Thumbs down to Chino Latino, a trendy fusion restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota for serving an endangered species as food.
Marlin was once king of the oceans, as big as many sharks, the fish was the nemesis, as powerful as Moby Dick, in Earnest Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. Sadly, there aren’t big marlins like that any more. They’ve all been fished, and sold off by a lot of greedy old men, the owners of industrial fishing operations and seafood merchandising networks.
Marlin populations are down to 90 percent of what they once were – if that.
And so what does Chino Latino do? They help fund the extermination of the marlin by offering it up on their menu… calling the dish The Great Marlin Jerk Off.
“Everyone is a winner with our blue ribbon jerk spiced marlin grilled atop a bed of jasmine rice with coconut cream sauce and a refreshing mango salsa” says the Chino Latino menu. But, no, not everyone is a winner. The marlin certainly isn’t a winner. It’s been reduced from a Hemmingway’s noble character to a joke about masturbation.
And please… by the time that marlin reaches Minnesota, it isn’t even fresh. Something else that ought to make that marlin rather unpalatable is the fact that, because marlins are a top ocean predator, marlin flesh is filled with mercury. Mmmmm…. yummy heavy metals.
You can do something about this grave insult perpetrated by Chino Latino. Don’t go eat at Chino Latino… and spread the word. When people ask you why you won’t go with them to that restaurant, point them to the web site of Take Marlin Off The Menu.
