Fresh Yellowfin Tuna (Ahi) is a delicious fish which lends itself best to grilling or searing cooking applications. It is best served as sushi or cooked rare to medium-rare. Over-cooked tuna is “dog food”…tough and tasteless like eating cardboard.
Yellowfin Tuna (Ahi) Flavor Profile
Yellowfin Tuna has a medium-mild flavor with very firm texture. Compared to other Tunas it is less flavorful than Bigeye but more flavorful than Albacore. The flesh is deep red while raw, is often used for sashimi, and is best not cooked well-done as it looses flavor and becomes like cardboard.
Tuna Grading
Tuna Grading is as follows:
No. 1 “Sashimi-grade” is the best, being the freshest and having the highest fat content.
Sub-grades of No. 1 Sashimi include: #1++ (best), #1+, #1
No. 2 “Grill-grade” is next best. No. 3 and No. 4 are lesser quality.
Yellowfin Tuna have a distinctive yellow dorsal fin and yellow strip along its sides. The second dorsal fin and the, as well as the finlets between those fins and the tail, are bright yellow, giving this fish its common name. The pectoral fins are also longer than the related bluefin tuna, but not as long as those of the albacore. The main body is very dark metallic blue, changing to silver on the belly, which has about 20 vertical lines. It can grow to 300 Lbs but average commercial size is 8-20 Lbs.
Storage & Handling Recommendations
Store fresh loins/steaks as close to 33° as possible to maintain highest quality and shelf life. Although ice can be used, the flesh should be tightly wrapped in plastic and placed in perforated pans. The flesh should never come in direct contact with ice or water as this will discolor the meat, leech the oil content, and decrease shelf-life. Tightly wrapping in plastic will also slow the natural oxidation of the meat color which fades from a bright color to a darker, more opaque color.
Fresh seafood availability chart: green areas show peak availability, light green show limited availability, gray indicates not available fresh. Frozen available all year long.
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Ahi (Yellowfin Tuna) Butchering Yield Percentage and Recovery
Item
To Skin/On Untrimmed Loins
To Skin/Off B/L- Out Loin
To Skin/Off Steaks
To Sashimi
Notes
Whole Head/Off gutted
70%
55%
50%
35%
13% for Poke and 2-piece steaks. Taken from outside edge of the eye.
Skin/On Loins, Blood Line-In
—
83%
72%
If you have additional yield info on this fish please leave a comment below.
Yield % varies according to a number of factors including: size of fish, season, sex, and the skill of your fishmonger.
How to Fillet Ahi Tuna
Here’s a tutorial video of how to break down an Ahi into loins. Notice how clean the carcass is after he finishes!
Range & Habitat
Yellowfin Tuna are found in warm waters all over the world. In US markets the best Yellowfin are harvested from southern California, Hawaii, Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico and Florida.
Disclaimer: The sustainability info above is accurate to the best of our knowledge. However, each program randomly updates their information without our knowledge. We therefore recommend that you verify the current accuracy of this information.
= Best Choice/Recommended = Good Alternative = Avoid/Not Recommended
From a scientific standpoint there are 15 species of tuna. Of these there are eight which belong to the Thunnus genus which are referred to as “true” tunas and are commercially targeted. But for culinary purposes, of those eight there are only four common names: Albacore, Bluefin, Bigeye, and Yellowfin Tuna. The whole list of eight includes: Albacore, Atlantic Bluefin, Pacific Bluefin, Southern Bluefin, Bigeye, Blackfin (never seen it on a menu or for sale), Longtail (same…never seen it), and Yellowfin Tunas. Follow the links below for detailed info by species.
Bluefin Tuna has the darkest and fattiest flesh of all tuna. It has a distinctive medium-full flavor and firm, “meaty” texture with large flakes. It is best served as sushi or cooked rare to medium-rare. Over-cooked tuna is “dog food”…tough and tasteless like eating cardboard.
Tuna Grading is as follows: No. 1 “Sashimi-grade” is the best, being the freshest and having the highest fat content. No. 2 “Grill-grade” is next best. No. 3 and No. 4 are lesser quality.
Average commercial weight is 200-400 Lbs, but Bluefin Tuna can reach over 2000 lbs and 12′ long. They have a blue-black upper body and silvery sides.
Storage & Handling Recommendations
Store fresh loins/steaks as close to 33° as possible to maintain highest quality and shelf life. Although ice can be used, the flesh should be tightly wrapped in plastic and placed in perforated pans. The flesh should never come in direct contact with ice or water as this will discolor the meat, leech the oil content, and decrease shelf-life. Tightly wrapping in plastic will also slow the natural oxidation of the meat color which fades from a bright color to a darker, more opaque color.
