Louise-Adélaïde Boisnard 2:39 p.m., February 05, 2022

When we go shopping, we are used to looking at what fruits and vegetables are in season.

However, these are not the only foods subject to seasonality, on the contrary.

If you want to eat quality fish and seafood at the peak of their flavor, follow the advice of Christopher Coutanceau, author of Les Saisons de l'Océan.

The three-starred chef came this Saturday, February 6, 2022 to the Table des Bons Vivants.

Eating a tomato or strawberries in winter is an aberration because these fruits are not ripe in this season.

It is the same with fish and seafood, we are not supposed to consume them at any time of the year because they too have a well-defined life cycle.

Christopher Coutanceau author of Les Saisons de l'Océan is at the Table des Bons Vivants.

He explains how to navigate and respect nature's calendar.

Prioritize artisanal fishing over industrial fishing

Artisanal fishermen will pay more attention to respecting the fish and its environment than fishermen on huge trawlers.

"With industrial fishing, we are devastating nature, the bottoms are destroyed so the fish will abort and no longer be able to reproduce by force" regrets the three-starred chef Christopher Coutanceau.

Catching a fish at the right time prevents it from being in the middle of a breeding season.

"If you kill game while pregnant, it causes a scandal because it will scream, it bleeds, whereas the fish does not cry, does not bleed... Few people are aware of this massacre and yet it takes place every day" the chief is indignant.

Fish to eat in February

Eating seasonal fish provides texture and flavor.

For example, you should definitely not buy a bar right now.

Why ?

Because he stuffs himself in November/December and stores fat.

At the end of December, it goes off to reproduce.

From January to the end of April, it reproduces and will therefore stop feeding.

If you eat a sea bass in February/March it will be fibrous, nervous, fatless, tired and pregnant.

On the contrary, at the moment we have to rush on the pout which looks like the whiting, the whiting precisely, the old which is the "grouper of the Atlantic" according to Christopher Coutanceau, the pollack, the mullet, the live fish, scallops or green crabs to be made into a soup and fried.

These fish are very accessible in terms of price because they have an unfounded bad reputation.

And especially because in season, the quantities are greater and the prices drop.

Mullet ceviche recipe

To appreciate the mule, the chef offers his version of ceviche.

You have to lift the mullet fillets, put them to soak for 15 minutes in water saturated with salt (about the density of the sea level salt) to firm it up.

Then dry and mince the fish.

Then marinate it in citrus fruits, kumquat and coconut milk.

All that remains is to serve it and enjoy it.