Southern Style Striped PangasiusChefs and culinary schools across the country have something new and exciting encouraging their culinary creativity. The next great white fish has arrived: Striped Pangasius from Fishery Products International (FPI). It's been more than a decade since FPI made tilapia an integral part of American foodservice menus; now this new farm-raised fish has been in national distribution since the first quarter of 2009.
Not only is this new center-of-plate option inspiring culinary creativity among chefs, but it is also a big hit with consumers due to its light texture, large flake--similar to cod and haddock-- and a fresh, naturally mild flavor that carries sauces and seasonings particularly well. The fact that it's produced in a sustainable aquaculture environment is an added bonus for chefs and operators looking to address concerns about social responsibility.
Striped Pangasius' very attractive price point is also making it popular with operators looking for premium menu options with a better price point than the more traditional and expensive ocean-harvested seafood choices.
Owen Tilley, corporate chef and director of culinary for FPI said, "Chefs and cooks are going to really like working with this fish. Striped Pangasius offers the kind of menu flexibility a chef is always looking for in any center-of-the-plate protein choice. They can use it to make a simple upgraded fish and chips dinner for casual dining, create a flavorful Caribbean-style Striped Pangasius a la Parilla for lunch or even prepare an impressively plated baked Striped Pangasius, 'en sac' for a white tablecloth operation. Our culinary team worked closely together to make sure we had a solid range of recipe support, from developing the basics that a lot of chefs will use as a base to build their own creations on, to complete turnkey recipes for ethnic cuisine alternatives from North African to Indian to traditional New England entrées.
"The Striped Pangasius line gives the back of the house team a lot to work with and includes fillets in the most popular sizes and cuts," Tilley continued. "Our award-winning culinary team has even created three unique, premium-quality, value-added offerings and some exciting, easy-to-fix recipe ideas for them, too. The value-added varieties include: Southern Style, Blazin' and Ale House Battered. They are perfect for chefs and cooks who may not always have the time or the skilled staff for more detailed or complex preparations. They're going to find that Striped Pangasius is easy to work with and has the same characteristics of the harder-to-find and more expensive species like cod, haddock and even sole that they are already familiar with, but at a much more reasonable cost per pound."
FPI is a leading provider of quality seafood in the foodservice market, offering an exceptionally broad portfolio of on-trend and in-demand seafood solutions to America's largest restaurant chains, national distributors and regional specialists. FPI is a division of High Liner Foods (USA) Inc. For more information about FPI, visit our Web site at www.fisheryproducts.com.
