Julien Pursglove the sixth person in the UK to be recognised by the Meat Training Council as a 'master butcher'. Eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem..ashimi, EU legislation, Fishmonger, sushi fish, sushi grade Farmed Scottish Salmon for Sashimi and Sushi – No more freezing!Farmed salmon produced in the UK no longer has to be frozen before we eat it as Sashimi and Sushi.  Because the EU recognised that the risk of parasites in Atlantic salmon farmed in the UK is negligible. (Atlantic salmon is what we usually see in fishmongers.)  After all, freezing was all to do with killing off potential parasites.  It’s officialised in the amendments to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, introduced in late 2011. Steve Hardie of the Food Standards Agency in Scotland says “The previous EU freezing rules for fish intended to be eaten raw did not recognise the different risks associated with parasites in wild and farmed fish.  But we now have a specific freezing exemption for farmed fish that can be applied when certain criteria related to diet and production methods are met.”

So how did this change come about? The EU regulations introduced back in 2006 required that fish for Sashimi and Sushi, i.e., fish to be consumed raw or nearly raw, must be frozen for more than 24 hours at certain temperatures.  This was to protect us from getting ill by eating the parasites that may come in with fish.  The parasite in the spotlight in this case is Anisakis. In Japan, the home of Sashimi and Sushi, it is left to the experienced eyes of Sushi chefs to check and select parasite free fish.  In Europe, there aren’t enough experienced Sushi chefs around so one can understand the EU trying to protect the public. But the Scottish salmon producers were confident that their farmed salmon wouldn’t have parasites because the feed given was controlled and sea pens where salmon are raised were maintained in such a way that the parasite risk was extremely low. The problem with freezing is that unless it is done properly, the quality of the fish is undermined and this means the farmed Scottish salmon could lose out their share of Sashimi and Sushi market.

So the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation carried out a joint study with the Food Standard Agency Scotland to look at the risks from parasites in farmed salmon.  The outcome of the study was published in 2007 and concluded that the risks were minimal. Steve continues “The study was included in a wider EU review of parasites in fishery products carried out by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which confirmed the Scottish findings and led to the introduction of the EU freezing exemption for farmed fish in 2011”.jiro dreams of sushi dvdrip 2011 subtitles Jamie Smith of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation says “All farmed Scottish salmon have the seal of approval that you can safely eat it raw without freezing.”   sumo sushi menu naples fl

Jamie was the technical advisor to the study project looking into the parasite risks in farmed Scottish salmon.  “All salmon farmers in Scotland are directly or indirectly the members of the Organisation.  They abide by out Code of Practice for Finfish Aquaculture which ensures that they all follow certain methods of raising salmon which in return assures the parasite risk is kept negligible.  game magic sushi untuk samsung champThey all follow the standard procedures, which mean that any risks are kept to an absolute minimum.”sushi grade fish rockford il So, it’s now down to traceability.  jiro dreams of sushi thai subtitleIf your fishmonger can prove that the salmon you are buying is from one of the Scottish salmon farmers, then you are perfectly fine to eat it raw, Sashimi or Sushi.sushi conveyor belt olympia wa

What about farmed salmon from other parts of the UK?  Rest assured, as long as they come from a farm whose farming method meets the exemption criteria, their salmon is also OK as Sashimi and Sushi.  Of course, it applies to all farmed salmon producers in the EU, too. It took nearly 5 years of hard work by those salmon producers of Scotland and the Food Standard Agency, plus other UK officials, to get the amendment in place.  They really deserve a huge pat on their shoulders.  Why don’t we show them our gratitude by making and enjoying yet another piece of sushi with that gorgeous farmed Scottish salmon, maybe with a glass of bubbly?You speak, we listen. That is the way it works at Word of Mouth. Consequently, after the enthusiastic response to our recent supermarket sandwich taste test (as one contributor, Edinburgh17, put it: "Forget gadget porn. THIS is consumer journalism I can get into"), we have decided to do a regular supermarket sweep, browsing the aisles monthly to put one of Britain's lunchtime favourites to the test.

