/ck/ - Food & Cooking

I enjoy fish steaks too. But the reason Americans don't cook fish whole is because we don't want to know where our food comes from. We just want to shovel whatever tastes good into our mouths and not have to worry about the process it took to create it. It would be bad for business 20 years from now if little children became traumatized by seeing a pig's head at the dinner table.

You can fillet most fish in like two minutes with zero meat wasted
>t. used to fish with grandparents all summer and eat them fresh in the evening
I miss my granddad

Americans filet fish, eat fish steaks, and eat fish whole. It depends on the fish, the dish, and who's preparing it. Try finding a swordfish filet anywhere in America for example. Also, if you think fileting a fish "wastes meat" that's a skill issue on your part.

They don't like bones here. Fish chops/steaks are my preferred way to have them, too.
idk if it's placebo or what but I swear fillets never taste as good as chops of the same species of fish, which is a shame because filleting is quick to do and easy to eat.

I have always been confused by fish served raw. Like do you just...cut it open and pick the bones out and eat it? Seems kind of annoying and very tedious.

>>20311969
>swordfish filet anywhere in America for example
That's all I ever see of swordfish unless I go to the Asian supermarket or a proper fishmonger. Same with tuna. Where are you finding it as chops/steaks? Or do we have different definitions for the term?

>>20311996
Filet means you cut the meat off along the spine, "horizontally". A steak is a slice taken perpendicular to the spine, "vertically". Google "buy swordfish near me" and post a screenshot of the results. I'd be really amazed if it's primarily fillets.

>>20311931
americans aren't used to being reminded that they're eating something that used to be alive, and when they are reminded of it, they have a mental health crisis and react in one of two ways:

1. (less common) rejection and turning into a foaming at the mouth vegan and never shutting up about how meat is murder (this is basically an impossible position to maintain for more than a year or two hence why you usually see it in children who then go back to eating meat once they reach college)

2. (more common) reaction formation and turning into a foaming at the mouth carnist and never shutting up about how the vegans are trying to take away your carnivore rrawrr cave man diet (this is the easiest path to take and they will pat themselves on the back for being brave warriors standing up to the young children they met who won't eat meat)

>>20311931
The only way to eat fish is whole.

>>20311931
>Why do americans fillet their fish?
Is this how you prepare it? What country are you from?

>>20312076
It's insane how people will sit down and type out an incoherent essay every time they hear the word "Americans".

>>20312076
How the fuck does cutting a fish into fillets hide the fact that it was a living animal anymore than cutting it into steaks? Do you see a fish head connected to each of the pieces in the OP image?
>>20312077
Only a poor person would say something like this.

>>20312090
>op posts an assertion about americans
>american replies with related comments about americans
yeah this is absolutely fucking crazy isn't it.... are you feeling ok bro?

>>20312093
Poverty tastes good

>>20312109
Are the Americans in the room with you right now?

>>20311931
>>20311947
>>20312076
americans buy and eat fish whole, they are readily available in supermarkets. people in america visit a market in seattle for the express purpose of seeing fish that they eat tossed around whole.
this whole retarded thread is one non-american asking a question about why americans do something, in spite of knowing nothing about americans and what they do, and other non-americans replying with increasingly ludicrous explanations as to why americans do something they don't do, who have also never been to america or seen americans in real life.
this is not healthy behavior.

>>20312155
Well said Rakesh

>>20312155
I am >>20311947
Cool your coastal city has a bunch of hipsters who want to take instagrams and tiktoks showing off how in tune they are with the food supply line. Also it is completely different seeing a fish gutted than it is a cow. I bet none of them would instagram themselves at a slaughterhouse.
Go to the midwest and you'll see plenty of good hogs eating less sentient livestock.

>>20312111
You know what else tastes good? Lots of bigger, more expensive fish that never get eaten whole.

>>20312155
>this whole retarded thread is one non-american asking a question about why americans do something, in spite of knowing nothing about americans and what they do, and other non-americans replying with increasingly ludicrous explanations as to why americans do something they don't do, who have also never been to america or seen americans in real life
That's literally every "do Americans really" thread. These are mostly children. They don't care if they're just making things up out of thin air as long as they find it funny.

>>20312183
>"we" don't cook fish whole because "we" don't want to know where it comes from!
>uh, well, actually "we" do. but what I really meant is "we" don't want to see cows slaughtered!

>>20312183
Not that anon, but only a psychopath would WANT to watch an animal being killed, unless we're specifically talking about being instructed or hunting/fishing for game. There's no cognitive dissonance between knowing full well that what you're eating was recently a living creature and not wanting to watch it go from being a living creature to a piece of meat. Do you also think every mortician fucks the cadavers? (Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if you did.)

>>20312155
>this is not healthy behavior
I agree. Even if OP is telling himself he's trolling the amount of thought poured into every year asking thousands of unique yet meaningless and largely incorrect questions about Americans and replying with tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of speculative posts is genuinely disturbing. I used to find it sort of funny but in the past few years it's gotten more frenzied and started to just be confusing and creepy.

