SEAFOOD Reference Guide
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SEAFOOD Reference Guide Gordon Food Service® There’s an old adage that says fi sh is brain food. I can’t vouch for that, but I can tell you that seafood is a very smart choice for your menu. And Gordon Food Service® is a very smart choice for your seafood supplier. More Predictable Costs Adding more seafood to your menu can help lessen the impact of beef, poultry, and pork price infl ation. Consider: beef, poultry, and pork pricing is directly related to the cost of animal feed, primarily corn. The U.S. drought of 2012 devastated the corn crop and pushed corn prices to record-high levels, forcing farmers, ranchers, and processors to increase their prices. There was some drought-fueled price infl ation in 2012, but the full effect on beef, poultry, and pork pricing will be felt in 2013. Higher corn prices also compelled many cattle ranchers and pork farmers to thin their herds, or even sell them off entirely. This put more beef into the market, offsetting the infl ationary impact of the drought—but only temporarily. The 2012 sell-off means there will be a smaller supply of beef and pork available in 2013, which will further increase prices. Higher beef prices due to tight supply could last for some time, as it takes 3-4 years to breed and raise cattle for the market. Another drought, which some climate-watchers say is a distinct possibility, would make the problem even worse. Seafood pricing is not directly related to feed costs, so there isn’t the uncertainly associated with beef, poultry, and pork. The more seafood on your menu, the easier it is to maintain a consistent profi t margin and hold the line on prices. Value Combinations You also can better control profi t margins by pairing seafood and meat selections. Let’s say you charge $19 for a 14-oz. New York strip steak. You could charge the same $19 for an 8-oz. steak plus a lobster tail, or an 8-oz. steak with 12-oz. King Crab legs. The seafood won’t be subject to the same price fl uctuations as the beef, and the smaller-size steak will not impact your food budget as much if beef prices rise. As you’re revising your menus in the months to come, I urge you to consider adding more seafood to the mix. It’s an increasingly popular choice for consumers, and it can deliver a healthier bottom line for your business … especially compared to other proteins. Your Sales Representative can help you determine the smartest solution for your operation. Jagtar Nijjar National Merchandiser – Protein Letter 2 | Sustainability What’s good for the ocean is good for all of us Maintaining healthy oceans and viable marine ecosystems is important to Gordon Food Service. It’s important to our customers and our suppliers, too. Healthy oceans and abundant fi sh and shellfi sh populations are not simply the fi rst step in our seafood supply chain—they are the foundation of our entire seafood program. That’s why we support responsible, science-based management of the wild-harvest fi sheries and aquaculture operations that produce the seafood we deliver to our customers. The key to delivering healthy, delicious seafood is developing healthy supplier relationships we can count on today and maintain into the future. Spot-market purchasing generates good value from time to time, but success in the food business is a long-term proposition that requires commitment to steady deliveries of high-quality products that continually meet the specifi cations of our customers, satisfy their menu requirements, and excite their guests. To accomplish that goal, we use suppliers we trust. We know them. They know us. And above all, they know their fi sh. They know where and how each species is caught. They understand how their fi sheries are managed, and they are committed to maintaining abundant fi sh stocks and responsible fi shing practices. Responsible fi sheries carefully monitor their fi sh stocks and analyze information about their catch, and professional fi shery managers who have the authority will respond to scientifi c data by adjusting harvest levels quickly and effectively. Put simply, responsible fi shermen and fi shery managers pay attention and respond to what the ocean is telling them. At Gordon Food Service we expect our seafood suppliers to be good listeners and to support proper fi shery management. In the North Pacifi c, for example, Trident Seafoods and other Alaska seafood suppliers have joined with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to