The Salmon “Special”

One afternoon I came home with salmon. Trinidadian Salmon, to be specific. I had never heard of Salmon from Trinidad. I reasoned that since the market was using the origin of the fish as a selling point, it had to be good. The only way I can really describe my husband’s reaction to the homeland of our seafood that evening was severe skepticism. He knows a little bit more about seafood than I do. He has, after all, been eating it all of his life, most of it caught by his own fishing pole or his father’s. My own familiarity with seafood cuisine is only a few years in the making, as my family never ate seafood growing up.

Our dinner that night was a tasteless filet of pink flesh. There was caked between each flake of fish a filmy, thick conglomeration of fat. I don’t know for certain what those salmon in Trinidad feast themselves on, but it may be the fishy equivalent of a big mac.

Now I can’t say for certain that the problem with this fish was its birth place. For all I know, you could find great Salmon off the shores of Trinidad… However, I’m sure they’d be freshly caught, and not from a factory fish farm where they were fed a diet of Big Macs. This fish had more issues under the surface. It had, after all, been caught who knows when, packed by who knows who, frozen for who knows how long, shipped in who knows what, and sat in that display case for who knows how many hours–thawing.

My purpose of this story is not to debate the legitimacy of Trinidad’s fish market. I want to focus instead on why I brought this poor little slab of pink flesh into our kitchen in the first place:  that little sign “On sale:  Salmon from Trinidad” Oooooooooh, Trinidadian Salmon, you say? That sounds exotic!

Chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain talks often of his aversion to “fish specials”; that they are often a chef or marketer’s attempts to get rid of less-than-fresh product from the previous week. He says in his book, Kitchen Confidential:

“I saw a sign the other day outside one of those Chinese-Japanese hybrids that are beginning to pop up around town advertising, ‘Discount Sushi’. I can’t imagine a better example of Things to be Wary of in the food department than bargain sushi. Yet the place had customers. I wonder, had the sign said ‘Cheap Sushi’ or ‘Old Sushi’, if they’d still have eaten there.”

Sly Advertising Schemes

Advertisers do whatever they can to get items off the shelves, or out of the display cases, into our carts, and out the market door. They’ll use whatever marketing schemes they can muster up to make something more appealing; to make us think, “Wow, I need to try that!” They play off of a consumers’ desire for specialty products.

Unfortunately, more and more we can see these advertising ploys sneaking their way into the outskirts of our supermarkets–where most of the real food is found. It is subtle, to be sure. Our milk is flavored with copious amounts of sugar and fake banana flavoring. Our yogurt (even organic), is mixed with sugary syrups outweighing most of the original live-culture benefits of eating yogurt in the first place.  Even lettuce has not escaped this conniving world of advertisement. Now we must buy the salads in the fancy clear clam shells. It’s better for us, I’m sure. It’s a hard thing, to walk through a supermarket and not be persuaded one way or another by advertisement for specialty products.

I realize this may bring to question some of the places I shop, and some of the items my family buys and eats. My favorite place to buy food, besides fresh farmer’s markets, is Trader Joes. I believe there is a strong misunderstanding out there that Trader Joes is an expensive grocery store of “specialty” foods.  We also shop frequently at a specialty fresh fruit and cheese market, and get many of our spices from a specialty spice shop in Milwaukee.

The Specialty Foods We Buy

Are we suckers then for specialty foods? Have we fallen prey to the allure of “exotic” and “fancy” products? It all comes down to being a selective specialty shopper.  We leave room in our grocery budget for specific items we see worth spending more money on. Some of these in our house are cheese, dried spices and herbs, and meat.

Cheese

Most of the cheese we buy is produced in Wisconsin. We try a lot of different types of cheese, ranging from mild to sharp, from creamy to crumbly. This is one thing we enjoy too much to skimp on. The right cheese can be the very essence of a fantastic dish.

Our cheese ranges from $3.99-$7.99 a pound. In the past four weeks, within a budget of $450 for groceries, we’ve spent $34.62 of that on cheese, and we have enjoyed some fantastic meals because of it!

We purchase our cheese at the Farmers Market in the summer, where we know it is super fresh and supports local industry and small business.

Dried Spices and Herbs

Our spices come either from bulk spice bins in natural food stores, or from the Milwaukee Spice House.

From bulk bins, we know the spices are fresh, you can smell and taste the difference. We know it hasn’t been sitting in a small plastic container for a year. You can also buy just a little bit, enough to get you through for a couple of months, then replenish your pantry with fresh spices. Bulk bins also provide a whole lot of selection, and many spices can be bought whole to be ground at home (we use our coffee bean grinder).

The Milwaukee Spice House offers very affordable, robust spices and spice mixes for cooking and baking. At $4.99 a container, we like to try a new spice blend every time we’re in the area.

Meat

These days I stay away from Trinidadian Salmon.

We are firm believers that meat has its proper place in a diet, but that it must be high-quality meat. This means that the animal was raised on a natural diet–the foods it was meant to live on. When an animal is raised in natural habitat and fed a diet appropriate for its species, the fat in that animal is packed full of nutrients. In our home we eat 100% grass-fed beef, and free-range chicken.