Range & Habitat
Bluefin Tuna are found between southern California and Japan, Northeastern US to Newfoundland, and Spain to the Mediterranean Sea.
Typical Wholesale Products
H&G, Loins, Steaks
Fresh Bluefin Tuna Availability
Fresh seafood availability chart: green areas show peak availability, light green show limited availability, gray indicates not available fresh.
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Bluefin Tuna Yield Percentage and Recovery
Item
To Skin/On Untrimmed Loins
To Skin/Off B/L- Out Loin
To Skin/Off Steaks
To Sashimi
Notes
Whole Head/Off gutted
70%
55%
50%
35%
Skin/On Loins, Blood Line-In
—
83%
72%
If you have additional yield info on this fish please leave a comment below.
Yield % varies according to a number of factors including: size of fish, season, sex, and the skill of your fishmonger.
Disclaimer: The sustainability info above is accurate to the best of our knowledge. However, each program randomly updates their information without our knowledge. We therefore recommend that you verify the current accuracy of this information.
= Best Choice/Recommended = Good Alternative = Avoid/Not Recommended
David Buchanan is a professional chef and author of Chefs-Resources.com, a site geared towards providing chefs and culinarians useful info to help in their kitchens.
Did you find the information about Bluefin Tuna useful? Or did you notice something which is missing on this page?
If so, leave a comment!
Bigeye Tuna are prized for sashimi. They have a moderately pronounced flavor, a high fat content with marbling near the skin and a richer flavor than Yellowfin. Like other tuna, the texture is firm and “meaty” with large flakes. It is best served as sushi or cooked rare to medium-rare. Over-cooked tuna is “dog food”…tough and tasteless like eating cardboard.
Tuna Grading is as follows: No. 1 “Sashimi-grade” is the best, being the freshest and having the highest fat content. No. 2 “Grill-grade” is next best. No. 3 and No. 4 are lesser quality.
Typical Cooking Methods
Bake
Broil
Deep-Fry
Grill
Poach
Saute
Smoke
Steam
Sushi
Alternate Names
Ahi (Hawaiian). Note: Yellowfin Tuna is also called Ahi.
Description (Thunnus obesus)
Bigeye Tuna are similar to Yellowfin in appearance but have a larger eye & head. Commercial average weight is 20-100 Lbs, but they can grow to over 400 Lbs.
Storage & Handling Recommendations
Store fresh loins/steaks as close to 33° as possible to maintain highest quality and shelf life. Although ice can be used, the flesh should be tightly wrapped in plastic and placed in perforated pans. The flesh should never come in direct contact with ice or water as this will discolor the meat, leech the oil content, and decrease shelf-life. Tightly wrapping in plastic will also slow the natural oxidation of the meat color which fades from a bright color to a darker, more opaque color.
Range & Habitat
Bigeye are found in all tropical and temperate oceans with the exception of the Mediterranean Sea. Life span is about 10-12 years. They spend a lot of time in waters as deep as 1500 ft.
Typical Wholesale Products
Rounds, H&G, Loins
Fresh Bigeye Tuna Availability
Fresh seafood availability chart: green areas show peak availability, light green show limited availability, gray indicates not available fresh. Frozen available all year long.
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How To Fillet Whole Bigeye Tuna
Thanks to Pacific Seafood for allowing me to make this video tutorial showing how to break-down a whole Tuna into loins. Rene is the professional fishmonger giving the demo…I asked him to slow down some and take his time filleting so we could see his technique.
Bigeye Tuna Butchering Yield Percentage
Item
To Skin/On Untrimmed Loins
To Skin/Off Trim Loin
To Skin/Off Steaks
To Sashimi
Notes
Whole Head/Off gutted
70%
55%
52%
35%
Skin/Off Trim = bloodline out. Yield to steaks depends upon side muscle use or not.
Skin/On Untrim Loins
—
79%
75%
If you have additional yield info on this fish please leave a comment below.
Yield % varies according to a number of factors including: size of fish, season, sex, and the skill of your fishmonger.
Disclaimer: The sustainability info above is accurate to the best of our knowledge. However, each program randomly updates their information without our knowledge. We therefore recommend that you verify the current accuracy of this information.
= Best Choice/Recommended = Good Alternative = Avoid/Not Recommended
David Buchanan is a professional chef and author of Chefs-Resources.com, a site geared towards providing chefs and culinarians useful info to help in their kitchens.
Did you find the information about Bigeye Tuna useful? Or did you notice something which is missing on this page?
If so, leave a comment!
Fresh Albacore has a mild to medium flavor profile with firm flesh and large flakes. Like other tunas, it has a “steak-like” texture, but less firm than Yellowfin or Bigeye Tuna. It does however have a higher fat content which gives it a richness of taste. Albacore Tuna is also called Tombo Tuna. It is a delicious fish which lends itself best to grilling or searing cooking applications.
