The acknowledged benefits of fish as a healthy food, have turned the spotlight increasingly on the sea as a source of delicious protein. In the broadest sense "seafood" is any water-dwelling edible, the water being fresh or salty. It thus encompasses fish, crustaceans, molluscs, cephalopods, and seaweeds.

Compared to the meat of land animals, most seafood is lower in fat and as high or higher in protein. As such, it makes sense to substitute fish, portion for portion, for a red meat such as beef.

More importantly, many types of fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to decrease the likelihood of cardiovascular disease. Societies with a high fish consumption have a low incidence of heart disease and omega-3 is the reason why. You can obtain omega-3 supplements, but why, when you can just eat fish two or three times a week and cut back on cholesterol and fat-laden beef at the same time?

 

The large variety of fish and shellfish caught in South African waters includes kingklip, snoek, yellowtail, cod, sole, tuna, to name some of the more popular ones. Other much loved delicacies from the sea are perlemoen, oysters, mussels, prawns, langoustines, calamari, shrimps and crayfish. Prawns and langoustines usually come from the warmer Indian ocean waters of neighbouring Mozambique.