Farm-raised tilapia

THIS week my Indigenous bites Farm to Table shoot led me to a tilapia farm in Wallerfield. With local food production, sustainability and food security being topical, coupled with having had the pleasure of visiting fruit, vegetable and provision farms in the past few months, it only seemed fitting to include seafood in this series.

Since we can’t sustainably take more from our oceans, we have to rely on aquaculture to increase our seafood production. Ryan Mohammed is the president of the Aqua-TT Multi-purpose Co-operative Society Ltd. His goal is to unify the fractured sector and provide support for all aquaculture farmers; thereby establishing viable fish farming and support facilities for the members. In return consumers will enjoy a value added product.

The tilapia farm which I visited this week, Faith Farms, is owned by Kirt Bernard. His farm occupies roughly one acre of land, has 16 production tanks with a total of about 20,000 gallons of water and a capacity currently to produce in excess of 30,000 pounds of fish annually.

Faith Farms also has an open day, and on this day you can go to the farm, catch your own tilapia, get it cleaned and take it home, a wonderful initiative in getting the public involved in food production.

Our current farmers in total can produce in excess off 200,000 pounds of fish per year.

The aquaculture co-operative is proposing a processing facility for TT-Tilapia, (this is the brand produced by the co-operative) and aims to process a minimum of 20,000 pounds of whole fish per month. And this is not all, their future line extensions include TT-Cascadoo and TT-Conch. Now that’s something sweet to look forward to. Tilapia is a perfect choice for farm-raised fish in the Caribbean because it is well-suited to our warm waters, the growth cycle is a short six months and it is easily farmed in tanks where the farmer can have more control. It is highly nutritious, having a whopping 20 grammes of protein per 3 ounces of fish and it is a solid source of Vitamin B, Omega 6 and trace minerals.

From a culinary standpoint it’s a mild-tasting fish, lending itself to many modes of preparation. When enjoyed as fresh as I did, it’s flaky, tender and delicious.

Tilapia fish tend to be smaller in size so it lends itself to easy whole cooking methods.

As with all freshly caught fish, a minimum of preparation and pre-seasoning is necessary.

Happy cooking!

Whole pan-grilled tilapia stuffed with fresh herbs

2 2 lb tilapia, scaled and cleaned

1 bunch fresh herbs, chadon beni, tarragon, Spanish thyme, oregano.

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp salt

1 tbs olive oil

Lime slices

Make slashes in the fish, rub the garlic, salt and olive oil onto fish.

Stuff the fresh herbs into the cavity of the fish. Place the lime slices on top.

Wrap in greased foil and cook over an open grill, or stovetop in a grill pan.

Fish should flake easily in about 8 to 10 minutes.

Serves 4

Fried curry - cassava flour dusted tilapia fillets

6 tilapia fillets

⅓ cup chopped fresh herbs

1 tsp garlic

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper sauce

1 tsp coconut oil

1 cup cassava flour

¼ cup good quality curry powder

Coconut oil to fry

Rinse tilapia and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine herbs, garlic, salt, and pepper-sauce in a small bowl.

Rub onto fillets.

Now mix the cassava flour and curry in a plate, dredge the fillets in this mixture.

Heat oil in a frying pan, pan fry fillets until golden.

Drain and serve hot with lime wedges.

Serves 3-4

Cooking classes with Wendy Rahamut

Cakes October 27

Call 357-0927