Costco is struggling to supply fresh wild sockeye salmon to N.J. stores

Last August, I cooked fresh wild sockeye salmon from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack on a stove-top grill, topped the serving pieces with a reduction of organic diced tomatoes and red wine, and accented them with chopped fresh herbs, above and below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Fresh wild sockeye salmon from the Copper River in Alaska usually arrives at Costco Wholesale's New Jersey warehouses in late May or in the first week of June.

But not this year, and the bad news came Friday in a call from Costco Wholesale headquarters in Washington State.

"Yeah, it's been a real challenging season. Supplies [of fresh wild sockeye salmon] have been hand to mouth," said Lyle French, the fresh-seafood buyer at Costco headquarters in Issaqua, Wash.

"The fishery is about 68% below last year's catch, and the 5-year average," French said.

He said Costco was able to supply "a little bit" of fresh wild sockeye salmon to East Coast warehouses, but not enough "to sustain a full day's business."

$35 a pound

The shortages might explain why, about 10 days ago, Whole Foods Market in Paramus was selling fresh sockeye salmon for about $35 a pound.

The first Copper River sockeye usually sells for about $15 a pound at Costco.

My wife went to the Teterboro Costco on Friday morning, and found only fillets of troll-caught wild king salmon.

A week to 10 days ago, the Teterboro warehouse also had some wild king salmon from Canada, but no sockeye, which has a deeper red-orange color and a bolder taste.

French said he expects Costco's New Jersey members will start seeing more fresh sockeye on or before the Fourth of July.

Here's a post I wrote two years ago about the ascendancy of the Copper River:

Costco celebrates wild sockeye salmon

Farmed seafood: Whole Foods Market v. Costco Wholesale

On Sunday, I roasted four pieces of fresh wild sockeye salmon fillet from the Copper River in Alaska in a 400-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes with lime juice, Aleppo red pepper and garden herbs, which were toasted. I bought the fillet at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

On Monday, I had a second piece of the moist, fatty, skin-on salmon straight from the refrigerator, with just a splash of fresh lime juice.

Editor's note: Since I posted this in May 2013, Costco Wholesale has introduced farmed Atlantic salmon raised without antibiotics, sold for a couple of dollars more a pound than the conventional farmed salmon in the same refrigerated case. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

With the arrival of fresh wild sockeye fillets at Costco Wholesale, I no longer have to be tempted by the farmed Atlantic salmon available at my warehouse store year-round.

The wild Alaskan salmon is more expensive, but it is also deeper in color and far tastier than its farmed cousin.

And if I ever buy Atlantic salmon, I'll check for sales at Whole Foods Market, which has the strictest standards for farmed seafood, according to its official Whole Story blog:

Pardon our pride, but we really do have incredibly strong and thorough buying standards for farmed seafood—feel free to compare us to other markets! We are committed to these standards and to implementing them for farmed seafood throughout our stores. Here are a few highlights:

• Our Quality Standards for Aquaculture prohibit the use of antibiotics, added growth hormones and poultry and mammalian by-products in feed.
• We do not carry genetically modified or cloned seafood.
• We partner with farmers who work hard to be the leaders in sustainable aquaculture.
• Our standards require producers to minimize the impacts of fish farming on the environment by protecting sensitive habitats such as mangrove forests and wetlands, monitoring water quality to prevent pollution and sourcing feed ingredients responsibly.
• Our seafood is free from added preservatives such as sodium bisulfite, sodium tri-polyphosphate (STP) and sodium metabisulfite.

Here are specifics about the antibiotic-free farmed salmon sold at Whole Foods:

Our salmon are raised in carefully monitored, low-density pens and tanks without antibiotics, pesticides or added growth hormones. Detailed protocols prevent escape of the salmon into the wild, and harmful and lethal methods are never used on predator birds and marine mammals.

Costco sells the season's first fresh wild salmon at a premium.

Costco's farmed salmon

I found the standards for Costco's farmed Atlantic salmon on its Web  site.

Wild salmon mature in the ocean, growing fat on a diet of shrimp and krill, which give them their distinctive orange-red color.

Costco's farmed salmon, on the other hand eat a far different diet, which includes a coloring agent, as described below:

Atlantic Salmon FAQ's

Please see below for answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the Kirkland Signature Atlantic Salmon.

Q. Where does your farmed salmon come from?

A. We currently purchase our Atlantic boneless skinless salmon fillet from Chile and Canada.  We have purchased from Norway, Scotland, and Ireland in the past.

Q. What do farmed salmon eat?

A. A farmed salmon’s diet contains the following ingredients:  Fish meals (herring, sardines, capelin), plant proteins (soybean meal, canola meal, wheat), fish oils (menhaden, herring or sardine), plant oils (soybean, canola, or corn), vitamins, minerals, carotenoid compound for red/orange color, binder (complex carbohydrates to hold diets together).

*GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) or steroids are never used for growth enhancements.

