Joyce Taylor 



Takes seafood out of the deep fat 



By Nancy Davis 



Ounce for ounce, in the quest for good health, seafood 

 beats red meat hands down. 



But sprinkled with salt, dipped in batter, fried in deep fat, 

 the sea's bounty loses its edge. 



You've just turned a healthy meal into one full of fat and 

 calories, says Joyce Taylor, Sea Grant's seafood education 

 specialist. 



Taylor's message: Seafood can be a deHght to the palate 

 without becoming a disaster to good health. 



All you have to do is change the way you cook it. You're 

 bound to make a few mistakes at first, so Taylor has some 

 tips that may help. 



"If it smells fishy, avoid it. Anyway you cook it is OK, 

 except for frying. And don't overcook it." 



And rule one is that seafood must be fresh. A fish that isn't 

 fresh won't taste good, no matter what you do to it. 



"Have you found a way to cook fish to make it not taste 

 like fish?" someone asked her once in a workshop. 



"Have you found a way to cook turkey so that it doesn't 

 taste like turkey?" Taylor responded. Most people who 

 don't like the taste of fish have never had fresh fish, she says. 



Use your nose to determine freshness, Taylor says. Fish 

 and shellfish should smell as though they were just pulled 

 from the water. A "fishy" odor is a sign that seafood is old. 



After you've chosen a fresh product, don't ruin it when 

 you cook it, Taylor says. 



The most common cooking mistakes? Oversalting, 

 breading or battering, frying in oil and overcooking. 



According to Taylor's rules of seafood cookery, deep 

 frying is culinary blasphemy and no way to treat a fish. 



"I meet a lot of people who tell me they're on a diet, so 

 they eat a lot of fish. When I ask them how they prepare it, 

 they say they roll it in cornmeal and fry it up. Now that's not 

 a low-calorie food," Taylor says. 



With the drop of a fish into deep fat, you can add as much 

 as 12 percent more fat to the fish, Taylor says. And the extra 

 fat means more calories and cholesterol. 



Instead of deep-frying or pan-frying, Taylor recom- 

 mends poaching, steaming, baking, broiling, barbecuing, 

 stir-frying or oven-frying. 



And instead of topping fish with a cream or butter sauce, 

 try herbs and spices. They won't disturb the delicate taste of 

 the seafood. 



Avoid oils that are animal fats, Taylor says. That includes 

 butter. 



"There's nothing better together than butter and sea- 

 foods," says Taylor. But she recommends a low-calorie, 

 polyunsaturated margarine or vegetable oil. 



Oversalting seafood is another common cooking mistake. 



Photo from The Charlotte Observer 



Usually you can do without it, Taylor says. 



"First I cut the amount of salt in a recipe in half, and 

 nobody noticed it. So I cut it in half again, and still nobody 

 noticed it," she says. 



As alternatives to salt, Taylor uses herbs and spices and 

 white wine as a broth. A celery sprig with a leaf attached 

 will release a salty flavor. 



The worst offense committed against seafood is over- 

 cooking. 



Fish cooks quickly, and overcooked fish becomes dried 

 out. Taylor advises checking the fish frequently. 



The fish is done the instant it flakes easily with a fork or 

 when it turns opaque. Cooking time varies according to the 

 temperature and method of cooking. 



Side dishes need improvement, too. Baked corn bread is 

 lower in fats and calories than hush puppies fried in deep 

 fat. You can use low-calorie mayonnaise or just vinegar to 

 make slaw. Instead of french fries, try a baked potato or 

 wild rice. 



