Thursday, August 8, 2013

Tuna steak: The Gateway Meat.

I was beginning to become this sad little girl, at all the farm raised fish on the market. Farm raised fish today causes silent  inflammation tomorrow, along with a host of other problems that we need to consider when purchasing food. 

At this point, looking at the prices of wild caught fish has made me reconsider how many times per week I actually need to eat fish. I mean, I still eat the stuff, it's just that my protein habit has to be altered just a little bit, in order to get the amount of proteins I want in my life, without such huge fish consumption. After all, we all know what the oceans are going through, and that's enough to make me want to become a breatharian…

… But I'm not giving up yet, especially when a delicious fish named tuna steak, has come into my life. Now I need to remind you of something. I have just recently become Pescetarian, and there have been moments when I had considered going back to full-time vegetarianism. At this point however it would completely change the way I would do things. So I'm content to eat fish because it would be far healthier for me to do, then to go back to consuming the amount of eggs and cheese that I was consuming in the past. 

So my real question is, cheese and yogurt, or fish? I think that's the way I lift weights classifies me as a bodybuilder, so I think that putting in an excess amount of unhealthy fats such as cheese is out of the question. So is canned tuna… And here is where tuna steak enters the equation.

The butcher told me to sear the meat. Well I was at a festival last weekend ago, and they were serving tuna tacos. They felt the need to tell me that the tuna was seared… Which means raw. It means raw... The meat is raw?! Did not sound like a really good plan to me, suddenly, to eat that taco, So I decided to go for the large wild caught fish taco on non-GMO corn tortillas.

Tuna has been on my mind since then. I mean, did I really need to cook and eat the tuna raw? Or could I serve it cooked through a little bit more? I had this discussion with the butcher, who just happened to be a graduate of culinary  school. He said that he had always learned to sear the tuna and not cook it through. He didnt know reasons other than for presentation. I imagine that I could see this as a dilemma, as I was about to commit the unimaginable.

Here my decision was, to actually cook the fish through! Instead of five minutes on each side, I went a full seven. That's right, seven minutes on each side. The result was this tender juicy pink inside, and a deliciously crusted outside. I had let the tuna sit lovingly on my pink salt cooking block before doing the deed.

The deed was done. I stood there staring at that heaven on a platter after having tasted it, the flavors infiltrating all my senses. It barely gave me enough patience to prepare a big salad I wanted to have with the fish. I could say it was like a dream come true, but I can't say I was dreaming of eating a slice of beef exactly… But that's sort of what it began to taste like. It tasted like a beef steak! Only it was a bit more delicate in some ways, but what a dense piece of fish that was! I had no idea…

Now this thought alone is what made me start to wonder if tuna was the gateway meat. I mean come on, that piece of fish alone, if cooked well and if enjoyed, would definitely inspire one to want fancier cuisine. I had been talking about what nutrients I may be missing if I am not consuming beef, chicken or pork products. Even though my health is much more important than eating animal flesh, the one reason I did begin eating fish had to do with my health in particular. So I really had some things to consider, if you think about it.

Hard-core vegetarians will definitely not agree with me when I say that there are nutrients missing from the diet where a supplement simply will not suffice. I've grappled with this concept many a day and hour, and after 13 years is what made me decide to make the leap. Now I don't know that consuming beef for its CLA content is in my future, but I have certainly considered it.

 It's a hard journey to know when a food is not whole, and to know that health is at stake, while you continue to make the same choices. It's equally tough to know the truth of our oceans and the reality of ending life for the meal on our plate. I am at least thankful for every fish who has given up their life for me...especially that tuna steak. Thank you.