Chef Ming Tsai is back in the news after calling Black Cod (also known as Sablefish), “Alaskan Butterfish” on a recent menu.  For the President, no less…

It’s the same name that got him in trouble with the Boston Globe a few months back, where Chef Tsai was lumped in with other examples of mislabeled seafood.  We find ourselves wondering – is Chef Tsai’s name choice really part of the same issue?

Mislabeling of seafood is certainly an industry-wide problem that deserves to be taken seriously.  We take it seriously and make every effort to communicate our zero-tolerance policy to the vendors we work with.   Is what Chef Tsai did the same as intentionally subbing Tilapia for American Red Snapper?

Generally, intentional mislabeling of fish on a menu is done to save money – replace a more expensive fish (wild Alaskan sockeye) with a less expensive one (farmed salmon) without changing the name to make a few extra bucks.

Just as an aside, black cod isn’t even in the cod family.  Anyone working for Pantone, Inc. would probably agree it’s also not really “black”.  No one wants to call this tasty fish “Miso Glazed Black 6 PC Anoplopoma fimbria”

We doubt that Chef Tsai was trying to save a few dollars with his substitution (wonder what the budget is for dinner at the White House?).  He took some creative license with the name, just like we do every day with Chilean Sea Bass (instead of calling it Patagonian Toothfish).  Chilean Sea Bass happens to be widely accepted, and unfortunately for Chef Tsai, really no one calls Black Cod “Butterfish”.

According to the FDA there are eight fish that can be legally called “Butterfish”

• White Pomfret
• Sliver Pomfret
• Butterfish (a.k.a. Dollarfish/Skipjack/Harvesterfish/Sheepshead)
• Greenbone
• Black Butterfish
• Harvestfish

Google “butterfish” and you can find a variety of discussions going on – there is a “true butterfish” camp, there are those that call escolar “butterfish” and yes, there are a few people out there who call Black Cod “butterfish”.  It’s a fish, and it is buttery, so there you go.

The real problem here is that calling negative attention to Chef Tsai’s naming decision eliminates a chance to remind the public that eating seafood is a smart choice. Instead of the First Lady being given an opportunity to tout the nutritional benefits of fish, we’re instead given another reason to avoid fish; labeling confusion.

The average American isn’t eating enough seafood as it is; lets not make it harder for them to eat more.   We can certainly address the real issues of labeling fraud without putting a seafood-friendly chef like Ming Tsai on the chopping block because he likes to write colorful menus.  What do you think?