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Southern Style Striped Pangasius
Chefs 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.
The United Fresh Research and Education Foundation will host a one-day Global Conference on Produce Sustainability on April 23 immediately following the United Fresh 2010 conference in Las Vegas. The inaugural sustainability conference will bring together supply chain experts to explore the opportunities presented by sustainable produce industry practices.
"On a global level, it is becoming increasingly critical to have an overall sustainable approach to business," said United Fresh chairman Jim Lemke in a statement. "It is a way to add value, improve efficiencies and invest in the long-term for future generations. This conference is a milestone event, bringing together representatives from the entire produce industry supply chain to work towards advancing sustainable practices."
The conference is presented by the United Fresh Center for Global Produce Sustainability, which was founded through a grant from Bayer CropScience. The Center for Global Produce Sustainability is designed to help companies across the fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain use sustainability to enhance their businesses
Registration for the conference is included with United Fresh 2010's All Access Pass, or may be purchased separately. United Fresh 2010 will take place April 20 to 23 at the Palazzo Resort and Casino at the Sands Expo & Convention Center. For more information on the Global Conference on Produce Sustainability and United Fresh 2010, visit www.unitedfresh.org.
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) issued the following statement from president and CEO Dawn Sweeney regarding the health care reform package proposed by Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
"The Senate has made key improvements in its bill over the House-passed version. The health care reform package currently before the Senate demonstrates meaningful progress toward protecting jobs and small businesses while taking steps toward providing access to high-quality, affordable health care for Americans.
"We need to ensure that the final bill improves job creation and entrepreneurship, and does not weaken the improvements included in the Senate bill.
"The part-time worker exemption is of critical importance to our industry. As the nation's second-largest private sector employer, this recognition addresses the nature of our business model and is essential for our ability to continue to create the jobs that form the foundation of our economy. We applaud the provisions that protect small businesses, which are the backbone of our industry and the U.S. economy. As well, we are pleased that the legislation preserves the ERISA framework to allow larger, multi-state employers to continue to offer coverage.
"We very much appreciate the hard work of the many senators who have listened to and advocated for our concerns in this process. We will continue to work with the Senate, the House of Representatives and the administration to develop a solution that allows the industry to provide its employees meaningful benefits and supports our industry's ability to generate the economic growth and jobs our nation needs."
For more information, visit www.restaurant.org or www.restauranthealthcarereforminfo.com.
Staff from the Massachusetts Restaurant Association (MRA) volunteered Dec. 9 at the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), sorting and boxing more than 14,000 pounds of potatoes for distribution to the agency's network of almost 600 hunger relief agencies and food pantries. This is the second straight year that the staff at the MRA has volunteered at the GBFB.
(l to r) MRA staff members Lon Breedlove, Janine Harrod, Marybeth Maloney, Mark Sarno, Heather Carneiro, John McGrath, Kathy Murphy and Peter Christie
The GBFB is a nonprofit organization that feeds more than 320,000 people annually across nine counties in eastern Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.gbfb.org.
New York City's Oceana will display a gingerbread lighthouse crafted by pasty chef Jansen Chan at the restaurant's raw bar throughout the holiday season. The entire tower, which took more 75 hours of labor to construct, is edible. It contains more than 1,800 pieces of candy and stands over 4 feet tall. Each night the "lantern room" is lit with a wax candle, which illuminates through blue colored poured sugar. The lighthouse was erected Nov. 24 and will undergo demolition on Jan. 4, 2010.
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Fifth Group Restaurants has won The Concierge Society of Atlanta's Affiliate of the Year Award for 2009. Fifth Group Restaurants was honored at The Concierge Society of Atlanta's 25th Anniversary Gala on Dec. 7. By supporting the organization, Fifth Group has formed and maintained relationships with local concierge. By being an affiliate member, Fifth Group is able to attend monthly meeting and events with concierge and also hear about the likes/dislikes of concierge when working with restaurants. It has enabled them to improve the way their restaurants respond to hotel guest requests and has helped build hotel recommendations from concierge. The award really shows the company's dedication to supporting the concierge community and also cements Fifth Group as a great recommendation in the minds of our local concierge.
Owned by Partners Robby Kukler, Steve Simon and Kris Reinhard, Fifth Group Restaurants is the privately owned company that operates Atlanta restaurants South City Kitchen Midtown, South City Kitchen Vinings, La Tavola Trattoria, Ecco and The Original El Taco, as well as Bold American, a catering and events company with on-site services at Studio 887 and the Event Gallery at the King Plow Arts Center and of-fsite at private homes, offices and Atlanta's premier venues.
Nations fell short of an agreement on a complete temporary purse seine closure the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) tuna fishery--despite strong support for such a measure from both the European Union and the United States--a decision that keeps current conservation management measures in place through 2011.
Scientific assessments presented to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in December in Papeete, Tahiti, warned that current conservation and management measures would not allow the region's bigeye stock to recover from overfishing. In advance of the meeting ISSF urged nations to apply conservation and management measures in all waters of the region and to implement a total temporary closure of the purse seine fishery.
The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) released the following statement about the outcome from president Susan Jackson:
"A key obstacle to the recovery of this region's bigeye stock is the continued capture of juvenile tuna in the purse seine fishery and the significant bigeye catch by longline vessels operating in the area. What did not happen in Tahiti this week underscores the need for continuing research into reducing bycatch in tuna fisheries and creating a set of global best practices for use in every purse seine fishery. ISSF has been and continues to work with scientists and fishermen on this important aspect of sustainability.
"We are pleased that all nations engaged in serious and thoughtful dialogue on the need for increased cooperation in the region. ISSF is hopeful that such talk bears fruit in the near future.
"Our foundation remains committed to supporting the scientific bodies of regional fisheries management organizations and helping to build consensus among nations with a shared interest in the sustainable future of tuna stocks in the WCPO."
National Restaurant Association (NRA) president and CEO Dawn Sweeney announced that Scott DeFife has been named executive vice president, policy & government affairs, spearheading the NRA's federal and state legislative and lobbying efforts, effective Jan. 11, 2010. DeFife comes to the association from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, where he has led government affairs.
DeFife assumes a key leadership role for an association representing the nation's second largest private sector employer, an industry with close to 13 million jobs, nearly one million restaurant and foodservice locations, and annual sales of more than $500 billion. In his new position, DeFife will oversee government affairs, public policy and advocacy communications for the 90-year-old organization.
"We're very excited to have Scott at the helm of our government affairs efforts," Sweeney said in a press release. "His advocacy experience in complex policy and legislation, superlative bipartisan credentials, and substantive approach will be of great benefit to the National Restaurant Association, our members, and the restaurant industry. His unique blend of federal and state government affairs experience in politics and trade associations will enhance our government affairs efforts in key areas."
For the past two years, DeFife was recognized as one of the "best lobbyists in the business for America's business trade associations" by Capitol Hill's newspaper, The Hill. At SIFMA, he has led a 15-person government affairs team.
DeFife previously served as senior policy advisor to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD). He held senior legislative positions in the offices of Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), Rep. Karen McCarthy (D-MO), and Rep. Michael Andrews (D-TX). He has also represented the American Public Power Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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Southern Style Striped Pangasius
