Seviche owner Anthony Lamas honored for serving sustainable seafood

The reliable, standard species that diners had been used to eating — cod and bluefin tuna, Chilean sea bass and grouper — were paying the price for their popularity. Fish populations in the open oceans were being reduced so much that young fish did not have the chance to mature.

The once seemingly inexhaustible bounty of the oceans is being exhausted. Some fish species have been fished to levels that threaten their viability. Recognizing this problem, Lamas has made a point of serving only those fish species that have certifiable sustainable populations.

That means no bluefin tuna, no Chilean sea bass. “Grouper is banned in the Keys,” Lamas explained. “Monkfish is overfished, and need to be given time to recover.”

Because of his efforts to fine-tune his menu offerings to highlight fish species that are currently at sustainable levels of productivity, Lamas will be honored Friday with the Seafood Ambassador award presented by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, Calif., during the Aquarium's Cooking for Solutions event, which supports the aquarium's Seafood Watch program.

One of 13 chefs to be honored with the award, Lamas is the only one from Kentucky, or from the surrounding region. As part of the event, Lamas will also be featured in the Sustainable Seafood Challenge, a cooking competition to be hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of NPR's “Splendid Table.”

Lamas appreciates that there are a lot of different species of fish that have excellent flavor and texture profiles that simply have not been widely eaten in America. His use of alternative fish from less stressed fish populations is what earned him the award. He has made his preferences for sustainable species known to his suppliers, who alert him to the availability of different fish.

“I bring in new fish for specials,” Lamas said. “I test them out, see what the texture is. Some work best raw, some best steamed, others are best grilled.”

He likes Pacific black cod, also called sablefish, as an alternative to the overfished (and even pirated) Chilean sea bass. “It is a flaky fish that does not grill well, but I give it a hard sear, and then bake it, or sometimes I will crust it, with macadamia nut or a blue corn crust,” he explained.

Not all tuna have problem populations. Albacore is abundant, but “people just think of it cooked and put into a can,” he said. “But I do it as tiradito, a Peruvian-style crudo or sashimi, topped with a salsa. Tiradito is part of the Japanese influence in Peru. Japanese immigrants wanted to make their sashimi dishes, but they were influenced by the ingredients available in Peru.”

Another less well-known fish that Lamas has been using is barramundi, also called Australian sea bass. “It's great grilled,” he said. “I marinate it in lime and garlic and achiote, then grill it for fish tacos. It has a firmer texture, like mahi-mahi,” which is another fish with currently sustainable populations in the wild.

Almost all squid is wild-caught, and remains abundant. Mussel farming is one of the most environmentally clean aquacultures. Oysters, too, are harvested from managed beds, grown in tidal areas that are self-cleaning.

Tiger shrimp from Asia, Lamas says, are over-consumed, and too often not properly raised. He prefers U.S. shrimp, and thinks that U.S. farmed tilapia is very good. “They are farmed well and avoid that murky flavor. They're very good in fish tacos.”

Albacore tiradito

Juice of 2 yuzu (Japanese lime) or Persian limes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 jalapeno, seeds removed and chopped

1 slice watermelon, cut into 1?-inch cubes

Pico de gallo (recipe at right)

Microgreens, cilantro, Italian parsley or baby arugula (optional)

Jalapeno purée (see recipe)

Sea salt

Slice the logs of albacore about ? inch thick.

Place yuzu or lime juice, olive oil, sea salt and jalapeno in a blender, and purée.

To assemble the tiradito: Place a watermelon cube on a plate, sprinkle with sea salt and add ? teaspoon or so of the yuzu purée. Top watermelon with a slice of albacore. Sprinkle with sea salt, and add ? teaspoon or so of yuzu purée. Add a dollop of pico de gallo, and garnish with greens of choice. Repeat for as many servings as you have ingredients for. Garnish plate with a squirt of jalapeno purée.

Pico de gallo

1 ripe yellow tomato and 1 ripe red tomato, cored, seeded and diced

? onion, peeled and diced

Juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons minced cilantro

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and toss to combine.

Jalapeno purée

2 or 3 jalapenos, seeds removed and chopped

? cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a blender, and purée.

Pepita-crusted sablefish

1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1 teaspoon salt

? teaspoon cayenne

? teaspoon cumin

? teaspoon coriander

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

4 6- or 7-ounce fillets of sablefish (black Pacific cod)

Sautéed pea sprouts, spinach or broccolini

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss pepitas with salt, spices and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Spread in a layer in a metal baking pan, and roast in oven 10 minutes, shaking and tossing once. Roughly chop the roasted, spiced seeds with a knife, or by pulsing briefly in a food processor. Place chopped pepitas on a plate, and press one side of the sablefish fillets into the seeds.

Heat the remaining oil in an oven-proof sauté pan over medium heat. When oil is shimmery, add the sablefish, pepita-side down, and sear about 1 minute. Flip the fish, place pan in oven and roast 5 to 7 minutes. Serve fish over sautéed bitter greens, or over Israeli couscous.

Serves 4.

Barramundi tacos

“Fish tacos are the Latino answer to a fish sandwich with coleslaw,” Lamas said. “Only the coleslaw is deconstructed.”

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 teaspoon achiote (annatto seed)

1 pound barramundi fillets or steaks

Corn tacos

Cumin-lime aioli (see recipe)

1 cup shredded green cabbage

1 cup shredded purple cabbage

Pico de gallo (see recipe)

Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic and achiote. Rub this mixture on the barramundi, and let marinate up to 1 hour. Grill or broil the barramundi to medium, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Slice about ? inch thick.

Use two corn tortillas per taco. Grill or toast tortillas in oven, or char over a gas flame. To construct each taco, smear the taco shell with cumin-lime aioli, the grilled barramundi and a mixture of the green and purple cabbage, and top with pico de gallo. Repeat for as many tacos as you need. Serve with a side of rice.

Cumin-lime aioli

1 cup mayonnaise

Juice of 1 or 2 limes

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced finely

? teaspoon cumin

? tablespoon chili powder

Salt and pepper

Whisk together all ingredients until well blended. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, or with more of the spices, if desired.