Have you been baffled by different tuna species? Wondered how the flesh is graded? Did you know herrings could break wind? Have you considered what the eel might say if questioned about its life cycle? Have you tasted thieboudienne?

In a genre-defying cookbook, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) infuses international recipes with insights into the global fish trade; blends scientific facts and cultural history; melds nutritional information and sustainability concerns; and juxtaposes consumer tips with fantasy incursions into the psyche of ocean and pond life.

At the core of Fish: Know it, cook it, eat it are contextualized recipes from 45 FAO member countries. These range from a Korean braised mackerel with radish (godeung eo-jorim) to Saint Lucia’s national dish of green fig and saltfish. Such folk fare – sometimes given a more urban twist – is complemented by specially commissioned dishes from world-renowned or emerging chefs: in a witty dig at food loss and waste, Spain’s Michelin-starred Chef del mar, Àngel León, turns disposable by-catch such as flathead grey mullet into a rosy fish mortadella.

More than cooking

But this cookbook, richly illustrated and enhanced by video content, is about more than cooking. Published as the UN-designated International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture<https://www.fao.org/artisanal-fisheries-aquaculture-2022/home/en/> draws to a close, Fish: Know it, cook it, eat carries an appeal to recognize the contribution of fishers, whose work – often in dangerous conditions – provides much of the daily protein intake for a large section of humanity.

The book also offers an overview of FAO’s efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing – and, with more than 800 million people going hungry around the world, to turn aquaculture into a sustainable force for food security. Many of the recipes in the book feature farmed and freshwater fish, in a conscious rebuff of the snobbery that systematically favours wild species and fish from capture.

Finally, playful “interviews” with fish distil facts about our marine environment, while implicitly challenging overly anthropocentric approaches.

Fish: Know it, cook it, eat it is a collaboration between FAO’s Office of Communications and its Fisheries and Aquaculture division. It can be read digitally<https://www.fao.org/3/cc1395en/online/cc1395en.html>, downloaded in PDF format<https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cc1395en>, or ordered as a print-on-demand book<https://www.eurospanbookstore.com/book/detail/fish/?k=9789251367346>.