This is one of those whiny, food-police posts that you will probably despise (not that you’ll actually even read it).

But first, let me start off by saying I love your videos on the NY Times website. They are the first thing I click on every Wednesday when start my on-line food section reading binge. I’ll even go so far as to say I love the video that I’m going to bitch to you about - sticking that thyme sprig into the stack of mashed potatoes - just priceless. But did you have to go and choose monkfish as the main ingredient for your dish?

Now I know you also specify that sea bass or catfish would work just as well, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that there are legions of home cooks out there that follow recipes religiously, fanatically in fact, and if you call for monkfish, it is only monkfish they will use. Period. End of story. Get out of my kitchen with that catfish because Mark Bittman is using monkfish!

I can even see it now…fleets of fishing trawlers steaming to sea due to an unprecedented demand in monkfish tails…which would be just fine and dandy, except for one little minor detail. There’s this handy little guide called the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch card (here’s a link to the pdf file, I suggest you cut it out and tape it that nice marble counter in your kitchen for further reference) and it has this to say about monkfish:

Monkfish

Monkfish populations off the U.S. coast are in poor shape due to overfishing.

Consumer Note:
Monkfish is often sold fresh or frozen as goosefish. They are also known as anglerfish, angler, molligut, bellyfish, lawyerfish and fishing frog.

Summary:
The warty brown skin of the monkfish hides tasty fillets of white meat and monkfish liver is considered a delicacy in Japan and Europe.

This bottom fish was at one time discarded when caught accidentally in the Atlantic cod and scallop fisheries. As these other fisheries declined, monkfish began to be marketed as gourmet fare. Unfortunately, high demand has encouraged heavy fishing and populations have become overfished off the U.S. Atlantic coast.

An additional concern is the way they are caught; monkfish are usually caught using bottom trawls, a method that can damage seafloor habitat and often results in high accidental catch of other fish species that are then discarded. Monkfish may also be caught using gillnets; this can result in the accidental catch and kill of sea turtles and marine mammals.

Recipe Alternatives
Catfish (farmed), Rainbow Trout (farmed), and Tilapia (farmed) are all best choices.

My kids really love sea turtles by the way.

Personally, I prefer line-caught west-coast roasted salmon with mashed potatoes. For one thing, it’s not a totally white/brown dish like your monkfish version (although I appreciate the green highlights of thyme), and salmon flakes nicely into the potatoes as you eat them. I even go one step further and braise some greens while the salmon is roasting. These I spread on the bottom of the plate, and then top them with the potatoes, and then the salmon. I tend to finish everything with a sprinkling of black Hawaiian sea salt these days, which I have to admit, makes this dish look pretty darn good, and that sprinkle of fancy salt could certainly up the ante a good $15, just like your thyme sprig…

Shoot, now here I am telling you how to cook, and I really only wanted to gently point out that you could have chosen a different ingredient for your Wednesday cooking video, because I remember the last time you unleashed a new cooking technique on the world (remember that no-knead bread thing?), the whole universe took notice.

UPDATE 7-22-09:

The above post was previously published in 2007. In a recent post on his Bitten blog for the New York Times, Mark Bittman provided another recipe for monkfish. What probably started out as a superb dinner and inspired a spontaneous blog post, has unfortunately turned into a yet another food fight (see the comments after the post): The Secret to Monkfish.

But consider this:

When Mark Bittman publishes a recipe for monkfish, it essentially mobilizes his huge readership of fans and followers to shop for a species better left alone due to its current over-fished status.

Considering that Mr. Bittman was recently ranked the 8th most influential print and online columnist in the United States, he wields considerable influence, like it or not.

Given that he has recently written about sustainable seafood issues, it’s hard reconcile that he neglected to pencil in a simple addendum to his recipe, and note that finding a reputable and sustainable-minded fishmonger to purchase the fish from, is the best course of action.

A simple note to readers acknowledging the status of monkfish fisheries would have been sufficient to remind us that our seafood choices unfortunately come with consequences. That he failed to acknowledge this, considering his recent history, is a disappointment to many of his fans, including myself. (More here on Grist)

Bruce Cole publishes Edible San Francisco magazine.