Q. Are antibiotics or tranquilizers used in salmon farming?

A. Antibiotics are used only under strict supervision of a licensed veterinarian and are subject to the same strict regulations for beef and poultry.  Our salmon farmers do not use tranquilizers.

Q. Do we test our salmon fillets and what do we test for?

A. Yes, we currently have testing in place.  We have the salmon tested at the processing plants in Canada and Chile.  Costco Wholesale also does monthly testing.  We test for pesticides and heavy metals (aluminum, lead, iron, silver, copper, zinc, mercury, titanium, arsenic, and magnesium).  Micro-biological testing is also done (bacteria counts, salmonella, listeria, mold, yeast, and TPC).  After all that, we do the physical testing (net weight, trim specification, color, bones, and skin).

Q. Do salmon farms spread disease?

A. Salmon farmers follow stringent fish health practices where brood-stock and eggs are rigorously tested and the salmon are raised in disease free water.  Records show that the only disease found in farmed salmon are those which occur naturally in the wild salmon population.

Q. What are the benefits to eating salmon?

A. Salmon is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids.  Studies have found that people who eat salmon foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, have a reduced risk of heart disease.

Wild salmon until fall

Costco Wholesale will sell fresh wild salmon through early October, if past years are any guide.

After that, I'll return to eating fresh wild-caught haddock, flounder and cod from Costco.

If I want salmon, I can always buy frozen wild Alaskan fillets from Costco or try Whole Foods' farmed salmon when it is on sale.

I drove 100 miles for Chinese takeout

One of the outstanding dishes I picked up at Han Dynasty in Philadelphia, above, is Pickled Vegetable Soup with Flounder, which I heated up at home, below.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss takeout from a Chinese restaurant in Philadelphia, a restaurant bathroom with mouthwash and the first fresh wild salmon of the season to arrive at my Costco Wholesale.

Now that I've got your attention, I should explain the heading of this post:

I did drive 100 miles to Philadelphia on business, and I did stop for takeout from Han Dynasty, a Szechuan restaurant on Chesnut Street, before returning to North Jersey.

The food was still warm when I got home.

This is seriously spicy Chinese food, with the menu showing heat levels from 1 to 10. 

They also achieve a 10 on the Sasson Sniffle Scale:

It seems spicy food contains a chemical, capsaicin, which causes inflammation in the nerves and elevates the production of mucus, hence all that sniffling.

Most dishes listed on the Han Dynasty menu have a corresponding number to indicate spiciness.

I ordered Pickled Vegetable Soup with Flounder (4) for $9.95; Dan Dan Noodles (8) for $7.95; Home Style Tofu (3) for $12.95; and Chinese Cabbage with Dry Peppers (2) for $11.95.

Portions are generous and after my first meal the evening I arrived home, I have enough left for one or two more meals.

Han Dynasty's Chinese Cabbage, Dan Dan Noodles and Home Style Tofu.

I enjoyed all of them, especially the liberal use of fresh ginger, but the Dan Dan Noodles were topped with minced pork. As a non-meat eater, I had to remove the pork before sampling them.

I called the restaurant today, and was told the Dan Dan Noodles can be made without minced pork, though there is no indication on the menu the dish contains meat.

This branch of Han Dynasty, in Philadelphia's Old City, also doesn't have brown rice.

The terrific soup was crowded with many pieces of fresh flounder, and the homey Chinese cabbage dish included shells of red pepper without the spicy seeds.

I also liked the fried tofu dish, but there was much too much oily sauce.

The second bowl of Han Dynasty's Pickled Vegetable Soup with Flounder before I reheated it in the microwave.

Update

Right after I wrote this, I had a second bowl of Pickled Vegetable Soup with Flounder, discovering that a lot of fish, pickled vegetables, ginger and hot peppers had settled to the bottom of the large plastic takeout container.

My mouth is on fire, but it was even better than the first bowl.

Han Dynasty, 108 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa.; 1-215-922-1888.

Gyu-Kaku, a Japanese barbecue restaurant on Cooper Square in lower Manhattan, provides mouthwash in the men's bathroom.

Closer to home

Fresh wild sockeye salmon from the Copper River in Alaska arrived today at my Costco Wholesale in Hackensack -- 8 days after the first shipment to Seattle, Wash.

The price was $14.99 a pound, and I was able to find a fillet of 1.1 pounds, enough for two or three meals.

The season's first fresh wild salmon.

Have your own Wild-Salmon Festival

Fresh wild sockeye salmon with leftovers from Wondee's in Hackensack.

Wild-caught salmon, homemade shrimp and broccoli with fresh garlic.

Wild salmon with pesto and leftover pasta from BV Tuscany in Teaneck.

Editor's note: Today, I've included a recipe for Blender Pesto. Pesto -- basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts and grated cheese -- goes perfectly with fish, especially wild salmon from Alaska.

  
With fresh wild salmon from Alaska now selling for under $10 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, I'm throwing my own festival at home.

