As the recommendations tend to consume LESS meat and MORE fish, seafood is essential at this time of year, especially those that you can put on aperitif toasts: smoked salmon, tarama, fish eggs, etc.

Salmon, good for your health

On the one hand, salmon is beneficial for the body because it is rich in Omega-3 (1480 mg / 100g), called “long chain” called EPA and DHA, and therefore good for the cardiovascular system, brain and vision.

But since it is a big fish, it can also contain toxicants, in particular heavy metals (cadmium, lead and mercury). Even if, according to the latest analyzes of 60 million consumers, only traces of mercury are found.

Preferred mentions

You have to look at the provenance. Atlantic salmon or Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) for example does not correspond at all to a geographical origin but to a species. It can come from any coast on the planet.

The majority of these salmon are not wild salmon but farmed more or less intensively in Norway, Scotland or Ireland. The only “wild” is that of the Pacific, identifiable by its name: oncorhynchus kisutch for silver or nerka for red.

Smoked or salted?

• For smoking, you have to find the phrase “smoked with beech wood” but overall, it is found on all salmon. The information that is unfortunately missing is the duration of the smoking … between 12h and 3-4 days the result is not the same!
• For salting, it is important to note the words: “dry salt salting” which is the most qualitative since the fish is just sprinkled with a thin layer of salt for a few hours. Otherwise, it is an injection of brine, therefore salt water which swells the flesh. You then pay for the water at the price of salmon and above all the flesh is pink and pasty (1st price).

• Finally, trust the words “Never frozen”.

If this is not mentioned, freezing could have been done before smoking without the manufacturer being obliged to note it and this can influence the quality of the product.

As an alternative and less expensive, you have the so-called Rainbow smoked trout raised in France (Aquitaine, Brittany, Pyrenees, etc.) which is almost as rich in EPA and DHA (0.9 g per 100 g for Ovive), i.e. nearly 200% of the nutritional references recommended by ANSES.

Which tarama to choose?

Tarama is a Greek and Turkish specialty made from fish roe mixed with oil. It spoils in some products because:

• Cod eggs represent only 25% of the product.
• The rest is refined oil, cream, glucose syrup and above all additives: 1 gelling agent, 1 acidifying agent.

Three preservatives, including a problematic classified as red, E211 (sodium benzoate) which could increase the risk of asthma and allergies.

Just like the red-pink dye, E120, which comes from an insect, the cochineal. Attention, it can also be noted “carminic acid” or “carmines”: Avoid this pink “flashy”!

There is a tarama without fish eggs but with algae, Taramalg de Marinoë whose coloring is beet.

Colors in fish eggs

These lumpfish or lump (Cyclopterus lumpus) eggs, which are believed to be sturgeon (Nordland) “caviar substitutes”, may be:

• “Sins in Greenland” or “From sustainable fishing” as at Rondes des mers, but whether they are black or red, they are always associated with:

• Stabilizers, thickeners, acidity correctors.
• 1 or 2 preservatives.
• 2 to 5 dyes including E150d, possibly carcinogenic.

Originally, the eggs are gray, so it is very surprising that manufacturers put color on them. In this case, it is necessary to prefer the eggs of trout or Landvika salmon in which there are just fish eggs and salt.

More ideas for blinis …

• Homemade fish rillettes, with sardines or mackerel, rich in omega-3s and less polluted than salmon.
• Cod liver (Connetable): this is the best food source of vitamin D3 perfect for bones and immunity. It is very rich in vitamin A (vision) and also provides essential iodine to the thyroid. It is the foie gras from the sea.
• Seaweed tartare (Edge to edge) composed of fresh seaweed (wakame, sea lettuce, dulse) seasoned with olive oil, capers … A good way to stock up on B vitamins and trace elements (zinc, selenium, iodine, iron, magnesium …) which are true “anti-fatigue” allies during these end-of-year periods.