Albacore Tuna are known as the “white meat” tuna due to their lighter flesh coloration. Their skin is blue & silver like other tunas. Average commercial size is 10-30 Lbs, but they range in size from 5-100 Lbs. If Tuna are not kept properly chilled from harvest to your receiving dock they can develop histamine which can result in scromboid poisoning.
Storage & Handling Recommendations
Store fresh loins/steaks as close to 33° as possible to maintain highest quality and shelf life. Although ice can be used, the flesh should be tightly wrapped in plastic and placed in perforated pans. The flesh should never come in direct contact with ice or water as this will discolor the meat, leech the oil content, and decrease shelf-life. Tightly wrapping in plastic will also slow the natural oxidation of the meat color which fades from a bright color to a darker, more opaque color.
Fresh seafood availability chart: green areas show peak availability, light green show limited availability, gray indicates not available fresh. Frozen available all year long.
Jan
Feb
Mar
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Albacore Tuna Butchering Yield Percentage and Recovery
Item
To Skin/On Untrim Loins
To Skin/Off Trim Loins
Notes
Whole Head/On gutted
—
39%
Whole Head/Off gutted
60% – 65%
53%
Skin/On Untrim Loins
—
85%
If you have additional yield info on this fish please leave a comment below.
Longfin Tuna, Tombo, Shiro Maguro, Canned White Tuna
Wild – Pole & Line, Troll
US & Canadian Pacific
Moderate
South Pacific
n/a
Elevated
South Atlantic
Elevated
US Atlantic
Moderate
New Zealand
n/a
n/a
n/a
Wild – Longline
Hawaii
Moderate
Wild – Longline
Worldwide (see above for Hawaii)
Elevated
Wild – Purse Seine
Elevated
Wild – All methods
North Atlantic
Moderate
Disclaimer: The sustainability info above is accurate to the best of our knowledge. However, each program randomly updates their information without our knowledge. We therefore recommend that you verify the current accuracy of this information.
= Best Choice/Recommended = Good Alternative = Avoid/Not Recommended
Updated August 2013
Mercury Levels Special Note: The EDF rates canned white albacore tuna as “Elevated” regardless of region of origin.
It used to be that fishmonger skills were an essential part of a chef’s culinary education. But in today’s world you can have your fish vendor prepare your fish for you and have it delivered to your door in any spec you choose. But, knowing how to break down fish is still an important skill for chefs to know, and in some operations it can save you money to do it in house.
Different fish species have different bone structures so it can be hard to know how to butcher a fish you’ve never utilized before. Improve your skill and increase your yield percentages by checking-out the videos below. I’ve scoured the web looking for some of the best fish butchering tutorials and here is the “library” I’ve found. All videos are from YouTube and some will open in a new window on YouTube’s site. If you do fillet your own fish be sure to use a butchering logso you can track the yields from different fish and the skill level of different fishmongers.
If you know of an excellent tutorial video of a fish listed below, or one not listed yet, leave a link in the comments section. If I like it I’ll add it to the library. If I don’t then I will probably delete the comment (sorry).
How to Fillet Fish Video Tutorials
Barracuda
How to fillet Barracuda
Barramundi
The Barramundi demo starts at 7:58,
the first demo is of Red Snapper
Black Cod (Sablefish)
Breaking down Black Cod into fillets
Cod & Cod Cheeks
Filleting whole Cod
Eel
How to fillet live eel…not for the squeamish!
Eel – video 2
a second look at how to fillet eel
Halibut
cutting from the side into 2 halves
produced by Chefs Resources!
Ad Placement
Mackerel
How to fillet from a whole head-on fish in the round
Mahi mahi
a video produced by Chefs Resources!
Ono (Wahoo)
pro fishmonger breaks down this fish
Opah
The filleting starts at 4:00 minutes
Salmon
how to fillet a whole Salmon
produced by Chefs Resources!
Salmon rib bone removal
How to remove the Salmon rib bones
produced by Chefs Resources!
Salmon skin removal
How to remove Salmon skin
also produced by Chefs Resources!
Salmon – pro Fishmonger
professional fishmonger gives a demo
Sardines
Shows several different methods to prep Sardines
Red Snapper
First part of video is Red Snapper, second part is Barramundi
Sole
Excellent examples of right and wrong techniques for filleting Lemon Sole
Sturgeon
How to fillet a whole Sturgeon
Sturgeon
How to fillet an H&G Sturgeon
a Chefs Resources video!
Tuna
How to fillet Yellow Fin Tuna
a Chefs Resources video!
Walleye is a very lean freshwater fish with a fine-flaked but firm texture, a subtle, mildly sweet flavor, and relatively few bones. It is widely regarded as the best-tasting freshwater fish. The raw flesh is an off-white or beige color but becomes white after cooking.
