Cutting this fish and preparing it for sushi is such a beautiful process. As unglamorous it appears to be a sushi chef, I find great pleasure in understanding this fish from what I'm given with. It's the little things I like to observe with sushi and the practices that no one sees. So, tuna is firm in texture, but has a softness in it that is packed with a flavor that's deep and robust. For me, I think if it as a very meaty manchego cheese. Haha!! You have to chew it well and let the flavors absorb into those taste buds. It's also a beautiful red color that has many different hues depending on the part of the tuna.
As much as I love this fish and appreciate that I can eat it everyday if I wanted to, I am always aware of the ever-growing demand for this fish and its deleterious effects it has on our oceans. Tuna is an impressive species! It is a schooling fish can migrate thousands of miles through the oceans. An apex predator and a voracious consumer of other sea life. These fish can reach massive size if allowed to mature.
I would like to express caution to tuna lovers and to take deep consideration in the overfishing we partake in. With our world at such great demand for fresh products, it also puts great stress on our ecosystem and the bigeye tuna as an existing species.
I know sushi lovers just want to go overboard with ordering and get their absolute fill. I witness it everyday and I wish people could see more in the flavors and understand they can be full off of 2-3 sushi rolls rather than 8-10! Just keep in mind that our over consumption of this fish is leading it to the brink if extinction and no species should ever go extinct if we are able to prevent it.
(These are just various photos of the different stages the tuna goes through when being cut into portions for sushi).
*These pictures were taken from my iPhone.