First up, supermarket sushi, a once glamorous product that is now a staple on the high street. Purists will scoff at this packaged product prepared in factories, which cannot by law include raw fish. It is like a rolling insult to Japan. The labyrinthine ecological concerns around the use of, say, farmed salmon and Thai prawns in supermarket sushi (even if many retailers now use line- and pole-caught tuna) is another reason why many people steer clear. However, the fact remains that for the weight-watching office worker, sushi – according to Seafish, a market worth £64m and growing at 14% annually – is one of the few readily available options out there. Little wonder it is on a (maki) roll. But which of our supermarkets take sushi seriously? Tesco is chasing hard, but can it compete on flavour with the slicker market-leaders, M&S and Waitrose? Onwards, to the check-out chow down ... Boots plays pretty fast and loose with the concept of sushi. It is home to both "street sushi" (BLT sushi, anyone?), and, in this pack, smoked salmon "nigiri", which, rather than a block of rice draped with fish, is (admittedly, properly glutinous, sticky) rice into which the fish has been chopped and mixed, pretty meanly.

Both it and the red pepper version taste blandly sweet. The cucumber maki rolls are almost devoid of all flavour and cry out for more than the rather caramely, low-salt soy sauce that is included (where is the wasabi or pickled ginger that is standard elsewhere?). The smoked salmon in the maki is reasonably meaty, albeit with a curiously citric edge. As for duck maki, what's that all about? It murmurs reassuringly in your ear: pole- and line-caught tuna; cured Lochmuir™ salmon (that sounds good, right?); pickled ginger and real Japanese wasabi. It is eye-catching, too. Trouble is, with the exception of the sesame-seed coated California tuna roll, it tastes – even that fabled Lochmuir™ salmon – of very little. This set is all about the condiments: that clean, fiery wasabi (Kinjirushi brand, used by several supermarkets it transpires) and the well-balanced soy. Pickled ginger is supposed to be a palate-cleanser, but chuck that on too, and you can turn the prawn nigiri into a pretty explosive mouthful.

But, basically, you are building flavour in retrospectively. Only £2, yet this pack includes Japanese wasabi and a tangy, umami-rich, naturally brewed soy. The prawn (dry, fibrous, flobby) nigiri on overly dense rice is a washout. However, the black-sesame-coated sweet chilli prawn and red pepper California roll delivers reasonably interesting, not overly sweet flavours, as does the teriyaki tuna and cucumber one. Assorted little vegetable hosomaki (red cabbage, carrot and pickled ginger etc) taste predominantly of the nori seaweed wrap, but, again, a bit of diligent work with those condiments will jazz up that rice. Factoring in the price … With the exception of a deeply unpleasant smoked salmon and cream cheese (yes, cream cheese and rice!) futomaki, there isn't anything too crazy going on in this, "variety sushi". In fact, I would hazard a guess that Sainsbury's shares a supplier with the Co-Op, as this set features the same condiments (yay!), similarly woeful nigiri (sad prawn; compacted, drying rice), and teriyaki tuna and sweet chilli prawn Californian rolls that, while not identical, are close cousins of the Co-Op versions.

Sainsbury's is marked down for the cream cheese and for including not one, but two of those naff nigiri. Note: Sainsburys tuna and prawns come from MSC-certified fisheries. Serious deja vu now, as I open another Kinjirushi wasabi, another Shoda naturally brewed soy sauce. Overly keen to look authentic, Tesco even includes chopsticks when everybody knows (no, I didn't either), that sushi is finger food. Such kowtowing to supposed tradition is ironic, given that the California rolls – char siu chicken, hoisin duck, sweet chilli and ginger prawn – go disastrously off-piste. In fairness, they do taste of something, but in a cheap, clumsy way, where everything is far too sweet and the flavours clang about. Sweet chilli chicken hosomaki is as bad an idea as it sounds, the red pepper nigiri is almost inedible. The smoked salmon is the only pleasant component. Waitrose sells a lot of different sushi sets from its persuasively named supplier, Taiko Foods, at up to £6-a-pop. It clearly fancies itself as the UK's premium supermarket sushi dealership and, on this evidence, with good reason.