When checking for the quality of Walleye, be sure that the skin is firm and shiny (not dull) and that its flesh is moist without much of a fishy odor. Do not use the eyes for checking quality (as you would for most fish). The eyes naturally have an opaque, flat appearance even when freshly caught.
Typical Cooking Methods
Bake
Broil
Deep-Fry
Grill
Poach
Saute
Smoke
Steam
Sushi
Be careful not to overcook this fish because it becomes rubbery and unpleasant when overcooked. Since the taste is mild, do not use overpowering sauces or preparations as they will overshadow the delicate flavor of this fish.
Although they are found in Canadian and US waters, the only commercially available Walleye for restaurants are from the US Great Lakes region, Minnesota, and Canada due to over-fishing concerns in the rest of the US.
Currently (2021) aquaculture Walleye are only raised for stocking lakes for sport fishermen. But interest in Walleye for restaurant menus is increasing and research for aquaculture commercial production is being done. Unfortunately, the species is difficult to farm due to high feed & production costs and high mortality rates.
Description (Sander vitreus)
Walleye is the largest member of the perch family found in the lakes and rivers of the United States and Canada. They are named for their highly reflective cat-like eyes, which help them see better in low-light conditions such as deep water and turbid or rough water.
The common size is around 22 – 30 inches (54 – 75 cm) with the largest recorded fish being 42 inches (107 cm). They reach a weight of 15 pounds, but average market weight is 1 – 5 pounds. The largest recorded weight was 25 pounds (11.3 kg). And the oldest reported Walleye is 29 years, but most Walleye which are caught only reach an age of 5 or 6 years. Females generally are larger than males.
Identification: Walleye are mostly olive green and gold in color set in an alternating vertical pattern on its sides, and shading to white on the belly. The dorsal fin is olive-colored, grading to a golden color on the sides. The mouth is wide with many sharp teeth. And its eyes are opaque and cat-like. The first dorsal fin and anal fins are spiny.
Diet: Walleye live on a diet of minnows, crayfish, insects, snails, frogs, small mammals, waterbirds, and their eggs.
Restaurant Walleye Availability
Fresh Walleye are most available in the spring and fall, peaking around May and October. In the summer months, they move to deeper, cooler waters and are hard to source. Since commercially sourced Walleye are only obtainable from the Great Lakes region, Minnesota and Canada, in the winter months, fresh Walleye are only commercially available via ice fishing and therefore are virtually unavailable until spring. Frozen fillets are generally available year-round.
The majority of Walleye caught for restaurants come from Lake Winnipeg, Lake Erie, Lake of the Woods, and other Canadian lakes. Fish Choice has a listing of companies that source Walleye commercially.
Walleye Butchering Yield %
Item
To Skin/On Fillets
To Skin/Off Fillets
Notes
Whole Undressed
—
39%
Skin/On Fillets
—
—
If you have additional yield info on this fish please leave a comment below.
Yield % varies according to a number of factors including: size of fish, season, sex, and the skill of your fishmonger.
Range & Habitat
In Canada, Walleye are found in the Arctic regions south to the Great Lakes and from Quebec to the Northwest Territories. In the United States, Walleye are found from the Great Lakes region southward to Alabama, Arkansas and the Mississippi River basin. They have also been introduced into areas outside of their native range within the United States, including the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean drainage basins and the Gulf of Mexico.
Sportfishing Popularity
Walleye is the second most popular freshwater sport-fish in North America, with Bass being the most popular.
Mercury
As a generalized rating, Walleye have an “Elevated” concern for mercury, meaning that only 2 portions per month are recommended for adults and 1 for children. A study from the upper Columbia River region in WA state found that mercury concentrations in Walleye fillets ranged from 0.11 to 0.44 parts per million (ppm). These concentrations do not exceed the current Federal standard (1.0 ppm of mercury) designed to protect the health of people who eat small amounts of fish.
The actual mercury content depends upon the lake or river they were caught from, their diet, and their size. Generally speaking, smaller fish have less mercury than larger fish simply due to build-up over a longer life span. For more detailed info about how Mercury enters a fishes system and how the size of the fish matters check out this article by seafood.edf.org
Dining at Chef Grant Achatz’s Alinea restaurant in Chicago has been on my bucket list for many years. This year 3 friends joined me to dine at this highly acclaimed restaurant. Alinea is one of only 14 restaurants in the entire US that has 3 Michelin Stars, and since 2015 Alinea has consistently been ranked among the top 50 best restaurants in the world .
