Beware the Butterfish

[Chad300tdt]

http://gothamist.com/2008/02/13/beware_the_butt.php

Pasted from above link:

"FEBRUARY 13, 2008
Beware the Butterfish, Warns Soiled Writer

Sometimes journalists really do pull stories out of their asses: Philadelphia writer A.J. Daulerio and former Gawker scribe Alex Balk are sounding the alarm on a succulent fish that causes some extremely undesirable and embarrassing side effects, namely hours of orange, uncontrollable anal leakage. It’s called escolar but it’s often sold under various assumed names like “butterfish”, “Hawaiian walu” or, when served raw, as “super white tuna” or “king tuna.” Whatever the name, the effects are often the same, as Daulerio himself divulged when he pitched the story via IM to Balk, now the executive editor for Radar online:

A.J.: Have you ever heard of Hawaiian butterfish and the orange ****s it causes some unsuspecting diners?
BALK: I have not, but I’m not surprised that this would be your pitch.
A.J.: Thank you.
A.J.: Anyway. So, I love this fish, greatest tasting fish I’ve ever eaten. I’ve had it a couple times in restaurants without any problems.
A.J.: This past weekend? I buy some at DiBruno brothers – very reputable Italian place — and take it home and cook it.
A.J.: Now, mind you, we had a couple of friends who had eaten some at a restaurant and talked about their uncontrollable orange-oily ****s they got due to eating it.
A.J.: Nonsense!, I thought.
A.J.: So, I eat some this weekend.
A.J.: And, pow. I’m stricken. In fact, it is beyond all comprehension of what went on. I actually had to stuff napkins down my pants in the middle of Target because I was leaking so bad.
A.J.: So, I do some research, standard googling for, you know, “Butterfish + anal leakage”.
A.J.: Lots of people.
A.J.: Hundreds, even.
A.J.: So, I tell my co-worker about what happened. He passes it along to the local radio djs at WMMR here and they talk about it all day.
A.J.: Their phone lines lit up.
A.J.: So many horror stories about this Butterfish and the horrible orangey **** mess it’s caused for people.
A.J.: Yet? Still served in restaurants without any disclaimers or anything.
A.J.: And in stores.
BALK: You’re pitching me a story about a fish that makes you **** orange?
A.J.: I am. Yes, I am.
A.J.: I think the word needs to get out there.


Like it or not, it's out there, thanks to Daulerio’s thorough reportage, in which he quotes a chief of clinical gastroenterology at the University of Wisconsin, who explains that “escolar is laden with an overwhelming amount of wax esters.” So unless your partner has a serious Cleveland Steamer fetish you want to spice up for Valentine’s Day, consider yourself warned to stay the hell away from the stuff.
Apparently Aquagrill in SoHo has been known to serve this “ex-lax of fish.” And Eric Ripert of the high class seafood restaurant La Bernadin has it on the menu; there it's served as an appetizer in portions too small to cause any regrettable side-effects, or so he tells Eater. Ever try it?"

[Dee8go]

Thanks for the warning.

[Mistress]

People wonder why I don't eat much fish. I have enough excitement (not to be confused with excrement) in my life.

[Dee8go]

I thought maybe a "Butterfish" was sort of like a "Butterface." Everything looks good but 'er face.

[Chad300tdt]

Everything about this fish is good except your butt.

[Mistress]

I'd be curious to know what parasites it contains to make this happen.....DON"T EAT THE FISH....

[Medmech]

I have encountered this thing they call Butterfish--------twice-----

[Mistress]

Originally Posted by Howitzer

I have encountered this thing they call Butterfish--------twice-----

You didn't know what you were eating did you, they told you it tasted like chicken.

[Chad300tdt]

Chuck Norris doesn't leak after eating butterfish.

[Chad300tdt]

Originally Posted by Mistress

I'd be curious to know what parasites it contains to make this happen.....DON"T EAT THE FISH....

They say it's due to the high amount of wax esters in the fish. Apparently the fish can't metabolize the wax esters found in its normal diet and it causes them to have an 18-21% oil content in their muscle.

[Medmech]

Originally Posted by Mistress

You didn't know what you were eating did you, they told you it tasted like chicken.

The first time I blew it off as bad fish, the second time I was asked how I can eat "that stuff that gives you rusty ass"..a few hours later I put Poo&Poo together.

[Mistress]

Originally Posted by Chad300tdt

They say it's due to the high amount of wax esters in the fish. Apparently the fish can't metabolize the wax esters found in its normal diet and it causes them to have an 18-21% oil content in their muscle.

Well that about does it for me.

[Mistress]

Originally Posted by Howitzer

The first time I blew it off as bad fish, the second time I was asked how I can eat "that stuff that gives you rusty ass"..a few hours later I put Poo&Poo together.

Blow fish?

[MTI]

The product sold in Hawaii markets as "Butterfish" is what is also known as "Black Cod" in other regions. Escolar is sold in Hawaii as "walu" but it's reputation precedes it.

What folks in Hawaii smirk over is the country's infatuation with tilapia . . . generally considered a "rubbish fish" because it can survive and thrive in the worst ponds, lakes or mudholes on the island.

[Chad300tdt]

I like tilapia, but I also love catfish.