Last week I decided to cut meat out of my diet. As I will continue to eat fish and seafood, I will be known as a pescetarian – not a vegetarian as some would have it. But just how virtuous can I feel about this lifestyle choice?

The primary reason for me turning my back on meat is one of health. I find it difficult to digest meat, especially the red variety, and I am aware that it doesn’t carry as many health benefits as fish, which is full of good fats, protein and vitamin D – also good for healthy skin and nails. Luckily for me I love fish and seafood, and generally ate more of it than meat anyway.

Plenty more fish in the sea?

So, I feel virtuous in the knowledge that I am being kind to my body, but can I score extra points by playing the ethical card? Sadly, I fear not. Granted, fish and their water-loving friends aren’t as cute and cuddly as their farmyard counterparts, but they are still living, breathing creatures that are killed for our culinary pleasure.

Awareness of the devastating effect that over-fishing is having on the environment was also heightened earlier this year, both by the controversy surrounding celeb-favourite Nobu’s refusal to take endangered species bluefin tuna off the menu and by the End of the Line documentary. Scientists involved in the film predict that if the fishing industry continues to operate as it currently does, most of the world’s seafood resources will have run out by 2048.

Savvy shopping

But choices for the ethical fish-eater are growing. Perhaps buoyed by the increased publicity, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) reports that sales of fish products certified from sustainable sources, as well as the number of such products on the market, are increasing.

The blue MSC label assures consumers that the seafood in a product has come from a “well-managed, sustainable source”, minimising environmental impact. Rupert Howes, chief executive of the MSC says that since 2006, the number of MSC-labelled products available worldwide has quadrupled, reaching the 2,000 mark at the beginning of the year – with 300 of these in UK supermarkets and eateries.

The big four supermarkets – Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco – all now stock MSC-accredited products, as do Marks & Spencer, Somerfield and Waitrose. Seafood producers Young’s and Birdseye have also added MSC-certified products to their range.

Still, it’s hard to escape a heavy conscience when eating my favourite – king prawns, which are widely farmed and therefore not terribly sustainable. But last month, Cumbrian Seafood, one of the UK’s largest seafood suppliers, launched the first king prawns to be sold in the UK under the Best Aquaculture Practice. Hoorah!

If you want to know what other fishy dishes you can enjoy with a clear conscience, this handy website lists the species of fish available to the UK which the MCS believes are fished within sustainable levels and which do not cause unacceptable damage to the environment.

So, is being pescetarian more ethical than eating meat? Inherently not, I would say. Being an ethical eater is all about savvy shopping, and this applies just as much for fish as it does for meat.

Image by Flickr user

Related articles by Zemanta

• Sainsbury’s sluggish after a winter cold (telegraph.co.uk)
• Widen choice to save fish stocks, supermarkets told (guardian.co.uk)
• Big in Japan? (news.bbc.co.uk)
• WWF nets Marks & Spencer commitment to sustainable fishing (guardian.co.uk)
• How to eat fish ethically: Maps through the maze of sustainable seafood (nationalpost.com)

Similar Posts:

• End of the Line film| World Oceans Day| Bluefin tuna at risk|
• Ethical shopping goes mobile with Buy It Like You Mean It
• Supermarkets offering more green options
• Fish for sea kittens — about PETA’s new campaign
• Crowd-solving? The new-look Nag site aims to turn rants into community-led solutions

Originally posted 2009-11-04 02:23:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I’m following the fashion this year and cooking a goose for our christmas dinner. Apparently, it’s not as easy as it looks. Luckily I’ve got my mum’s top tips for the perfectly cooked goose.

It being the season of good will and all that, I thought I’d share them with you.

1. Cooking a goose is not easy. It’s not like cooking a turkey or a chicken. If you’re feeling nervous – you should be. Make sure you have got a big enough pan to not only hold the goose but also a cooking rack underneath it. A goose must not cook in its own fat. If it does, really bad things happen. I don’t know what they are, but take my mum’s word for it. Fat needs to run off. A goose can produce a tremendous amount of fat!

2. Don’t wrap your goose in cooking foil. You may have heard that geese dry out really easily (see point one above). This is true. But putting foil round it won’t help. And it will probably stick to the bird and burn. So definitely don’t use it.

3. The outside of your goose must be very dry. To make sure you get lovely crispy skin that’s nice to eat, your goose needs to be dried. If possible, hang it up somewhere to dry for 24 hours before you roast it. Pat it down with kitchen towel before you put it in the oven. If you like, you can very lightly salt the skin.

4. The inside of your goose must be very moist and juicy. Put lots of fruit and juicy stuffing in the middle because it has a large interior cavity and it can dry out. This is the trick to making sure your goose doesn’t look like a shrivelled prune when you take it out of the oven.

5. The fat is useful. Use the fat to cook your potatoes in. Makes them taste amazing and really crispy.

The cooking time for a goose will vary dramatically depending on its size. Gordon Ramsay recommends about 15 mins for each kilo. This BBC video might have more detailed advice … if you can be bothered to watch it – I couldn’t, I rang my mum instead. She says: the oven should be about 150 degrees for a fan oven – and then you just have to keep an eye on it. When the bird starts to get a good colour (and you’ve removed the excess fat to start your roast potatoes) use a two pronged fork and press into the thigh meet until you reach the bone.?

Related articles by Zemanta

• The rise of lazy foods (news.bbc.co.uk)
• The quest for crispy spuds (canada.com)
• The perfect Christmas turkey (telegraph.co.uk)

Similar Posts:

• Veg box dillemmas: what do you do with a kohl rabi?
• Shelf life — (still) living without a fridge
• Interesting things to cook when camping
• Bah humbug… is it Christmas already?
• Bad week for low-energy light bulbs

Originally posted 2008-12-23 04:03:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter