From Vegetarian to Eater of Endangered Fish

It was nearing two o’clock, which, along with the rumbling in our stomachs, told us it was almost lunchtime. The smells from the kitchen were growing stronger and soon Ana arrived in our doorway and, knocking, asked us if we were ready to eat.

I must tell you that Ana is an amazing cook. Amazing. And she loves it. I will gain 40 pounds here. PS: she also waits on us hand and foot.

She had our places set, a pitcher of chilled water, and our starter of bean and vegetable soup ready for us. The soup was, of course, delightful. After we packed that away, she brought out the fish. First of all, beautiful presentation: Two, large filets with cilantro, garlic, lemon, and buttery-goodness in, on, and around them. Ana sliced the very smallest end of each of the fish for herself, and then loaded our plates with the massive amount that was left, making sure to drizzle the buttery-goodness over top. Like I said: 40 pounds.

Carolyn and I are determined to improve our Spanish and be Ana’s favorite inhabitants yet, so we do our best to make conversation during meals. We told her about where we had been that day, told her of our plans to go to the beach on the following, asked her about her grandchildren, and asked her what kind of fish we were eating. To the latter, she answered “filete de lenguado”. Not knowing what “lenguado” meant, I made a mental note to look it up once we finished eating. As it turns out, “lenguado” means either flounder or sole. In case you don't know anything about either of those fish, both can be found on endangered fish lists. I searched for more information and according to the discovery channel, eating flatfish (the family of fish that flounder and sole are in) can be okay as long as the fish were caught in the Pacific, not the Atlantic where they have been over-fished for decades. We figure that it is pretty unlikely that these were from the Pacific since we are quite far from there, quite close to the Atlantic, and the Spanish eat mostly locally and seasonally. Wow.

One week ago I was a vegetarian with strong feelings about sustainability and conscientious habits. Today, although those feelings still I repress them and here I am, an eater of endangered fish.

Is it wrong that I liked it?

Since the meal I asked one of my professors about how common this fish is. He told me that fish in the lenguado family are not particularly common, and that although this type of fish is indeed endangered, the particular fish placed in front of me was very likely from a sole/flounder farm. Still very different than what I have been used to!