Several years ago I was planning a trip to Chicago and 3 months ahead of time I tried to get a reservation at Alinea…no luck, you had to book 6 months out to get a reservation. This year because of COVID they were closed down like most restaurants in the US. So when they began reopening I was able to book with as little as a 2 week notice. The only hitch was that in April you could only book for 4 people…not 1, not 2, it had to be 4. This is probably in order to maximize their seating capacity since during restrictions capacity was at 25% or 50%. So I contacted a bunch of friends until I had 4, then I grabbed it.
Because of their high demand, they also have the luxury of charging you upfront at the time of booking. No refunds, but you can transfer your reservation to someone else. Most restaurant owners would love to be able to set these conditions! But it makes sense for an establishment that is in such high demand. There is no reason why they should tolerate a “no show” reservation. They are in high enough demand that they can set the rules, and I was happy to comply. The final price was $315 including 20% service charge and tax. Then I added the first tier wine pairing plus a couple of whiskeys…$255 w/ tax and gratuity.
The menu lists 8 courses, but some had multiple sub-courses, so if you count the number of dishes used for the progression of dinner, then there are 16 individual courses.
This post simply documents my experience…it is not a critique (who would critique Grant Achatz?!)
Course 1 –
Scalloped
Picholine, Gold, Blood Laurent-Peppier, “Cuvée Rosé,” Champagne, France NV
Bay scallops, picholine olives, grapefruit, onion (shallots?). The sauce had a fabulous opalescent sheen to it and had a consistency which coated everything, as opposed to a sauce which is poured over everything but then the sauce settles. This sauce encompassed, almost suspended, all the components. And the wine was a perfect match, enhancing the dish, refreshing the palate.
Course 2 –
Charred
Arctic Char, Maple Syrup, Fish Sauce Smoked Char Roe, Carrot, Smoke Domaine Galévan, Grenache Blanc Blend, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, Southern Rhone, France 2018
This was a very cool presentation because the first part was presented on the top of the glass, and then the second part was contained in the bottom of the glass, perfectly suspended there until you flipped the glass over. Top: Sous vide Arctic Char, seared half way on top edge but still rare on the bottom, topped with a thin layer of a brûlée-like crust of maple syrup laced with the umami essence of fish sauce. Bottom: Lightly smoked Arctic Char roe, mildly sweet carrot pudding, charred oak barrel tea turned into a gelatin to suspend all these ingredients.
Course 3 –
Royalty
Alaskan King Crab, Mantou Maryland Blue Crab, William Deas’ Jo Landron, “Le Fief Du Breil,” Muscadet Sèvre Et Maine, Loire Valley, France 2009 et Magnum
The Left Crab dish: King Crab over a Mantou Steamed Bun. The Right Crab dish: Blue Crab Bisque which was intensified in flavor by using crab roe in the infusion. The flavor of the bisque was so wonderfully rich and full it evoked a face-splitting smile on my face…I wanted more! This recipe apparently is inspired by She Crab Soup by William Deas.
Course 4 –
Shave
Smooth
Stack
Challerhocker, Périgord Black Truffle, Mustard Russian Cabbage Soup Brussels Sprout, Bacon, Beet Trimbach, “Reserve,” Pinot Gris, Alsace, France 2016
This was a multi-course dish with several stunning interactions with the front of the house team. First, the Russian dolls were placed in front of us, each of us had a different crafted doll. Beside that, a bowl of chilled bright red beet puree laced w/ brussels sprout leaves and edible flowers. We were told to leave the beet dish until last.
We were first told to open the Russian doll. Inside was a very flavorful 2 oz shot glass of chilled cabbage soup (with a backbone flavor of chicken stock) laced with an oil on top.
While we enjoyed the cabbage soup, a complicated, spotlessly clean hand slicing machine was wheeled to the end of the table. A server held a warm head of cabbage which had been sous vide in bacon fat, roasted, charred, and then smoked, which he then put onto the machine and sliced into thin linguini-like “noodles”. These were then turned with a fork to form a small bundle of cabbage noodles and place in separate dishes.
The dishes were placed in front of each of us and another member of the server team approached with a small pitcher and poured a creamy sauce of the Challerhocker cheese over the noodles. As the bottom of the pitcher was reached, a sauce of Périgord Black Truffles began pouring out, creating a black lacey effect over the white Challerhocker sauce. The flavors and textures of this dish were mesmerizing.
Lastly, we were invited to finish the dish with the chilled beet puree laced with edible flowers & brussels sprout leaves. This dish cleansed the palate of the creamy cheese sauce, the lightly smoked cabbage, and the Périgord Black Truffles, opening us up for the next dish.
Course 5 –
Curds
Cauliflower, Cheese, Black Curry Kistler, “Les Noisetiers,” Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, California 2019
This course featured a perfectly steamed cauliflower stem pressed into fresh cheese curds dressed with a cauliflower purée, black lentil and black sesame curry with garum masala. The black “crisp” was thin and crunchy, acting as a cracker for the curds.
