Q&A about fish with panel of experts from Youngs - ANSWERS BACK

[RachelMumsnet]

The UK Government's general health advice is to eat two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily, but research reveals that less than a quarter of Brits are meeting this target. As part of Young's Twice-A-Week campaign, we have three experts on hand this week to answer your questions on health and nutrition, sustainability and cooking tips.

Want to know simple recipe ideas to introduce fish into fussy young children's diets? What are the best fish to buy and what should you avoid if you want to be good to the environment? Want to know how to cook a coley? Or what's the best way to fillet a pollock? Nutritionist, Dr. Carrie Ruxton, Young's Head of Sustainability, Mike Mitchell and Young's development chef, Serge Nollent are here to help. Send in your questions before the end of Sunday 25th March and we'll be linking to their answers in the first week of April, just in time for your fish supper on Good Friday.

This Q&A is sponsored by Youngs

My son's 12, he'll eat smoked salmon but not steamed salmon. He'll eat fresh tuna, not canned tuna. He has expensive tastes. Do you have some recipe's that I could try (please)? He used to eat scampi and cod until a few years ago, when he announced that he didn't really like them. He likes prawns, I'm not sure if these are as healthy as other types of fish though????

Thank you

I would love a recipe for fresh mackerel - apart from smoked mackerel, I cannot find a recipe that everyone likes.
Any ideas?
Thanks

Is one portion of oily fish a week enough to meet one's Omega 3 requirements, or is that just a minimum to aim for?

MN, aren't some of Youngs sustainability policies still under scrutiny?

Sounds like a perfect opportunity to ask Youngs themselves about it, cobweb.

that's true Northey! :o

I'd like to know how we can be sure that the fish we purchase is not only sustainable but also supports our UK fishermen as often as possible? This includes not simply catching the fish by UK boats but that the fish is then processed and packaged without leaving the UK.

Why can't this information be readily available on the packaging so we can make informed choices? Obviously this wouldn't be fish like tuna but the ability to see that it is line caught is part of this customer information.

I'd like to know how to cook Huss please. It came in my local fish box and I'm a bit stumped!

I hate fish but want to try to eat it, before my brain and joints give way completely. Is there a) a fish which has so much bang for buck nutrient-wise that I can get away with eating very small amounts, b) a way of cooking some particularly bland tasting beginners' fish so that I don't notice I'm eating fish at all and can eat lots of it?

What would you recommend as the definitive best value/best nutritional value fish to buy from the supermarkets?

Herrings always look to be good value, and are oily fish - but I haven't yet cooked one. Would you do it the same as a whole mackerel - i.e. grill/bbq? Or are there any other methods which would be good for a mid-week dinner?

Do any of your fishermen go to Norwegian waters with a trawl to catch Cod, then dump tons of coal-fish (Pollachius virens) that is also caught in the nets, which is much coveted by the Norwegians themselves and a staple of their weekly diet, on English territory, because England is more lax about this?

What can I batch cook with fish (apart from fish pie which I suppose sort of counts). My cooking main stays are soups and stews and I never really put fish in either of them. It just seems more complicated than mince.

(Now I typed that it does seem a bit daft.)

Northey
Swordfish steaks don't taste very fishy, if you see what I mean. No idea of the nutritional value though.

What active steps are Youngs taking to ensure the sustainability of their produce? How can we ensure that laws are enacted and obeyed by people when they're hundreds of miles out at sea with little risk of getting caught? What steps are Youngs taking to get British people out of the cod+salmon+tuna and eating other, more interesting fish?

Sundae, you could make and freeze sauce bases that you could then defrost and reheat with fresh fish in. Like a curry sauce, for example.

I make and freeze fish cakes and quiches with fish as well.

I'd love to hear what they think about fish discards, what are they doing to stop this waste and support uk fishing?

Plus got any cheap recipes for salmon, for frying only. As that is what my DH mum cooks and I'd like to show her up.
Many thanks
EW

Here is a challenge for you:

We have Fish Fridays and have always had these since I was a child (catholic household). The only fish we like is bland fish like cod or haddock, both of which I try not to buy now because of sustainability issues and salmon, which is expensive unless you buy farmed salmon which apparently is full of pcps.

So how I can produce a fish supper for 4 people who don't particularly like fish, that is not hideously expensive and which does not require a separate trip to the fishmonger (I don't even know if we have one nearby)?

I just want a good, omega-rich, sustainable, bone-free, cheap fish that we can enjoy every week. If you can rise to that challenge then I promise to try a Young's fish meal for the first time in my life.

And don't mention eating sea bugs, which is what prawns and shellfish basically are.

Rhubarb, I cooked a fantastic coconut fish curry (using 3 small pieces of salmon and a handful of bugs), with ground almonds, carrots and spinach yesterday, and managed to persuade my youngest that it was chicken.....

Does smoked mackeral and smoked salmon count as 'oily' fish? I read somewhere that only fresh mackeral is considered 'oily' .

My two aren't fooled I'm afraid. Although I remember a friend telling her dd that salmon was pink Barbie meat.

I like salmon actually but don't like what I read about farmed salmon and the toxins they contain. I wonder what Young's would say about that? Organic salmon is seriously expensive.

Fish bugs simply would not be considered.
And how come tinned tuna has no omega 3 in it? That sucks, we can handle tuna bake. Yeah I know I could get fresh tuna but again, it's bloody expensive!

Why does it always have to be cod? Why is there so little choice in terms of fish and why can we not buy many of the by-catch fish?

I'd like to eat more oily fish but don't like fish that tastes too strong and well, fishy.

The main thing that puts me off though is all the bones. What is the best type of fish to buy of I want oily, boneless not too fishy fish?!

I'm trying to follow a low fat healthy diet but find it very difficult to include fish as we seem to only like it in batter, otherwise it seems very bland. Any low fat recipes that are very tasty? Thanks.