My wife brought home a nearly 2-pound fillet of Copper River salmon for $9.99 a pound this past Friday, and we're working our way through the seven or eight portions I prepared in a preheated, 400-degree oven.

The week before, Copper River salmon dropped to $8.99 a pound from $13.99 a pound, so now, it is only $1 or $2 more a pound than artificially colored farmed Atlantic salmon.

Before I cooked the wild-salmon portions, I squeezed on fresh lime juice and sprinkled them with Aleppo red pepper. The portions cooked through in 10 to 12 minutes.

When I took them out of the oven, I spread pesto on each juicy piece. I reheat the leftover fish in the microwave for about 1 minute.

I roast the heart-healthy fish on aluminum foil sprayed with oil, so the skin doesn't stick. 

I found a container of pesto in the freezer, marked "8/3/09," but it was fine, and I added grated Pecorino Romano sheep's milk cheese, also from Costco.

Here is the Marcella Hazan recipe I use:

BLENDER PESTO

Enough for 1 pound or 6 servings of pasta

2 cups fresh basil leaves 

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons pine nuts

2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed with a heavy knife handle and peeled

1 teaspoon salt (optional)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

2 tablespoons freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1. Put the pine nuts, garlic cloves, basil and extra-virgin olive oil in the blender and mix at high speed.  Stop from time to time and scrape the ingredients down toward the bottom of the blender cup with a rubber spatula.  

2.  When the ingredients are evenly blended, pour into a bowl and beat in the two grated cheeses by hand. (This is not much work, and it results in more interesting texture and better flavor than you get when you mix in the cheese in the blender.)  If you do not want to use the pesto immediately, put it into a closed container and freeze it before you add the cheese.

3. Before spooning the pesto over the pasta, add to it a tablespoon or so of the hot water in which the pasta has boiled.  Do not heat the pesto before you add it to the pasta.

Note: The best pesto has a great deal of basil in it. I use leaves and stems, and pack a measuring cup with it to get 2 cups you need. 

The more basil, the better. I've also added mint, rosemary, arugula, parsley and other herbs, but think basil makes the best pesto.

The original recipe included 4 tablespoons of butter, but I eliminated that decades ago.

Of course, you don't have to eat pesto with pasta. You can spread it on bread or toast for sandwiches or on top of fish right after you take it out of the oven.

Today, for a snack, I spread some of the pesto that I had left on a slice of wild smoked salmon and rolled that up with a piece of sliced cheese.

Smoked wild salmon and eggs, above and below, would be wonderful with pesto.

Organic whole-wheat pasta and wild salmon with pesto.

Wild salmon with organic brown rice and carrots.

My wild-salmon boat comes in

The first wild-caught salmon arrived on Thursday at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. The fresh sockeye fillets, from Alaska's Copper River, fetch a premium of $13.99 a pound.

Shopping at Costco Wholesale on the Friday before a major holiday weekend isn't for the timid, but  something drew me to the warehouse store in Hackensack today.

In the past few days, I've called the store and had my wife ask employees about the arrival of the season's first fresh wild salmon, which docked on May 21 last year at $13.99 a pound, a dollar less than in 2010.

This year, the deep orange-red fillets from Alaska's Copper River arrived on Thursday, and the price is the same.

In a couple of weeks, if that, the Copper River fish will be replaced by other fresh wild salmon at $8.99 a pound, guaranteeing good eating through the first days of October.

I sprinkled six portions with salt, squeezed on lime juice; and added Aleppo pepper, chopped fresh mint and oregano from the garden. I roasted them at 450 degrees.

The fresh fish needed only 10 to 12 minutes for medium rare.

I pulled the fish out of the oven after 7 minutes, but the fillets were still raw in the center, so I cooked them some more. 

I ate a medium-rare fillet with organic whole-wheat pasta, Black Tiger shrimp from Costco, a salad of organic spring mix and white wine.

A can of anchovies and oil added to bottled marinara sauce will cook away, but leave behind a wonderful robustness. I cooked the pasta for the last 3 minutes in the sauce.

Whole-wheat spaghetti from Trader Joe's is terrific morning, noon and night.

Four pounds of Black Tiger shrimp from Vietnam are $41.99. They are designated U-15, meaning there are about 15 per  pound. I also saw U-8 farmed shrimp at Costco today.

My wild-salmon fillet weighed 1.69 pounds.

I spent more than $108 on food at Costco today.

I bought our third or fourth watermelon of the season for $5.99, but there is no scale to tell you the price per pound. 

Other customers thump the melons, listening for I know not what. I choose the biggest and heaviest I can find, and I've never been disappointed.

With fresh wild salmon only a couple of miles away, life is good.

I didn't see organic carrots, so picked up a 10-pound bag of Bolthouse Farms conventional carrots for $5.99.

Three half-gallons of Organic 1% Milk were $9.59, six Champagne Mangoes from Mexico were $5.79 and 1 pound of Kirkland Signature Smoked Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon was $15.79.

Seedless watermelon and fresh carrots.

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