Faced with reports that the ocean's major commercial fish species will disappear by 2050 due to overfishing, many seafood-loving gourmets have been wondering if it's time to abandon their penchant for pesce. Governments aren't doing much to assuage those fears, having largely failed to step up with stricter regulations, as coastal nations like France, Spain and Italy lobby for the status quo. But today, a growing number of top chefs aren't waiting for their leaders to change course. "If politicians don't want to take action," says renowned French chef Olivier Roellinger, "it's up to us as chefs and consumers to do what we can to improve things." By scrapping endangered fish from their menus, and cooking up tasty eco-safe species many gastronomes have never heard of, chefs like Roellinger are launching a sustainable seafood movement, one recipe at a time.
Among the trailblazers is the Michelin-starred Auguste on Paris's left bank. At the restaurant, which opened in 2005, endangered bluefin tuna and codfish aren't on the menu. Instead, Auguste's upscale clientele dine on mise en bouches like goujonettes of megrim rolled in mint leaf and crispy brick pastry, spoons of delicate, hazelnut oil-livened conger eel tartare, followed by shrimp and galanga ginger consommé with silky cuttlefish slices and saithe fillet poached in coconut milk and lime.
Such dishes would once have been unimaginable in a European gourmet restaurant, admits Auguste's owner, chef Gaël Orieux. "In 15 years working in three-star restaurants, I cooked maybe six or seven species of fish. Sea bass, turbot, monk fish, red mullet, lobster, sole — it was always the same," he says. "But as restaurant owners, we have the possibility — and responsibility — to encourage our clientele in new directions."
As the patron of the European campaign Mr. Goodfish, Orieux is working to highlight the numerous lesser-known or underappreciated seafood species that happen to be not only delicious but also — and more importantly — plentiful compared to their more "noble"' cousins. Launched earlier this year under the umbrella of the World Ocean Network, Mr. Goodfish draws together chefs, fishmongers, fishermen and scientists to promote a sustainable consumption of seafood products, and generate frequently updated recommended-species lists for professional chefs to refer to as they stock their kitchens.
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