>>20312039
No, we do have different definitions. I would call a straight, perpendicular cut through the spine a steak. Ending at the spine and filleting along it a is a different thing to me, but what you can a steak is pretty standard here unless I go to Asian supermarkets or a fishmonger.
>>20312090
True. I live in the US and while it's true that you guys don't really like bones, it's not about being reminded of anything. You people just dislike anything that slows you down, bones included. And this isn't to say Americans are fat. It's applicable to everything. Generally speaking, you lot really don't like taking things slowly.

Not one coastie hive dweller in this bullshit mulungeon thread brought up that fillets are better to pan fry over a fire at camp. Whole fish are good for spits and smoking. At home fillets cook more evenly so you're less likely to get yiddish ass worms from farmed tilapia. Suck my dick yankees.

>>20312205
My point was that your anecdote was about a bunch of coastal hipsters who revel in their transgresses. Most US people would not want to see a fish slaughtered or a cow slaughtered. How funny that your Seattle hipsters enjoy the spectacle of a fish being gutted and lain attorn.

>>20312224
So many Americans buy a bag of frozen cow patties and pop it in the microwave for a few minutes and serve it up to their kids. "Mommy what is this?" "It's a cow pattie son, it comes from the store!" You shouldn't want to see the execution and slaughter of livestock but you should understand that it does happen. Growing up in my family if we had a chicken dinner my dad would say "Let us give thanks to the brave chicken who gave her life to give us this meal." It seems stupid but it does give you at least an inkling that an animal died in order to feed you. It's not just some magical result of nothing at appears in a plastic bag in your freezer.

>>20312229
It kind of makes you wonder, what if they took the time and effort that they spend making up these ridiculous lies and used it instead to improve their living conditions and their society? Maybe we and they would not be so far removed then.

>>20312248
my kids understood natively at like three years old that they are eating animals.
I didn't even have to tell them. it helps that chicken (the animal) and chicken (the nugget) have the same name.
I'm all about you farmbro but get down off your high horse.

>>20311931
You're comparing a 3'+ fish that has an actual ribcage to gnaw off of on a plate compared to something an 1/16 its size at best with a chuck-it-in-the-trash spine and pinbones.
Apples to door hinges.

>>20312127
yes, I have never not been in a room where there wasn't an american in the room that I was in. can you guess why? you probably can't because you're american

>>20312088
romania
>Is this how you prepare it?
do you mean my pic or your pic?
i eat them both ways, whole and grilled if it comes from a quick river and chops if it comes from the danube

Is there anything more american than a bunch of americans indignantly accusing each other of not being american because they have different opinions and experiences?

>>20312246
>fillets are better to pan fry over a fire at camp
But I don't do that when camping. I do whole fish on spits. I'm not lugging a fucking cast iron pan with me when I go camping.

>>20312290
shut the fuck up, you fucking lithuanian. you've never even been here

>>20312291
Then your camping sucks ass. Hiking is great, but half of the goodness is working up that appetite and getting a smokey campfire meal. Almost worth rucking that cast-iron spider.
(a carbon steel is lighter)

>>20312269
Sorry I've killed a lot of animals since age 6 and I'm starting to thing about it deeply now. I'm not going to stop. But I have a more intense feeling on it now. I'm an adult now so it's not just something that grandpa makes me do. It's a choice I've made. And I continue doing it. It's the machine that must keep trudging on.

>>20312244
>I would call a straight, perpendicular cut through the spine a steak
So by your definition every Ahi steak I've ever eaten was technically a fillet? That's not how anybody defines a steak. You know fish have different muscle groups, and in a lot of larger fish they often cut the steaks from just one of the muscle groups, which is why your ahi steaks tend to be triangular despite the fact that ahi tend to generally be oval shaped.

>>20312312
>So by your definition every Ahi steak I've ever eaten was technically a fillet?
Yes. I was even going to say so but left it out. I know what I'm calling a steak is technically a chop in America and fish chops are rare here (especially not from something as huge as a goddamn tuna, holy shit).
How do you like your ahi? I'm so basic bitch with it. Olive oil. Salt. Grill. Plate. Lemon juice. Eat.

>>20312300
>carbon steel is lighter
That's true! And I repeatedly forget it exists. Everytime someone tells me that I should just get a carbon steel pan for camping, I say "yeah! That's a great idea!" Then immediately forget to buy one anytime I go thrifting for shit.

>>20312321
Wait, so you recognize a steak and a chop as two different things, but also think that all steaks are chops and all chops are steaks? If you cooked a steak and served it to someone and then they cut it in half at the table to share with someone, would they be eating fillets?

>>20312076
Fishing in a Fish thread...
BOLD.
Seems it was effective.

