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Why You Need to Be Grilling Mackerel Now

Maggie Borden

Tue, July 19, 2016

When it comes to sustainable seafood, mackerel is …

When it comes to sustainable seafood, mackerel is one fish you’ll find cropping up on lists over and over. Praised as a “best choice” by the Environmental Defense Fund, this oily-yet-flavor-packed species rebounds from fishing within 2 to 4 years, and as a result, is almost always in season. If you’re careful to ask your fishmonger for the right type (go for wild-caught and avoid trawl-caught), you can also mitigate mackerel’s trademark fishy taste—the fresher it is, the milder it will be. Mackerel is meaty, which means it lends itself to grilling, as in this recipe for Grilled Spanish Mackerel with Green Sauce from JBF Award winner and Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change alum Andrea Reusing. A few minutes on a coal-fired grill yields crispy, golden-brown skin, just begging to be drizzled with Reusing's herbaceous and earthy green sauce. Wave bycatch bye-bye and say hello to mackerel mania. Get the recipe.
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Maggie Borden is associate editor at the James Beard Foundation. Find her on Instagram and Twitter.