about the worm in the ocean perch - most fish are subject to having parasites (just as we are) and the worst seem to be white fish of all varieties (i personally find white fish of the prairie lake variety the worst and therefore don't eat it at all - not a flavour of which i'm particularly fond anyway)
if you don't see the worms, the eggs are probably still there, but they won't hurt you
about the critters on the veggies - pretty much the worms will boil out when you cook the broccoli or whatever and if you are eating it raw give it a good soak first - they don't like water
BUT HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS
veggies that have critters were likely grown organically; be thankful for the extra protein and know you aren't ingesting a load of harmful chemicals
to illustrate here's my mexico travelling story
friends use to get a condo where they could cook for the family and would go to the market to buy their meat. they were delighted with one vendor whose meat was always clean and had no flies around, whereas most of the vendors in the market had flies and other winged creatures hovering around and on their meat all the time.
turns out the 'good' guy sprayed his meat with DDT which was still legal at the time so the smart flies stayed away
so did my friends once they found out the source of his 'clean' meat
Things are not always what they seem!!
biology of food and critters 101
So true, all of it Lynn. I still can't bring myself to eat Cod though. Ever since I saw that show about the worms in it. Think it was Marketplace, quite a few years back.
Really good points Lynn.......I remembered after reading the above a gardening friend in North Battleford always soaked her home grown broccoli and cauliflower in salt water before cooking. It was from her that I first learned how many worms can be found in veggies. She also pointed out that if you ate them all you were getting was extra protein.
Hmmm....revulsion is a funny thing isn't it? :-) Funny you should mention cod, Brenda - just the other day I cooked up a nice frozen fillet of cod from High Liner (I think); it was delicious! But if I had seen what you saw, I'm not sure I'd have been able to enjoy it quite as much, or at all....
I guess I'd rather be on the lookout for bugs, than for DDT or other chemicals...as icky as I find the bugs. Maybe this is a good chance to get over it - sigh...(steeling herself for a battle)
I always soak my broccoli in salt water.
I certainly will from now on, after reading this thread. Do you figure 1/2-hour would do it? And what, a tablespoon or so in a small- to medium-sized pot?
Great post, Lynn. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
I wonder what soaking your vegetables in water for so long does to the nutritional content? And the added salt? Have you noticed how we have to worry about so many more things now than we used to?
But ignorance is bliss indeed! I remember serving a gigantic salad from the garden--about 8 different kinds of veggies, plus nuts and seeds and flowers, to some guests and when I was cleaning up the sink before dessert I discovered that all the discarded leaves were teeming with little worms. And this was AFTER I'd washed them all thoroughly and spun them dry. GAG!
We were having a rhubarb crumble for dessert and I doused it with sherry, then poured brandy into everyone's coffee, in the hopes the alcohol would kill what hadn't already died.
No, of COURSE I didn't 'fess up, would you?