In the summertime we often buy meat at the farmer’s market. Otherwise our beef is from a local farm, sold through a local natural foods store. Our chicken actually comes from Trader Joes. They sell delicious organic, free-range whole chickens for $2.69/lb. We roasted one this week, and usually end up with 4-5 meals out of one bird! Did I mention it is one delicious bird?

Because we invest in eating high-quality meat, this means that we eat less meat in general. We save our grocery money for the good stuff. However, we don’t at all feel like we’re missing meat or protein in our diet. We enjoy meat so much more because the meat we’re purchasing is down right delicious!

Interrogating Your Specialty Purchases

In order to accommodate these pricier items, we have to in turn make some sacrifices. One sacrifice we make in our budget to allow for these more expensive purchases is that we buy conventional eggs. This pains me, because I know the immense health benefits of eating fresh eggs from free-range chickens. We just haven’t been able to fit them into our budget yet.

We love trying new, exciting ingredients and foods, but first they must fit some criteria. When deciding if a specialty purchase is worth our while (and our wallet), I interrogate the product (maybe this is why my grocery shopping takes so long!):

1. Is it a whole, real food? (If not, put it back on the shelf before wasting your time with further questioning)
2. Am I making this purchase for the ingredient itself, or its fancy packaging?
3. Do I know enough about this ingredient to differentiate whether it is a legitimate ingredient, or a current superfood fad?
4. What else may I have to sacrifice in order to fit this item into our grocery budget for this week?

In conclusion, we do not buy specialty foods because they are special. We buy them because they are delicious. They often support local farms and businesses. They are better for us. Lastly, they are exciting to cook with and eat!

When making room in your grocery budget for specialty items, take into strong consideration what foods your family really enjoys. Maybe they’d like to try new specialty sausages, or experiment with more exotic mushrooms, or try every type of brie cheese you can get your hands on. Figure out what your family really enjoys, and go on an adventure to find the best of that food you can!

Real Food Question of the Week, Please Comment Below with Your Thoughts!: What “specialty” items do you make room in your grocery budget for?

Here’s a glimpse into the groceries we bought this past week:

Total for this week: $122.12 (Under budget!)

Trader Joes (1 Trip): $47.28

• 5 Bananas $0.95
• Organic pears, 2lb $2.99
• Organic fuji apples, 2lb $2.49
• Strawberries, 2lb $4.99
• Frozen mango, 24oz $2.69
• Raw sunflower seeds, 1lb $1.99
• Raw cashew pieces, 1lb $4.99
• Raw almonds, 1lb $4.99
• Peaberry coffee, 14oz $6.99
• Organic free-range chicken broth $1.99
• Whole wheat pitas $1.49
• Whole organic free-range chicken, 4lbs $10.73

Fruit and Cheese Market (1 Trip): $14.49

• (2) gallon local whole milk $6.98
• Wisconsin Muenster Cheese, 1lb $7.51

Super Market (1 Trip): $39.63

• Bananas, 3.04lb $1.79
• 2 Red onions $1.52
• 2 Red bell peppers $2.21
• 2 Tomatoes on the vine $1.01
• Organic baby spinach off salad bar, 0.44lb $2.33
• Baby bok choy, 0.85lb $1.10
• Naval oranges, 4lb $2.48
• Strawberries, 2lb $3.88
• Pure vanilla extract $3.69
• Coconut milk $2.59
• Bread flour $2.99
• Molasses $3.49
• Locally-produced flour tortillas $1.49
• Real butter 1lb $1.98
• 12ct Eggs $0.98
• Wisconsin mozzarella cheese $3.11
• Plain whole milk Greek yogurt $2.99

Natural Food Market (1 Trip): $20.72

• Allspice 0.08lb $1.78
• Whole cloves 0.09lb $2.70
• German chamomile 0.05lb $1.35
• Ground nutmeg 0.09lb $3.40
• Ground ginger, 0.10lb $2.85
• Unsweetened shredded coconut, 0.96lb $4.12
• Whole wheat pastry flour, 5.63lb $4.45
• Thick rolled oats, 2.89lb $3.73
• BULK MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNT ($-3.66)

What are just some of the things we ate with these ingredients, plus the ingredients from last week?

• Spicy Sweet Baked English Onion, Leek, and Sage Soup
• Roasted Chicken served alongside Creamy Caraway Polenta with Braised Leeks and Fontina Cheese
• Homemade Granola
• Fresh Italian Bread
• Chicken Sandwiches and Quesadillas
• Fresh Fruit and Veggie Smoothies
• Asian Curry Chicken Noodle Soup with Red Cabbage, Carrots, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, and Baby Bok Choy
• Blueberry Whole-Wheat Coffee Cake with Pear Crumble Topping
• Spaghetti in Arrabbiata sauce with Roasted Red Peppers, Spinach, and Parmesan. Served with fresh Roasted Garlic and Herb Focaccia dipped in Balsamic and Olive Oil.
• Whole-wheat Not-So-Sweet Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes with Fresh Strawberries

Real Food Question of the Week, Please Comment Below with Your Thoughts!: What “specialty” items do you make room in your grocery budget for?