According to Chef Grant’s Instagram page, this dish was inspired by British Steak and Oyster Pie. Left side of plate: Seared 7X Ranch Wagyu Beef. Right side of plate: oyster custard, onion, oyster mushrooms and oyster leaf tart. Hand-crafted onion ring on top. Center: Guinness-Worcestershire sauce.
In the oyster shell: poached “beef oysters” and mignonette.
This was another multi-dish course. At the beginning of the course, before anything was set before us, the ring of black rocks was placed on the table and set on fire. We were told that it would have meaning later in the dining experience.
The first dish consisted of Venison, Poi, and Pineapple. The venison chop was paired with Poi which is a Hawaiian dish made from the fermented root of the taro which has been baked and pounded to a paste. Next to both of these was a Pineapple “Lei” decorated w/ edible flower petals.
On the yellow plate was the Haupia, “Spam”, Allium dish. Haupia is a Hawaiian coconut pudding, Chef Grant topped this with his version of spam and garnished it with Allium which can be any of a variety flowering plants including onion, garlic, scallion, shallot, leek, and chives. (sorry, didn’t catch which one he used).
In the clear bowl in the back was the Venison, Kukui Nut, Seaweed dish. Unfortunately I don’t have a good description for this dish (should have used a voice recorder!). As a note, Kukui nuts have a flavor similar to Brazil nuts.
Coconut, Black Bread, Banana Chutney At this point, the ring of fire had burned low. A waiter took a pair of tongs and extracted 4 cleverly hidden (hiding in plain sight) black “rocks” from the ring of black rocks. But these 4 were actually a Black bread made with black sesame seeds. They were place on plates along with a coconut pudding and banana chutney (under the violet petal).
For the finale one of the sous chefs came out, put 4 triangular shaped plastic sheets on the table, and decorated each of them for the dessert course. This is now a classic for Alinea and I teased her (the sous chef) that it is an iconic thing and they could probably never stop doing it. Then I asked how they were selected to go to the guest’s tables to paint this course. Did they take turns…draw straws…assigned to do it…want to do it or hate to do it (most cooks don’t like the spot light in front of guests). She demurred from an honest reply and said something professional instead.
Artisan Italian Cheesemaking at Ferndale Farmstead Cheese
I’m here today with Daniel Wavrin co-owner and cheesemaker at Ferndale Farmstead Cheese and we’re going to discuss a number of questions about cheese making because he’s got some really fantastic cheeses and is clearly very knowledgeable about artisan Italian cheesemaking.
Chef David, “What awards have you won in the recent past for your cheeses?”
Daniel, “Well this year we were lucky to win 3 awards at the American Cheesemaker Society competition. The ACS is a national organization where all the owners and cheesemakers participate in an annual competition held in a different city each year and this year we won three awards in three different categories for our Scamorza cheese, our Caciotta cheese, and our Asiago Pressa.”
Chef David, “That’s awesome! So what makes a equality cheese? What should chefs look for?”
Daniel, “In my opinion, a quality cheese is defined not only by the skill of the cheesemaker but also by the quality of the ingredients. Cheese is an amazing creation because it only includes 4 ingredients (milk, cultures, rennet, and salt) which give rise to the plethora of flavors and types of cheese available today.”
“Cheese is a concentration of milk via fermentation. As with anything, it will be harder to concentrate low quality starting material into high quality finished product. So starting with a high quality milk is #1. To us, that means not only high components of fat and protein to give it rich flavor, but also low Somatic Cell Counts (SCC) and low bacterial populations which are naturally present in milk from the farm. This rich but extremely clean milk allows for flavors that are enjoyable all the way through the tasting experience.”
“The first taste of the cheese should eventually give way to the flavor of the milk it was made from. This “finish” is the best way to judge the quality of cheese in my opinion, because it illustrates the quality of milk from whence it came. There is much complexity around what goes into the science of milk production, but disciplined crop harvest and storage and the environment the animals live in are also essential to good quality milk.”
Chef David, “When you’re talking about quality milk how does the diet of the cows affect the flavor of their milk and the flavor of the cheese?”
Daniel, “The animal’s diet directly affects the cheese because milk is a vessel. Flavors from the field will carry over to the milk, for example if a herd got into an onion patch, the milk may not be suitable for a proper quality cheese because the milk will cause off flavors of onion in the cheese. This is why a quality farming practice and storage program are so important to ultimate cheese quality, especially for artisan Italian cheesemaking or any other artisan cheese.”
“A well known example in the cheese world is if spoilage organisms grow in silage, the butyric acid producing and spore forming bacteria can affect the aged cheese made from the milk produced from the spoiled feed. The spores carry through the animals milk and are actually activated or woken up by the pasteurization temperatures. Subsequently, these spores produce gas that creates defects in the cheese in the form of gas holes or cracks. It can be so bad that the wheel of cheese will blow up like a basketball!”
