The Many Faces of Mackerel

I had sushi for lunch today at my favorite sushi buffet … and for the very first time I felt disappointed.

I think we shall call today’s lunch "The Many Faces of Mackerel."

In case I haven’t mentioned it before, mackerel is on my list of banned sushi … it tastes like bait and it smells fishy (and by that I mean like the fishing boats that come in from the Gulf Stream down in Outer Banks. That repulsive smell that the fishermen are busy trying to wash off their boats, but too late because it has already permeated every surface.)

Good sushi has a fresh, clean non-fishy taste/smell.
Mackerel never has that taste/smell, hence, not good sushi. Actually, that’s the rule for buying fresh fish, too, so I guess maybe the lesson here is that mackerel is just not good fish for human consumption.

Unfortunately, it was all over the sushi buffet today: I was offered mackerel on nigiri sushi (with scallions on top, like they could disguise the fact this was mackerel? HA!) mackerel in a fancy roll with hot red sauce on top and also some sort of tempura batter fried mackerel roll.

I think there was a sale on mackerel at the sushi store.