

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Selling the Seafood Sizzle

One of the biggest problems that most consumers have with seafood is that they simply do not know how to cook it.  This problem can be solved with a little education which will, when done effectively, create a loyal, committed customer.  The question is how to educate. In today’s fast paced society, the consumer is typically looking to reduce their time shopping.  Although they may say they are looking for an experience, in most cases, they target on developing a solution to their need for a meal and want to be in and out of the store as fast as possible.  Getting your customer engaged will be the key to making them a customer. 

The passive route to take is to develop recipe cards and to make them available to customers both at the counter and via your web site.  The benefit of this approach is the low cost - on the flip side - it will do little to engage your customer and get them excited about seafood.  The more proactive means of engagement would entail product demonstrations on site to show the customer the possibilities for creating a meal.  The upside of this approach is that your customer will see, smell, and taste the product - the downside is that it is expensive and results in limited customer exposure. 

I would recommend a hybrid approach - shoot a short video - no more than one minute - showing customers how to cook a particular meal.  In order to fully engage your store associates in the promotion, have them submit the recipes and do the cooking.  Combine this with a menu planning card as a take away and you have fully engaged your customer and made a sale in the process.

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Looking For Value

The food landscape - always a fluid environment, has seen some dramatic shifts over the past 12 months. With consumers reducing their dining out dollars and increasing the number of meals consumed in the home, competition has become most intense in the past few months to provide value to retail consumers trying to stretch their purchasing power. This is great news from a retailer’s perspective as it drives more consumers into the store and many retailers are seeing comp sales increases as high as 5% over last year. But what are they going to buy? Convenience-as the economy has slid into recession, people are working harder. Taking on more responsibility and working more hours as they are asked to do more with less. They have little or no time to plan much less execute on a meal. So they are looking for products that they know how to cook or products that they feel they cook quickly and successfully. Quality-for those consumers that are trading in their frequent diner card for a frequent shopper card, they are coming into the store looking for products that will replace that restaurant experience. That means that they are looking for quality products in terms of freshness, taste and appearance. Value- Consumers are watching their expenditures. Savings rates have increased for the first time in decades and everyone is trying to do more with less. Does this mean that they are looking for the cheapest product on the shelf? Not necessarily. What they are looking for is a solid value. Products that are aggressively priced and meet their need for quality and convenience at the same time.

Unfortunately, seafood has not fared as well as we all would like in this competition. In the last three quarters of 08′, seafood was the only perishables department that did not see an increase in sales and tonnage. As customers have defined their purchasing decisions they have found that other proteins, in particular poultry, which saw a 6.7% increase in sales in 2008, have met their needs more effectively. It does not have to be this way. There are a large number of products that can be offered at a great value.  Products like Capensis, Swai and Ponga, to name a few, all offer wholesale price points in the mid $2.00 range which would allow a retailer to market these products for as little as $3.99 per pound on sale. Although it may take some innovative marketing to introduce consumers to these species, given the competitive environment I think it will be well worth the effort.

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