Daniel, “So, the diet directly determines the quality of the milk and the cows need a balanced diet of many different nutrients in order to be healthy and produce quality milk. So for us that means having a feed ration that covers all of the nutritional requirements of the animals, as well as sourcing the ingredients for that ration and knowing that the feeds come from sources that we can understand and control. For this reason we produce about 90% of the feed that makes up the rations for our cows and in doing so we can ensure that the quality of the harvest and storage is superior.”
“Seed to Cheese”…this is the motto or ethos of Ferndale Farmstead Artisan Cheesemaker Daniel Wavrin
Chef David, “What is a common diet for cows raised for cheese making milk?”
Daniel, “A common milk production cow diet in the United States will include a mix of many different nutrients that will include grasses as a large basis of the diet. Our farm uses about a 60% grass-based diet along with legumes such as alfalfa hay which is a legume we grow, as well as dried cornflake for grain, dried distillers, soya, and other nutrient sources such as whey for protein.”
“My father is a veterinarian and he takes care of the health of our animals and develops the specific feed which both benefits our cows and yields high quality milk. We grow the majority of our own feed, control the storage of that feed, manage our own herd of cows, they are milked in the morning and 15 minutes later that milk is being tuned into cheese! We truly are a farm to table operation.”
Chef David, “Are there any cheese myths you would like to discredit?”
Daniel, “Many cheeses in the US are improving in quality, however Mozzarella is still a far cry from its original Italian version or quality. Here in the USA, most producers make fresh Mozzarella with vinegar or citric acids added directly to the milk instead of using cheesemaking cultures as they do in Italy. This diminishes the flavor as the cheese is essentially dead rather than a live cultured product. Beyond that, a bleach is used to dye Mozzarella pure white with a compound known as Titanium Dioxide. This nasty ingredient has no place in cheesemaking and is used to mask the natural yellowish color of rich cow’s milk cheeses.”
“A similar comparison can be made with Cheddar. In recent years White Cheddar has become popular but years ago everybody thought Cheddar was supposed to be orange, not realizing that the orange color was an additive. Today Mozzarella is sort of in a similar situation in that what the majority of US cheesemakers are currently producing for Mozzarella is quite a bit different from the original Mozzarella made with cow’s milk in Italy. True Italian Mozzarella cheese is known as Fior Di Latte Mozzarella and it is this traditional artisan Italian version which we make here at Ferndale Farmstead using cultures that we bring directly from Naples, Italy.”
“We are very proud to be making the traditional Fior Di Latte Mozzarella using true cultures, which yields an authentic Italian Mozzarella with a more forward flavor, a firmer bite, and a characteristic cream color (as opposed to the bleached white color of domestic Mozzarella). In doing so we are excited to be leading a revolution in flavor in fresh Mozzarella cheese within the United States.”
Chef David, “Tell me about the pasteurization process you prefer for your artisan Italian cheesemaking at Ferndale Farmstead.”
Ferndale Farmstead milks their cows in a barn across the way from their cheese making facility. It’s close enough that the fresh milk is pumped into the cheese making building in as little as 15 minutes after milking the cows. Here it goes through a centrifuge which separates the cream from the milk. Then the milk is pumped through a high tech HTST High Temperature/Short Time Pasteurizer. HTST pasteurization heats the milk to around 161° for 15 seconds, versus the more standard Batch Pasteurizer which heats milk to 145° for 30 minutes or longer.
Daniel says that the HTST pasteurization method, although more costly to implement, yields milk which is more like raw milk in flavor and therefore yields a more quality finished product. And, it requires less energy to operate which is more consistent with their green footprint philosophy.
From there, the milk is pumped to the next stage in the process. We have 3 milk vats and each one holds about 700 gallons of milk. Up to the vat stage all the cheeses are basically the same. After that is when the process begins to be different for each unique cheese. Each of our cheeses uses a different culture and a different recipe to produce each unique cheese.
Chef David, “Describe the process of culture selection. How many different cheese cultures are there for any given cheese variety?”
Daniel, “Depending on the type of cheese and where it is produced, cheese can have any number of cultures. Raw milk cheeses may add none and instead utilize naturally present bacteria to drive the fermentation, especially in traditional cheesemaking regions in Europe. Some cheesemakers in the US may use a cocktail of several strains, perhaps 5-10 cultures to achieve this diversity in flora. Some more simple cheeses may only use one.”
Chef David, “What separates one culture from another as far as quality/flavor goes?”
