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Ahi Tuna

post #1 of 14
10/27/08 at 11:57am
Thread Starter 
Does it annoy you when a restaurant has "Ahi" tuna on the menu and the waiter/waitress thinks that Ahi is the type of tuna? Everytime they list Ahi, I always ask what type of tuna. Half the time, they quickly spout of that it's Yellowfin. The other half, tell me it's ahi and they don't know that ahi just means tuna.
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post #2 of 14
10/27/08 at 12:26pm
It gets under my skin slightly only if the server gives me a sort of attitude for wondering exactly what type of tuna I will be ordering. This goes along with other menu items as well! Good point!
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post #3 of 14
10/27/08 at 12:37pm
It's like "shrimp scampi", except that it doesn't even have the connotation of a mode of preparation, so it's even more pointless.
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post #4 of 14
10/27/08 at 1:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Edward Appleby View Post
It's like "shrimp scampi", except that it doesn't even have the connotation of a mode of preparation, so it's even more pointless.

I suspect that the reason it's done is that marketing experience and/or studies suggest that it's not pointless from a sales perspective.
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post #5 of 14
10/27/08 at 1:38pm
Kind of like Taco Bell's "carne asada grilled steak"
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post #6 of 14
10/27/08 at 1:41pm
Or Conne & Kwilk's ghey adventures

K
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post #7 of 14
10/27/08 at 1:52pm
or Chai tea.
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post #8 of 14
10/28/08 at 6:21pm
I don't know a whole lot about all the varieties of tuna, but I know I love me some super rare tuna steaks!
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post #9 of 14
10/29/08 at 4:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Davidb2580 View Post
... they don't know that ahi just means tuna.

But ahi does really relate to the kind of tuna, doesn't it? From what I understand, it only ever refers to yellowfin or bigeye tuna, out of about 15 different types - it's not albacore or bluefin or skipjack or whatever.

While the waiter might not be a marine biologist and might just be selling it as Ahi because the guy at the fish market calls it Ahi and it tastes pretty much like all the other Ahi he's ever had, I don't think you can ridicule him for this. I would think 'ahi just means tuna' is your own flawed perception. If the restaurant is selling seared ahi, you are not going to get something the colour or texture of albacore or skipjack which are completely different.

Your post is like saying 'jeez, they don't know that fish just means one of those things that swims in the sea with fins and a tail'. No, at least by saying 'fish' you know its not dolphin or whale. This is not a great analogy as 'fish' covers 20,000 varieties and doesn't narrow down your expectations, whereas 'ahi' means you are probably getting a pretty distinct type of tuna, Thunnus albacares (sp?) or Thunnus obesus which narrows down the expectations considerably

The point was that all ahi is tuna but all tuna isn't ahi.
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post #10 of 14
10/29/08 at 1:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bowlhead99 View Post
But ahi does really relate to the kind of tuna, doesn't it? From what I understand, it only ever refers to yellowfin or bigeye tuna, out of about 15 different types - it's not albacore or bluefin or skipjack or whatever.

While the waiter might not be a marine biologist and might just be selling it as Ahi because the guy at the fish market calls it Ahi and it tastes pretty much like all the other Ahi he's ever had, I don't think you can ridicule him for this. I would think 'ahi just means tuna' is your own flawed perception. If the restaurant is selling seared ahi, you are not going to get something the colour or texture of albacore or skipjack which are completely different.

Your post is like saying 'jeez, they don't know that fish just means one of those things that swims in the sea with fins and a tail'. No, at least by saying 'fish' you know its not dolphin or whale. This is not a great analogy as 'fish' covers 20,000 varieties and doesn't narrow down your expectations, whereas 'ahi' means you are probably getting a pretty distinct type of tuna, Thunnus albacares (sp?) or Thunnus obesus which narrows down the expectations considerably

The point was that all ahi is tuna but all tuna isn't ahi.

Huh, I dont know that much about tuna. Got any reference for this or guide / reading material?

K
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post #11 of 14
10/29/08 at 3:41pm
Albacore is the one that you sometimes see sold in cans as 'white meat' tuna, quite light in colour, in the US there is a brand 'Chicken of the Sea'. Cans of skipjack are more brown.

Here in the UK, Sainsbury supermarkets top Greenpeace's tuna league table, as their cans apparently always tell you the species and how it was caught - bigger brands like John West or Princes often just say 'tuna chunks' without much more detail in the small print, so it might be yellowfin or skipjack or albacore or probably others. I guess if you're just making some tuna pasta bake with tinned fish that's been packed in brine or oil or whatever, you are not all about subtleties of flavour - and for a quick snack I don't really care what I stick in my baked potato.

But if you're in a restaurant eating a steak, you'd hope they know what kind of fish they have just put in the pan; Ahi seems to be more popular where I go, but you may sometimes see seared ahi and seared albacore on the same menu.

These are a few search engine hits if it helps, I'm sure there's better ones:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuna

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-ahi.htm

http://www.hawaii-seafood.org/species_tuna.htm#
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post #12 of 14
10/29/08 at 3:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Davidb2580 View Post
Does it annoy you when a restaurant has "Ahi" tuna on the menu and the waiter/waitress thinks that Ahi is the type of tuna? Everytime they list Ahi, I always ask what type of tuna. Half the time, they quickly spout of that it's Yellowfin. The other half, tell me it's ahi and they don't know that ahi just means tuna.

i would believe this 'annoyance' is correlated to perhaps any new found interesting knowledge you may have acquired recently and just acting it out in a pretentious way when finding out others who have not caught on yet.

perhaps?
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post #13 of 14
10/29/08 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sho'nuff View Post
i would believe this 'annoyance' is correlated to perhaps any new found interesting knowledge you may have acquired recently and just acting it out in a pretentious way when finding out others who have not caught on yet.

perhaps?

Good thing I've studied Augusto's chart and know an "Oh, snap!" situation when I see one.
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post #14 of 14
10/31/08 at 1:53pm
If you already know the answer, why ask? I would have considered yellowfin to be fair answer.
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