>>20312359
None of you brilliant minds have determined the actual reason boneless fillets are the norm in most US restaurants:
It's because the US is a very litigious country. Many people have sued restaurants for having bones in their fish.

>>20312341
>you recognize a steak and a chop as two different things, but also think that all steaks are chops and all chops are steaks?
Sort of. It's like a crisps v chips v fries thing. What I call steak is called a chop in the US.
>If you cooked a steak and served it to someone and then they cut it in half at the table to share with someone, would they be eating fillets?
Now we're getting into Greek ships levels of discussion. You know the one. Where they keep replacing boards on the ship so the question is asked "at what point does it stop being the ship it was?"
Short answer is idk, I'm just happy to share.

>>20312455
>You know the one. Where they keep replacing boards on the ship so the question is asked "at what point does it stop being the ship it was?"
Ship of Theseus

>>20312417

>>20312475
That's the one.

>>20312455
>Now we're getting into Greek ships levels of discussion
This isn't a slippery slope issue. You're saying if it's a full cross section of the fish it's a steak (chop), otherwise it's a fillet. That's an either/or. Either it is a full cross section or it isn't. Put another way, do you think there are such a think as beef steaks? Do those have to be made from cutting an entire cross section out of a cow? Or is it okay if they're a perpendicular cut made from a single muscle group? Why is it different with fish?

>>20312077
have fun eating a tuna...

>>20312510
Stop making fun of the thirdie.

why are there eight fucking star anises in there doing jack shit?

>>20311931
Because we like doing the work upfront to enjoy the good part better rather than being lazy and having to do the work while we eat

>>20312503
>This isn't a slippery slope issue.
Never said we were.
>You're saying if it's a full cross section of the fish it's a steak (chop)
Yes
>otherwise it's a fillet.
Yes.
>Either it is a full cross section or it isn't.
Or it was and it isn't. If you run filet mignon through the mincer, is it still a steak?

>>20312534
The ship of Theseus is an example of a slippery slope. it's a question of at what point something stops being what it is and turns into something different. Of course when you cut a steak in half you're not replacing it with more steak from a different cow, so if you weren't making a slippery slope argument I'm not clear on what you were saying.
>if you run filet mignon through the mincer, is it still a steak?
Anon, the same piece of meat can be cut into a fillet or a steak. That's what we've been talking about. Why would ground up tenderloin be a steak? Are you aware that there are actually 2 tenderloins on every cow? How can filet mignon be a steak in the first place if it's only cut from one of them and doesn't include an entire cross section the cuts right through the spine? Isn't that the entire definition for "steak" you're arguing for? And why would cutting steaks cut from one muscle group in a cow be okay but not in a fish? Beef tenderloin and a cut of ahi like >>20312312 are actually pretty similar in a lot of ways.

>>20312076
Counterpoint; whole roast poultry, and steaks. I don't get this meme.

>>20312575
>Isn't that the entire definition for "steak" you're arguing for?
No. Fish steak.
>And why would cutting steaks cut from one muscle group in a cow be okay but not in a fish?
Cattle ≠ fish.>>20312575
>Beef tenderloin and a cut of ahi are actually pretty similar
Good point. You have to cut the primal from the tuna then cut that primal into steaks, yeah. I stand corrected.

>>20312580
>whole roast poultry
Practically nobody roasts whole poultry in America anymore except for turkeys on Thanksgiving.
There are, like, four whole chickens in any supermarket and 87 packs of boneless chicken tits.

>>20311931
>Unless you it's a restaurant
Fuck off ESL.

>>20312596
Americans are more than familiar with whole chickens, anon, even it it is true that roasting them whole at home has waned in popularity over the last 20-30 years.

I ate possibly partly raw small octopus and partly raw 2 pieces of cow or pig intestine at a kbbq place today like 5 or 6 hours ago. I got a bad headache now. Lol am I going to die? Do I have some kind of parasite that's gonna eat my brain? I'm so retarded, I was too socially anxious to ask my friends if they were properly fully cooked and I only ate them cause I was just stuffing my face from being too socially anxious to engage much in conversation (I'm secretly a blackpilled depressed mentally ill doomer NEET who wants to "kms" but only ironically in memes because IRL I'm scared to die and I'm ashamed to open up to my friends about that).

They were still kinda grey when I took them off the table stove with tonsils. Lol, fuck...

>>20312703
Good point.

>>20312601
You are being divided and conquered.

>>20312417
>restaurant specifically markets dish as being boneless
>customer gets bone stuck in throat
>sues
You know I wouldn't be stupid enough to believe them when they say a fish has been completely deboned but then I also wouldn't be stupid enough to guarantee it has been either

>>20312580
Yeah when I see a filet on my plate I can definitely see the whole shape of the cow

>>20313504
>don't pay attention to the people who are invading your country and want to replace you anon! that's just the elites trying to divide and conquer you!

>>20313693
You might need to get your eyes checked, anon.