Hake fillet
Encyclopedia
Hake fillet is a type of fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 product made from hake
Hake
The term hake refers to fish in either of:* family Phycidae of the northern oceans* family Merlucciidae of the southern oceans-Hake fish:...

 which is largely used in Spanish cuisine. Hake has soft white flesh which makes it easy to fillet. During the production of hake fillet
Fillet (cut)
A fillet is a cut or slice of boneless meat or fish.- Meat :In the case of beef, in the USA, the term most often refers to beef tenderloin, especially filet mignon.- Chicken :...

, there are three steps that are particularly followed by hake processing industries. Firstly the headed and gutted hake fish are defrosted. Secondly, the scales found on the hake are removed and finally they are graded and filleted.

After the production stage, the hake fillet is checked for blood, bones fins, black membrane, fleas, loose fish scales, and sorted. It is then packed and kept frozen in order to achieve a product temperature of approximately -18°C.

Imports and exports of Hake fillet

Frozen hake fillet is the main product that is exported from Argentina. But due to the hectic situation that Argentinean companies are going through, export of hake fillet has been dropped by 3% and 22% in terms of volume and value respectively. The main importers of hake fillet for the year 2010 were Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 (46%; volume and 46%; value) and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 followed by Italy. Imports of hake fillet to Brazil has significantly raised by +69% in volume and +38% in value. Despite of this growth, hake fillet is the only one that has shown a decrease in the volume of exports in Argentina.

The main importers of hake fillet from Uruguay are Italy, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Germany, Holland and France but nowadays exports from Uruguay has declined sharply due to the disaster occurred in February.

Cooking of Hake fillet

Year ago, fishermen from the area of Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...

 (Basque) brought the hake fish into Spanish gastronomy
Gastronomy
Gastronomy is the art or science of food eating. Also, it can be defined as the study of food and culture, with a particular focus on gourmet cuisine...

. An example is; hake in potato casserole (Galician style). The commonly known hake fish recipe from this country is called "Koskera,” which is made with a variety of vegetables such as peas
PEAS
P.E.A.S. is an acronym in artificial intelligence that stands for Performance, Environment, Actuators, Sensors.-Performance:Performance is a function that measures the quality of the actions the agent did....

, asparagus
Asparagus
Asparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennialplant species in the genus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its Allium cousins, onions and garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the family Amaryllidaceae and...

, etc.

Hake fillet is well known for its delicious texture
Texture
Texture may refer to:* Textures , album of Brian Eno* Textures , a metal band from the Netherlands* Texture , theoretical topological defect in the structure of spacetime...

 and light flavor
Flavor
Flavor or flavour is the sensory impression of a food or other substance, and is determined mainly by the chemical senses of taste and smell. The "trigeminal senses", which detect chemical irritants in the mouth and throat as well as temperature and texture, are also very important to the overall...

 in many European countries as well as the United States. Hake fish is very easy to cook as it contains very few bones. Like many other types of freshwater and saltwater fish, hake fish also can be trimmed and filleted for a variety of culinary preparation. It is versatile and generate ideal results either it is baked, poached, sautéed, grilled or roasted. It is even used in soups in some cultures.

In addition, it is possible to make steaks from hake. Hake steaks can be prepared in much the same way as Salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

. Hake steaks along with lemon
Lemon
The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...

 or lime juice, some spices and herbs can be an ideal dish for lunch or dinner.

Nutrition

Hake fillet is an excellent source of protein which makes digestion easier and is also high in Omega-3. Based on the fact that Omega-3 is not manufactured by the body, consumption of hake fillet or any other hake fish products is considered to be an essential component.

There are two type of Omega-3 fatty acids found in hake fish which are: Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
Eicosapentaenoic acid
Eicosapentaenoic acid is an omega-3 fatty acid. In physiological literature, it is given the name 20:5. It also has the trivial name timnodonic acid...

 and, Docosahexaenoic acid
Docosahexaenoic acid
Docosahexaenoic acid is an omega-3 fatty acid that is a primary structural component of the human brain and retina. In chemical structure, DHA is a carboxylic acid with a 22-carbon chain and six cis double bonds; the first double bond is located at the third carbon from the omega end...

 (DHA). Most of the fish we consume contains a majority of 18% of EPA and 12% DHA.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a type of fatty acid found in fish such as hake. It is the most abundant omega-3 fatty acid found in the brain and retina of human body. Approximately 40% and 60% of the Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid
Polyunsaturated fatty acid
Polyunsaturated fatty acids are fatty acids that contain more than one double bond in their backbone. This class includes many important compounds, such as essential fatty acids and those that give drying oils their characteristic property....

 are found in the brain and retina respectively. Moreover, DHA has the largest effect on the brain. In the human body, DHA is either present by the diet or through Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is also a type of fatty acid
Fatty acid
In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have a chain of an even number of carbon atoms, from 4 to 28. Fatty acids are usually derived from...

 found in fish. In the human body, EPA is obtained by the consumption of hake fish or fish oil In particular; this fatty acid is believed to have valuable importance in mental conditions such as Schizophrenia and also helps the reduction of developing certain types of cancer.

Scientists have proved that consumption of hake fish at regular interval in a meal decreases the risk of getting heart attack than those who don’t. Hake fish contains also a high amount of vitamin B12
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12, vitamin B12 or vitamin B-12, also called cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin with a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, and for the formation of blood. It is one of the eight B vitamins...

 and vitamin B6
Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin and is part of the vitamin B complex group. Several forms of the vitamin are known, but pyridoxal phosphate is the active form and is a cofactor in many reactions of amino acid metabolism, including transamination, deamination, and decarboxylation...

which are essential for human body.

External links

  • http://www.msc.org
  • http://www.naturland.de
  • http://www.seawork.com.na
  • http://www.friendofthesea.org
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