Daniel, “Different bacterial culture strains produce different effects in cheese in terms of flavor, texture, and appearance. Gas producing cultures used in Swiss cheesemaking known as Propionic acid producing Shermanii provide the “eyes” or large holes found in the texture. Blue mold cultures known as Penicillium Roqueforti produce the veining found in blue cheese as well as the astringent flavor that results from the breakdown of certain parts of the fat and protein. Many other types are used to create the various flavors in various cheese types.”
Chef David, “About how long does each cheese stay in the vat?”
Daniel, “Our cheeses take anywhere from 2 hours to make up to 12 hours to make it depending on the type. Our fresh Mozzarella is a slow fermented and cultured version which can take 10 to 15 hours in the vat to produce.”
“One of the most artisan of all aspects of our cheeses at Ferndale Farmstead is in the way that we cut. We cut with two separate cutters rather than using only cheese wire knives or cutters. We also use a second pair of knives known as Spinos or Lyres . This unique cut is done entirely by hand and by eye. It is a very difficult technique that took me nine months to learn cutting with my mentor Raffaele everyday.”
“Each Italian cheese that we make uses a different culture, a different amount of rennet, a different cut, a different aging time, different brines, and a different technique to produce.”
Chef David, “So how do you create different varieties of the same type of cheese? For instance, different varieties of bleu cheese.”
Daniel, “You can create different varieties of cheese by altering the process by which it is made, however you may still end up with a result which is similar in flavor profiles due to the lack of diversity within the cheese culture pool.”
“Almost all cheesemakers and artisan cheese makers in the US currently source their cultures from three producers: Cargill, Chris Hansen, and Danisco companies. This can lead to a similarity across the board in cheese flavors in American.”
“Many of the differences in flavor that we can taste in similar cheeses is based upon the taste of place or the terroir. This taste of place results from the environment where the animals, the crops, and the cheese is produced and living.”
Chef David, “What bad trends, if any, do you see happening?”
Daniel, “Some alarming trends that I am concerned with personally are the increasingly high costs of production. Milk prices are high, cheesemakers must work extremely hard and are expensive to train, and food safety regulations are always increasing costs to the producer while the consumer wants to pay the same price or less than they are accustomed to. This is true for all dairy products.”
Chef David, “What good trends, if any, are you glad to see in cheese making?”
Daniel, “I am happy to see a trend not only in artisan Italian cheesemaking but in the cheese making community in general towards the use of more diverse starter flora. Starter cultures can be a source of similarity between producers or a source of great uniqueness. Some artisans are experimenting now with natural fermentations and isolating strains of bacteria found on the farm that are desirable for cheese production. This may open a whole New World of flavors, literally, since we Americans have been sourcing their cultures from only a few European origins up to this point.”
Chef David, “What is the best way to store various cheese varieties after opening?”
Daniel, “Bleu – Bleu Cheese is best stored in foil in my experience. It needs to breath but not too much.
Asiago – aged cheese like Asiago can be stored in cheesepaper (formaticum) after it is removed from vacuum for a short period until it dries out.
Mozz – Mozzarella as a fresh cheese is best consumed fresh and never frozen. Freezing and plastic wrap after removal from vacuum changes flavor. Unfortunately true fresh Mozzarella is very difficult to store!”
The following chart is a list of Japanese sushi names and the US Market name which should be associated with it according the Fish & Fishery Products Hazards & Controls Guidance manual which is put out by the FDA (fourth edition 2011). It is not intended to be a complete list of all species which are consumed raw, and I have updated it with some additional listings/info.
You will notice that some fish have multiple sushi names. I’m no sushi expert, but at least part of the reason for this is because different regions of Japan use different words for the same fish. Different sushi names may also refer to various grades of fish, or to different ages of fish. Yellowtail for instance has 4 different names depending upon age. And to complicate things even more, 3 of those 4 names are different depending on if the establishment is using the vernacular of Tokyo or Osaka.
photos by www.honolulufish.com
Image from Wikipidia- licensing info
Ferndale Farmstead milks their cows in a barn across the way from their cheese making facility. It’s close enough that the fresh milk is pumped into the cheese making building in as little as 15 minutes after milking the cows. Here it goes through a centrifuge which separates the cream from the milk. Then the milk is pumped through a high tech 
Daniel, “Depending on the type of cheese and where it is produced, cheese can have any number of cultures. Raw milk cheeses may add none and instead utilize naturally present bacteria to drive the fermentation, especially in traditional cheesemaking regions in Europe. Some cheesemakers in the US may use a cocktail of several strains, perhaps 5-10 cultures to achieve this diversity in flora. Some more simple cheeses may only use one.”
Daniel, “Our cheeses take anywhere from 2 hours to make up to 12 hours to make it depending on the type. Our fresh Mozzarella is a slow fermented and cultured version which can take 10 to 15 hours in the vat to produce.”
