Prefer my fish unsauced
Like all shell fish, once in NO, had oysters 8 different ways
Have never ordered sushi and no clue of the different types, have eaten it as shared app or at a party
Tuna steak is the one popular fish I don’t eat, as it is served too rare for me
Having lived in the Midwest for a substantial chunk of my life, it’s certainly not as big a thing as on the coasts. I think it’s just not part of the regional cuisine as much because historically it was quite expensive to import fresh fish to inland areas. At least that’s my theory.
I have several friends who don’t eat seafood and they’re ALL from the Midwest. That said, plenty of my Midwestern friends DO eat and appreciate seafood.
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I like wild salmon more than farmed salmon, but I like farmed mussels more than wild mussels. They are cleaner, more uniform, and often seem plumper.
I think all the tilapia I’ve ever had was probably farmed, and while it’s not my favorite fish, I find it consistently pleasant.
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I’m not a fan of oysters or most tuna but I like most other seafood.
Oh, not mussels either. Mussels are the bait you use to catch something you actually WANT to eat, like Dungeness crab. Mmmmm…
Lobster is pretty good too, but Dungeness crab is probably the best seafood there is.
Also like shrimp, clams, other types of crab, salmon, mahi mahi, swordfish, and really just about anything as long as it’s not raw.
Scallops are only ok, usually. Much depends on the preparation.
Oh, and geoduck is another one that is highly dependent on the preparation. (Pronounced “gooey duck” for you non-Northwesterners.)
Dungeness crab caught and eaten fresh in the Pacific NW is one of the very best of all seafoods. But like lobster, it doesn’t travel terribly well. So when I’m in the northeast (which I usually am) my preference is for NE lobster.
Previously-frozen lobster tail (which is a different animal that doesn’t grow meaty claws) is an inferior seafood. I’d rank it below shrimp, which is nice, but not as good as either fresh lobster or fresh dungeness crab, imho.
I met a guy who crab fished for personal use. He’d canoe out in a bay, throw down a baited trap and voila, fresh crab.
I can’t do that here, but I’d love to try that some day.
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I used to do that in the Northwest.
We’d scrape mussels off of piers for bait, throw them in a crab trap drop it in the water, drink some wine, pull up the trap and … fresh crabs.
You do have to check the traps fairly often because you have to throw back all of the females and the males under a certain size (which keeps increasing). You don’t want the females and the small males eating all your bait.
I used to do that with my grandfather when I was a kid. He did have a couple of baited traps we used, but as a kid the more fun technique was tying a fish head on a rope and pulling it up very slowly with the crab still hanging on and scooping it with a net.
Growing up we’d do that once or twice a year. Rented a boat though didn’t own a canoe. As I recall those fresh crabs were very tasty.
As a kid that’s the more fun technique? That’s ageless.
I’m pretty much the opposite. Cooked salmon is meh, no matter how much sauce is piled on. Smoked salmon is chef’s kiss. Especially lox on an everything bagel with cream cheese. And capers!
Raw salmon isn’t my favorite fish for sushi but I enjoy it.
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I recently tried raw oysters for the first time, in New Orleans. I do prefer the cooked, bathed in butter oysters, but raw was good in a different way. Had them again the other night as an appetizer before a delicious steak dinner.
I haven’t tried that. The razor clams in the PNW are amazing.
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Cannot say I noticed a huge amount of difference between farmed salmon and wild salmon (but then, I’m a non-taster)
I can tell a difference between grass-fed beef and grain-finished beef. Grass-fed definitely tastes beefier for the same cut [it has to do w/ marbling]
If we’re including crustaceans then we’re cheating and the answer is definitely lobster.
Of fish, I like trout best. I actually find salmon kinda meh, but like just about all sea food.
Completely agreed, cooked salmon is meh, but smoked salmon is very good
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Yes fried catfish is quite good
I want variety
cioppino, bouillabaisse, frutta del mare, paella, seafood fra diavalo
I never would have suspected there’s great lobster in Nebraska (unless you’re hobnobbing with Warren Buffett).