Field Guide to Seafood: How to Identify, Select, and Prepare Virtually Every Fish and Shellfish at the Market

by Aliza Green

Book Overview

At last, a field guide to identifying and selecting seafood from around the world, including barramundi, lobsterette, wahoo, and more With the daunting array of fish and shellfish available in today's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594741352
• ISBN13: 9781594741357
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Quirk Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

A great pocket-sized guide to a broad range of seafood!

Have you ever been confused with the name attached to a particular fish? Have you found yourself wondering whether the fish on display is fresh or not? Are you interested in trying a new seafood, but you'd rather know SOMETHING about it before you commit your wallet and your kitchen? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you might want to invest in this little book, Field Guide To Seafood, by Aliza Green. The book is organized logically, with some general information about fish and fish preparation, then going through 100+ species or varieties of seafood, from canned tuna to wahoo to octopus to eel. There's a lot here! And the center of the book has a large number of high-quality photographs of whole fish, fish fillets, and other seafood "sections" that you might find in a store. One thing I really appreciated about this book is its notation for numerous species about conservation issues. Green recommends either the Oceans Alive seafood guide, or the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch guide. "As our oceans become depleted of once abundant fish, choosing a fish is an important decision" (p. 1). She even provides an email address for asking her a question personally! Here's an example of the detail provided in one of the entries: Chilean Sea Bass -Other names -General description -Location and season -Characteristics of the meat -How to choose -Storage -Preparation -One suggested recipe -Flavor affinities And Green doesn't sugarcoat the conservation issues: "Far less plentiful now because of overfishing, this slow-growing fish has been decreasing in size. Many are caught by illegal pirate fishermen, who take fish that are less than eight years old, before they begin to reproduce" (p. 33-34). It's all here, whether I want to read about it or not! "The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is used to make a famous Maltese stew called stuffat tal-fekruna" (p. 282). Ouch! But then, "According to conservationists, much of the shark fins are being cut from living sharks in a process called finning, leading to a rapid decline in global shark populations. Shark fins have also been reported to have high levels of toxic mercury" (p. 291). So it's all here... the good, the bad, and... the delicious. This field guide is designed to help you make wise choices. Use a Seafood Watch guide as a bookmark, and you've got a great combination!

Great little book!

While the page size is small, the book packs a LOT of information and is very well organized. The center 30 or 40 pages are color photos, which are clear and give a great idea of what each fish looks like. Those photos are clearly and easily indexed, within the body of the text. Along with many other simple icons, that let the reader absorb a lot of information very quickly. The text also provides detailed instructions for preparing, cleaning and cooking the fish. I look forward to seeing the other compact books in this series, which supposedly include, Spices, Meat, Cocktails and Produce. Would make a nice complete desk set for someone.

portable knowledge

I had been looking for a completely portable information book on seafood. This is encyclopedic, includes recipes and sustainability factors. It lives in my Whole Foods bags, and even provides a pleasant distraction in traffic jams.

great reference

I bought this book as part of a birthday present for my wife. It is a wonderful reference on the subject. The book is largely a reference guide to fresh and prepared fish and shellfish (generally). It is in a standard field-guide format with a section of pictures, and a larger section describing the seafood, how to select it, preparation suggestions, etc. This is not a "cookbook" as such. However, it is very helpful or people who may want to have such a handy reference.

Good tool for buying seafood

I have purchased several books on seafood hoping to find one that is devoted to the basics of buying seafood (intended for the seafood challenged). This is the book I was searching for ! It describes the various varieties of fish and shellfish, gives alternate names for them, tells something about them, gives ideas for preparation and recipes and tells what to look for in buying them. It is well organized by alphabetical listing of names and very easy to use. I have spent considerably more on other seafood books but this is my favorite.