Why You Should Be Eating More Of This Fish, According To Andrew Zimmern

When Andrew Zimmern isn't sampling unique and unusual foods from around the world on his show "Bizarre Foods," and clamoring to be on the Sean Evan's cult YouTube favorite, "Hot Ones," the celebrity chef is advocating for sustainable foods, especially when it comes to seafood. Per Aspen Peak, Zimmern grew up in New York where he learned all about creatures of the sea. He shared with the site that eating all "wild seafood" is simply not sustainable, but he does believe fish farming done right is definitely a path forward. Zimmern is so passionate about the issue he frequently discusses it and asked the question, "Why doesn't aquafarming have the same romance as dirt farming?"   

It's no secret that the cookbook author and James Beard Award-winning personality is a big fan of little fish. Several years back, Zimmern told WQAD, "Little fish with heads on are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids. They don't have lots of toxins like bigger fish. They are sustainable and quick to reproduce." In fact, it is that sustainability that puts one fish high up on Zimmern's list of fish that you should be eating now.

Zimmern shared on his Instagram account that mackerel is the "it" fish we should be eating. Zimmern wrote: "Mackerel. Breakfast (lunch and dinner too) of champions. Not sure I can think of a fish that's so beautiful raw, cured, pickled, grilled, fried, escabeche, sautéed, broiled..." But Zimmern's message did not end there. Eating this fish is also about preserving our environment, he said: "... we need to eat more small head on fish if we want to sustainably live on/with/from our oceans."

Per Nutrition Advance, mackerel is full of omega-3 fatty acids, along with a laundry list of vitamins and minerals. They also note that this nutritious fish is low in mercury, can help decrease your triglyceride levels, and may offer some cognitive benefits to eaters. Most of Zimmern's Instagram followers were on board with adding this fish to their diet, with one suggesting that mackerel eaters should try it with "coconut milk" and another calling it "One of the best-tasting fish in the ocean." But when Zimmern shared the same post on his Twitter account, followers cast their nets away from this fish. One Twitterverse fan simply wrote, "Pass." And still another tweeted about a friend eating canned mackerel, sharing, "That beautiful fish was ruined for me that day, Andrew."