How sure are you everything labeled Parrotfish actually is?
. . I buy them whole, scales on and guts in. Then I match them detail by detail with the photos and write-ups on Fishbase.
Whole Parrotfish are not often mislabeled in the markets. Wrasses, sometimes called Parrotfish, are much smaller and more elongated.
Now, if I bought fillets, that would be a different matter, though Parrotfish is still fairly distinctive. If I bought it at a restaurant, sauce included, there would be room for doubt.
Sometimes even name deception isn't needed. Years ago, some fancy restaurants started serving this new fish, Tilapia, at hight prices. People didn't know it was a very inexpensive fish because the supermarkets didn't carry Tilapia. Why sell a $3/pound fish when you can use the same space to sell a $7/pound fish?
Finally, some markets started carrying Tilapia, and the people caught on. The fancy restaurants stopped serving it.
I buy Tilapia as fillets rather than whole fish, because the cost per edible ounce is the same either way, and fillets are a lot less effort. Tilapia fillets are easy to recognize, and anything else would be more expensive anyway.
Worst fraud out there is Dover Sole. It is not the Dover Sole of Europe, it's proper name is "Slimefish". Most of it is sold for processing into mink food.
Years ago, an LA Times food writer wanted to impress some guests, so he bought "Dover Sole" and used it for a fancy European recipe. He ended up with a pan of goo.
Trader Joe's sells Dover Sole frozen fillets. To their credit their package suggests the only ways it can be cooked: grilled or pan fried a very short time over very high heat. Even so, if you bought 2 pounds, you'll end up with 1 pound at the table.
I jumped at the chance to buy whole fish so I could do a proper write-up for this miserable excuse for a fish.
Dover Sole / Slime Fish.
Whole Parrotfish are not often mislabeled in the markets. Wrasses, sometimes called Parrotfish, are much smaller and more elongated.
Now, if I bought fillets, that would be a different matter, though Parrotfish is still fairly distinctive. If I bought it at a restaurant, sauce included, there would be room for doubt.
Sometimes even name deception isn't needed. Years ago, some fancy restaurants started serving this new fish, Tilapia, at hight prices. People didn't know it was a very inexpensive fish because the supermarkets didn't carry Tilapia. Why sell a $3/pound fish when you can use the same space to sell a $7/pound fish?
Finally, some markets started carrying Tilapia, and the people caught on. The fancy restaurants stopped serving it.
I buy Tilapia as fillets rather than whole fish, because the cost per edible ounce is the same either way, and fillets are a lot less effort. Tilapia fillets are easy to recognize, and anything else would be more expensive anyway.
Worst fraud out there is Dover Sole. It is not the Dover Sole of Europe, it's proper name is "Slimefish". Most of it is sold for processing into mink food.
Years ago, an LA Times food writer wanted to impress some guests, so he bought "Dover Sole" and used it for a fancy European recipe. He ended up with a pan of goo.
Trader Joe's sells Dover Sole frozen fillets. To their credit their package suggests the only ways it can be cooked: grilled or pan fried a very short time over very high heat. Even so, if you bought 2 pounds, you'll end up with 1 pound at the table.
I jumped at the chance to buy whole fish so I could do a proper write-up for this miserable excuse for a fish.
Dover Sole / Slime Fish.