Green Options

Now sushi lovers can make informed seafood choices that please the palate and safeguard the oceans. Environmental Defense Fund’s new Sushi Selector lists choices by Japanese and English names, and ranks them according to whether fish are caught or farmed in an environmentally responsible way and if their contaminant levels pose a health risk.

For sushi aficionados, that means both pleasant surprises — and some disappointments. Popular items like toro (bluefin tuna) and unagi (freshwater eel) are on the Eco-Worst list, as is most sake (made with farmed or Atlantic salmon). These species are either overfished, caught in ways that destroy ocean habitats or kill large amounts of other sea life, or they are farmed with methods that pollute the ocean or threaten nearby wild fish populations.

But such choices as sake made from wild-caught Alaska salmon, hotate (farmed scallops )  and hirame (Pacific halibut ) are Eco-Best choices, in part because they come from abundant, well-managed fisheries or — in the case of scallops — are raised using eco-friendly aquaculture methods.

For Westerners, sake has always held a bit of a mystery. What exactly is it? How is it made? What are the different styles? And how do you drink it?

I have to admit that I am a relative newcomer to the world of sake. I’ve found that it isn’t the hot, overly alcoholic, biting beverage many people think it is. I’ve been fortunate enough to taste freshly filtered sake. If you think wine words like bouquet, fruity, body, luscious or elegant can not be used for a wine made from only rice, you would be wrong. Premium sake (and especially American made sake, as you will see) has easily proven itself to be worthy of appreciation on the same level as fine wine.