On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 382

farmedsalmonandtroutdon’thaveaccessto
the wild crustaceans, they have paler flesh
unless their feed is supplemented (usually
with crustacean shell by-products or an
industrially produced carotenoid called
canthaxanthin).
TheFishWeEat

Thenumberofdifferentkindsoffishinthe
worldisstaggering.Ofalltheanimalsthat
havebackbones,fishaccountformorethan
half,somethingapproaching29,000species.
Ourspeciesregularlyeatshundredsofthese.
Perhapstwodozenareatleastoccasionally
availableinU.S.supermarkets,andanother
severaldozeninupscaleandethnic
restaurants,oftenunderavarietyofnames.
Theboxbeginningonp.195surveysthe
familyrelationsofsomecommonlyeaten
fish,andtheparagraphsthatfollowprovidea
fewdetailsaboutthemoreimportantfamilies.


Shellfisharealsoadiversegroupof
animals.Theylackbackbonesanddifferfrom
finfishinimportantways,sothey’re
describedseparately,p.218.
TheHerringFamily:
Anchovy,Sardine,
Sprat,Shad

Theherringfamilyisanancient,successful,
andhighlyproductiveone,andforcenturies
wastheanimalfoodonwhichmuchof
northernEuropesubsisted.Itsvariousspecies
schoolthroughouttheworld’soceansinlarge,
easilynettednumbersandarerelatively
small,oftenjustafewincheslongbut
sometimesreaching16in/40cmand1.5
lb/0.75kg.
Membersoftheherringfamilyfeedby
constantlyswimmingandstrainingtiny
zooplanktonfromtheseawater.Theythus
haveveryactivemuscleanddigestive