Salmon is like salmon?

Salmon has nothing to do with salmon: confusion at the fish counter
Alaska pollock and salmon can cause confusion with their names. For the fish do not belong to the salmon, but to the cod family and are closely related to the cod. By nature, they have a white or greyish flesh, while in salmon it is pink to reddish in color. This is due to the food, which consists of small crustaceans in wild salmon and is enriched in breeding animals with pigments.

Fish is healthy and tastes excellent. Researchers now found out that fat fish can even protect us from heart attacks. The reason is omega-3 fatty acids. (Image: karepa / fotolia.com)

Salmon, Alaska pollock and pollock are among the most consumed fish. Alaska pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) is only known since the mid-1980s as a food fish. Since then, its importance has increased rapidly. The Pacific pollack, as it is also called, is distributed on the coasts of the northern Pacific. Most of the catches on board are immediately processed and deep-frozen, as the meat is very tender and fine. The German fishing industry uses Alaskan salmon primarily as a raw material for frozen foods such as fish fingers and gourmet fillets. The red-colored salmon substitute and surimi are also made from Alaskan salmon.

The saithe (Pollachius virens) is also known under the name Köhler. Its fishing areas include Iceland, the Norwegian coast and the northern North Sea. It is a lean tasty fish that is good value for money. Its greyish flesh becomes lighter when cooking and does not disintegrate so easily.

Salmon or Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is a migratory fish. He lives in Atlantic waters and in the Baltic Sea, but prefers to spawn in the rivers. Water pollution and the build-up of spawning waters have led to a sharp decline in wild salmon fishing. Today, most salmon come from aquaculture and are bred in Norway, Chile and Scotland, for example. Salmon is fresh in the trade and available in various processed products such as smoked salmon. The meat has a unique, powerful taste. Those who pay attention to the blue label of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) can buy responsibly and support environmentally sound fishing. In the case of farmed fish, recommendable products are labeled with organic labels, for example from Bioland or Naturland.
Heike Kreutz, bzfe