chapter 3.1.

fish - Intro

I live in southern New Mexico, in the northern part of the Chihuahua desert about 1000 miles from the nearest ocean. There aren’t many fish in the desert. Understandably, the majority of the rather limited seafood supply here is frozen, and a lot of that is farm-raised to boot. All in all, it is not a very encouraging situation to put fish on the menu. Quite a difference with living oceanside with a fish market right around the corner But occasionally, I do give in to the temptation.

The local grocery store Peppers and Walmart both carry some frozen seafood. The choice in the Las Cruces, NM Sam's Club tends to be a bit more varied.

Luckily enough for me, there are also online suppliers for fresh and/or frozen seafood. The disadvantage of that is of course is having to buy in bulk and to pay extra shipping cost as well, which makes this a fairly costly venture. But sometimes that is the only way to get that seafood to the New Mexico desert. So far I have purchased Alaskan sockey & king salmon, Northern pike, lake & rainbow trout, smelt, perch and walleye through online orders.

There has been a lot more indulgence of that seafood temptation… :-)

These are the fish I have prepared / eaten since 2013.

Name	Description
Cod	A good-sized fish with a common market weight of 10-20 lbs. It is a very popular fish with flesh that is white, firm and flaky when cooked. Available here as frozen steaks 4-8 oz. and breaded bricks for deep-frying.
Halibut	World's largest flatfish, up to 400 lbs. Firm white meat
Herring	A small fish that lives in huge shoals. It is an important food fish that played a major historical role in Europe. Available here canned or pickled.
Mackerel	A rather oily fish. Canned, occasionally smoked.
Pike	A predatory fish, wild-caught. Frozen online order only.
Salmon	A family of migratory fish. They are a very popular food fish with firm flaky flesh that varies from cream to deep red in color. King salmon is the biggest and most expensive. ($30?lb. in 2018) Wild-caught sockey the most frequent. I mostly avoid farm-raised Atlantic salmon, except when cold-smoked.
Sardines	tiny fish. Canned only.
Shark	Available frozen steaks 4-8 oz.
Swordfish	Available frozen steaks 4-8 oz.
Smelt	A tiny sweet water fish. Online, frozen.
Tilapia	A smallish sweet water fish, very popular in fish farms. Available fresh fillets, frozen fillets and whole. Farm-raised.
Trout	Available frozen, whole. Online frozen fillets. Farm-raised.
Tuna	A most popular fish. Available canned, frozen steaks 4-8 oz.
Walleye	A smaller sweetwater fish. Online frozen, wild-caught.