Two species of Asian carp, bighead and silver carp, have been swimming their way north toward the Great Lakes for decades. A lot of people are trying to keep the carp out of the Lakes.
Yesterday, attorneys general from around the country announced they’re putting more pressure on Congress to speed up action on Asian carp.
Some people think one solution is to create a market for the fish.
There are a couple of companies working to sell Asian carp to China... where the fish are considered a delicacy.
But winning over the American palate is much harder. Carp have a bit of an image problem... and they are full of bones.
“We are spoiled here, we like convenience. Everybody expects to have fish without bones, right? And that’s the issue.”
This is Chef Phillipe Parola. He’s from Baton Rouge and he wants you to learn to love Asian carp.
Parola is one of the chefs who tried to get Americans to eat nutria. Nutria look like oversized rats. So that didn’t go over so well.
Two years ago, Chef Parola found his new calling. He was out fishing in Louisiana, where the Asian carp are thick.
“With ten minutes, this fish started jumping everywhere. I’m like, what in the heck! Two of them, one after the other, landed right at my feet.”
He kept the giant carp, put them on ice, and took them home.
“To my surprise, when I saw the meat, as a professional chef, I knew right on that there’s no way that this fish could be bad, literally. When I went and cooked it, I'm going to tell you, it tasted between scallops and crab meat, there is no doubt.”
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