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"Ripe To Tell">
Wanna Taste My Barramundi?
January 27, 2007
Wanna Taste My Barramundi?
Barra-what? Barramundi is the next contender in the "hot
fish" category. It is one of the most prized eating fish in
Australia. The barramundi, which means "fish with big
scales" was until very recently merely an obscure, feisty
game fish for fishermen who sailed the remote Northern
Territory of Australia. They are marine fish, but
seasonally return to brackish coastal waters and into the
long inland stretches of freshwater streams and rivers.
It has become the whitefish of choice in the Australian
restaurants, from fish houses all the way up the scale to
what people in the eating world call "white tablecloth
restaurants". When barra is cooked well, it can be one of
the best seafood experiences you can ever hope to have. It
has a very meaty, large flaked, firm white flesh. It also
boasts a high Omega-3 content and a mild flavor. Although
the barramundi is quite popular in Australia, it's only now
starting to cause waves in North America and Europe.
Barramundi is now being farmed right around Australia and
is exported to all parts of the world. An Australian
Company, Australis, is growing barramundi in a land-based
grow out facility in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, where
tilapia was once grown by a previous farming operation.
The facility is an environmentally friendly operation,
where nearly all the water used is recycled. The nutrients
produced by the grow out are recaptured and any fish manure
recaptured goes to local farmers for fertilizer. No
hormones, antibiotics or colorants are added to the fish
feed, and contains no mercury or other contaminants.
Australis advertises its US produced fish as sustainable,
due to its farming practices and as "born in Australia",
because they hatch the fish Down Under,. grow them to tiny
fish or fingerling stage, and ship them to the US for
grow--out.
So if you want to be on the cutting edge of seafood, get
your plate and fork and palate ready for the newest,
hottest trend in seafood, to be unveiled at Ripe Kitchen&
Bar this week-end, "The Big Barramundi". First time on a
menu in Mount Vernon, and probably the first in all of
Westchester County!
And of course, once we do it here at Ripe, expect to see
barramundi showing up on a menu near you in the
not-too-distant future.
As it's an awesome protein to eat. We always keep you
abreast of the latest food trends here at Ripe. Best of
all, we don't just tell you about it. You get to eat it
too!
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