ensure that fi sheries for Alaska salmon, cod, halibut, sablefi sh, and crab are certifi ed to the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries Management developed by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. Similar programs are supported by responsible suppliers in Canada, Iceland, and elsewhere. Collectively they demonstrate the ongoing cooperative efforts of responsible industry and government to manage ocean resources sustainably. We also understand there’s plenty of room for improvement on the ocean. And it is our sincere belief that by celebrating and rewarding the best-managed fi sheries with our business and yours, we can motivate others to take the next step toward a responsible future. The business model is simple—investing in 3 | responsible science-based fi sheries generates more fi sh over time and puts more healthy seafood on the plate year after year. Sustainability It’s great for business. It’s great for the ocean. And it’s great for the planet. FISH Cuts V-Cut: This cut removes pinbones and a strip of fl esh from the fi llet. The cut is made from the thickest front portion of the meat back to about one-third of the fi llet’s length toward the tail. By eliminating the need for further deboning, boneless, V-cut fi llets decrease risk to consumers. Dressed J-Cut: This cut removes the pinbones and nape. The nape is a thin, fatty piece These fi sh are sold head-on, but gutted, and sometimes of meat on the underside of the fi llet, just forward of the the gills are removed. belly. Additionally, a J-cut takes away the thin belly meat that is behind the nape. J-cuts are premium cuts. They Fillet are expensive, and This most recognizable of fi sh cuts is essentially a side of typically do not yield a fi sh cut away from the backbone. Removed in a single as much product as piece, fi llets run “with the grain” of a fi sh. Round fi sh, V-cut fi llets. such as cod, offer two fi llets. Flatfi sh, such as fl ounder, sole, and halibut offer four, since two fi llets are taken from H&G the top portion of the fi sh, and another two from the Abbreviating head and guts removed, these fi sh have bottom portion. had their heads and guts—or viscera—removed. While Fillets may be called “fl etches.” In this case, fi llets are H&G fi sh may be processed in several ways, the most cut from a large fl atfi sh and then divided further into common way is steaked, in which fi sh are cut crosswise to boneless portions. The portions typically are one-half of a the backbone. Common varieties offered H&G-steaked fi llet, or one-eighth of the entire fl atfi sh. are: salmon, halibut, mahi-mahi, Chilean sea bass, and tuna. Types of Fillets Whole Fillet: A whole fi llet can be skin-on or skinless. Pinbones, nape, and belly fl ap are part of the whole fi llet. This cut offers a lower-cost option for buyers in comparison to V-cut or J-cut fi llets. Fillet Tail Whole fi llets can Pinbone then be trimmed, with trimmings used Loin for fl avourings, soup Nape Referring to a cut of uniform thickness, a loin of fi sh stocks, and sauces. doesn’t taper and does not contain bones. Loins are commonly taken from large fi sh such as tuna, salmon, swordfi sh, or shark. In a large fi sh, cuts are made the length of the backbone, so that the fi sh is quartered. Fish Cuts 4 | FISH Cuts , cont. Nuggets These are belly fl aps and other fi llet trim. Moon Cut Crescent Cut Square Cut Steak These are cross-sections of a fi sh. Cut perpendicular to—but not necessarily through—the backbone, steaks are normally 1–2 inches thick. Steaks of some larger fi sh, such as salmon, might include a thin band of skin, a small Strips piece of backbone, and perhaps pinbones and pieces of belly fl ap. Steaks of smaller fi sh are often bone-in, and These cuts are from the lower part of a shank fi llet. may be quite uniform in size and shape. The steaks of larger fi sh come in several shapes, such as moons, Portion half-moons, crescents, quarter-bone squares, wedges, and ovals. From a fi llet, portions are cut—with or without pinbones—to a more individual size. Portions typically are measured in ounces. Whole Fish Often called “round fi sh” or “fi sh in the round,” this is a fi sh that hasn’t been cut at all. Fish in the round still have head, viscera, tail, etc., intact. Many fi sh are offered whole. Some are shark, tuna, swordfi sh, mackerel, striped bass, red snapper, tilapia, ocean perch, and black sea bass. Shank Fillet This fi llet has had the belly fl ap removed.