— LEILANI FOWLER

I'm going to start from a culinary group. Well from it from a health perspective skin. It's purpose is to keep the bad stuff out and the good stuff in right? So where is sort of the the Battle Zone between the out in the Inn? skin to me can Some of some toxicity can accrue right beneath the skin. This is particularly true of freshwater species and lakes where there's a pfas dioxin issues legacies of farming and pesticides and river fish as well where there's been industrial dumping as well as in some saltwater species some of those can accrue in that bloodline tissue that is just in a sort of laminated layer of fat. That's just beneath the skin. And so when you're eating the skin you're eating all of that. In the vast majority of species that is not an issue for anyone speaking from a culinary standpoint. Here's why I don't tend to eat skin that often. Because the heat that you need to apply to skin to get it to be desirable meaning crispy is much higher than the amount of heat. That optimally is applied to the Flesh of the fish. Right? So if you're trying to caramelize and crisp up that Salmon skin chances are you're going to overcook a little bit of the salmon that's beneath it and sacrifice the quality of that flesh the eating quality of that flesh in order to get the skin. So if you succeed hey, that's great. But oftentimes that skin doesn't really necessarily evenly crisp. I mean, I worked in a restaurant I figured out how to make it do so all the time. But if you're at home cooking for four and you've got a pan and you're rushed Etc, it can be difficult to get it right and non crisp skin isn't really that appetizing. It's a little bit gummy and I just I don't prefer it if it steamed fish. I actually do like that that gelatinous wonderful texture is something that you actually going for that you want to achieve but in most times I I go after perfectly cooking the Flesh of the fish more so than caramelizing that flesh. Alright that skin I do however when I buy fish with a skin on I cook it with the skin on always why well because that skin is a protective barrier, right? It helps keep the moisture in On the Flesh of a fish fillet as much as it does in a live fish. So in that way it protects the flesh from those High Heats, it protects against moisture loss because any time you cut something you're creating more surface area, you're rupturing cells you're creating more opportunity for moisture nutrient loss Etc. So keep the skin on. Aim for perfectly cooked flesh and if the skin comes along with it, and it's delectable.