On today’s episode, I’m tackling E is for Escolar and Ecosystems.
Listen here or download on iTunes and Google Play.
What is escolar? Why should you care? Where can you find it and should you eat it? There are two types of ecosystems, marine and terrestrial. Today I’m going to talk about one specific marine ecosystem, coral reefs.
E is for Escolar
Let’s start out by answering a seemingly innocuous question.
What is escolar?
Well, get ready, because there is nothing simple about this fish.
In fact, escolar might be one of the most delicious and dangerous fish in the ocean.
Here are some basics.
Escolar is a large fast-swimming fish found in warm tropic and temperate climates. In the US, think Florida and Hawaii. Escolar is also called walu walu, Hawaiian butterfish, waloo, or white tuna.
Escolar has a firm, rich, oily flesh making it an irresistible and delectable catch. However, that oily content is where the danger lies. Since the escolar’s diet consists of food high in wax esters and escolar have a tough time digesting wax esters, its flesh is super oily.
And super oily fish can be a problem for many consumers.
Note, If you want to know more about wax esters, check out the link in the show notes.
So should you eat escolar?
That’s a personal choice. It is a buttery, melt in your mouth fish. And you may want to gobble it up!
But if you do? You need to know a few things first.
First, the most important thing to know is, where your fish comes from and who your boat captain is. And trust him or her. Not only is that smart business, but you will have no doubt about what you are buying and eating.
Second, only eat six ounces of escolar or less. Period. Do not be a little piggy at the sushi bar.
And now I need to give you a warning.
What you’re about to hear in the next few minutes will either make you laugh or you will be repulsed. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Overconsumption of escolar can lead to abdominal cramps and diarrhea. I’m talking about spending serious time in the bathroom. Think an oily yellowish-orange hot mess. Seriously! This could happen as soon as 30 minutes after eating and last for days. Or worse you could just fart that oily liquid unexpectedly. I am not kidding. This shit happens.
How do I know?
It happened to me. Fortunately, I was at home.
Escolar is called the Ex-lax fish for a reason.
Now if you’re still with me, thank you for hanging and hopefully laughing!
Alright so beyond the oily issue, what else can be said about escolar?
We need to address the reason escolar is being sold on the market if it’s such a problem fish. Well, it’s no secret the seafood industry needs to do something about overfishing. And so there is a huge push to encourage consumers to eat under loved fish. Now I am all about selling underloved seafood. It’s a terrific way to help curb overfishing and selling underloved fish supports small-scale fishermen and communities.
As you probably guessed, escolar is one of those under-loved species—Also the good news is it’s abundant and inexpensive.
But something else needs to be addressed too.
Sometimes escolar is mislabeled and called white tuna. So not only is this inherently wrong, but there are health consequences like those mentioned a few moments ago.
So why would escolar be called anything other than escolar?
Aaaand this is the slippery part of the story.
So first of all, to a chef’s credit, they may be unaware that what they’re buying is escolar. Many chefs don’t buy whole fish, so at the receiving end, they wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell the difference between escolar or white tuna. Also,