Be advised that this is my very favorite special-occasion buy at sushi restaurants: escolar sashimi. It’s the most silky, buttery thing you’ve ever put in your mouth, and very delicious even if, like me, you can’t really tell the difference between snapper and mackerel.
Sophie took me out for a nice dinner to celebrate the end of a big project, and so I felt entitled to get escolar. It’s even more special to me because you can’t eat more than 6 ounces of escolar at a time… or at least, you really really shouldn’t (let’s just say “gastrointestinal distress” and leave it at that). It’s like only getting a bite of the most exquisite chocolate cake—when you know that’s all you get, you savor it intensely.
According to a cursory Google search, escolar is fairly sustainable, which is good news given how fraught Japanese restaurant dining can be, ethically speaking. Still, since you can’t have much of it, I am calling this every SV fish that is exotic, toxic, endangered, or otherwise a no-no in real life. So when Willy’s birthday rolls around and you can’t get your hands on a sturgeon steak, maybe go out for sushi instead.
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