Does anybody eat Talapia?

[fishingonly2002]

well said walleye chaser.

and a Tillapia is a tropical fish found in south america, africa, and other tropical parts of the world. very similar to tropical cichlids. they are primarily vegetarians but will forage on crustacions and small minners and insects. there are several different species of tillapia, Blue, blackchin, mozambique, spotted. primarily blue tilapia are the species stocked for invasive plant control. black chin and blue tillapia are most frequently raised in farms as food/fertilizer.

and if you get it fresh and cook it right, ( I recomend boneless skinless deep fried, or cleaned, and smoked with kayene pepper bones scales head and all. ) are excellent table fare, comparable to rainbow trout. or bass.

~Neal

[devil-man]

Why do these threads always turn into trash-talking?
I'm really at a loss here...

I rarely buy fish from the store, and when I do it's a species that can't be caught in these parts. Just to try something new, ya know?
Is that a problem?

[walleyechaser]

Why do these threads always turn into trash-talking?
I'm really at a loss here...

I rarely buy fish from the store, and when I do it's a species that can't be caught in these parts. Just to try something new, ya know?
Is that a problem?

whos trash talking here?  I didn't read all the posts did I miss something?
more power to ya if you want fish from the store I was just posting about my own experience.
My grill and garage stunk like fish for a month after I grilled up that salmon.

[Buckski]

Wow this is about a fish?
I have eaten store bought grouper and loved it, it smelled fine, looked good and tasted awesome.
just like when I caught it in Florida. yeah it was fresher just from the gulf, but I did not notice any real taste difference.
It came from HAYES fish market and it was labeled Just ARRIVED!
Relax guys, we have it great to go out and provide the freshest foods for ourselves and families, but some commercal catches are BAD to taste, smell and even look at.
Wonder what cattlemen would say about your last steak?

Yeah had a friend last week bring some salmon to grill, I put it on last because I did not want my venison, chicken and pork to taste funny. This stuff did not look good!

[devil-man]

only a complete and total Dumb@$$ would criticise fish when they went out and bought it at the frikin store, go catch a fresh one, cook it up that same night and I am telling you it is a delicous fish. I can see why many people would think they taste terrible, but what fish that gows through frezing and fish farms and all that jazz, and comes out tasting good.
in conclusion, stop whining about tilapia untill you have had a fresh one that didnt come from a farm, do yourself a favor and never buy fish from a store. and dont stock those frikin fish in our waters

That would be trash-talking.

[walleyechaser]

oh yeah I saw that but stopped reading it when I saw the word dumba$$.

We have some very strong opinions on this site. 

[devil-man]

woah easy on the big words and bold letters killer.
some of us spend more time fishing than looking up this stuff.
forgive me for showing my oppinion on how people think fish taste like crap when they buy it from there local walmart or publix. haha
simmer down guys, its all for fun and maybe learn a thing or too.....

 
We are trying to learn a thing or two.
You should try it sometime...

[Reel Wet Ride]

Back on subject.....

I've eaten Talapia more than a few times, and I don't think its half bad. Of course, the Talapia I eat weren't "farm raised", they were caught out of backwaters in FLA. Cleaned and cooked right, I like it better than salmon. It doesn't have the same "fishy" flavor that slamon tends to hold onto after cooking.

The way I see it, I've spent an insane amount of money on fishing equipment/ tackle/ ect, I'm not going to go to the store and buy fish when I know I can catch it...so I don't. The only time I buy fish is if I'm out to eat and they have something on the menu I don't get a chance to catch on my own...swordfish, shark, crab.

[MikeThePike]

I've never eaten talapia but used to work in the seafood dept. at a local grocery store on occasion. A lot of people always bought it.

Not all seafood stores are bad as some people think. Sure, there are some where they will try to sell the same fish for days, others that won't. The problem is the guys who take advantage of the 3, 5, and 7day rules on different species ruin it for everyone else. The manager there every once in a while would try to get away with it but most of his employees would toss the stuff at the end of the night and say it sold.

I know other managers that would leave it up there till it was swimming again and some that followed everything to a T. But, I personally, would not buy fish from a seafood market, simply because I can catch my own, and as Slipbob said, I know where its coming from, how old it is, ect ect.

[fishingonly2002]

We are trying to learn a thing or two.
You should try it sometime...

pfft, naw, im too smart to waste time with that. 
your talkin to a middle school drop out dude

~Neal

[Desperado]

Yes, I've eaten it. 
We call it "ZUCHINNI OF THE SEA"
Because, much like zuchinni, it doesn't have much flavor of it's own;  so needs to be cooked with something that will lend flavor to it.

[fishingonly2002]

I suggest lemon, cornmeal and goya.

~Neal

[dwaytkus]

I had Tilapia for the first time tonight.  I cut the red meat strip out of the middle and placed the remain's of the two fresh fillets in aluminum foil.  Small pad of butter, a little lemon pepper, a sprinkle of blackening seasoning and half a onion cut in half rings.  On the barbaque for about 10 min and I thougth it was great.

[taxid]

It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did.  Do I have an explanation? No.  I don't even know how they got into the adjacent pond.  All I know is that I helped stock them...then came back 12 months later, and they were still there, only bigger.  It was a shock to everyone in the program.  We had our nets and stuff, and were planning on just going out there, running a few haul seines, of course not finding any, and calling it a day.  Instead we were there all freakin day netting out all the ponds.

What university was this and do you have a prof's name or copy of your research  to verify this? Sorry I'm very skeptical. Thd odds of talapia surviving the winter are about as good as a trout surviving in the tropics. What species of talapia were these? Mozambique or what?

[taxid]

What university was this and do you have a prof's name or copy of your research  to verify this? Sorry I'm very skeptical. Thd odds of talapia surviving the winter are about as good as a trout surviving in the tropics. What species of talapia were these? Mozambique or what?

   
    
 
 
Sea Grant Tip Sheet Series
AS-494
 
Tilapia
Oreochromis niloticus,
Drawing from Trewavas, 1983
 
Common name: Tilapia
Scientific name: Oreochromis niloticus, O. aurea, O. mossambicus, O. hornorum
Production potential: Easy except tilapia grow slowly at temperatures lower than 70 Fand die when temperatures drop into the 50 F range  
Marketing potential: Potential: High
Size: 1.25-2.0 lb
Market: Food
Temperature requirements: Growing: 80-87 F
Spawning: Greater than 72
Lethal: 55 F
Feed requirements: Protein: 25-30%
Fat: 6-8%
Spawning requirements: Maternal mouthbrooders, spawn twice a month, 2,500 eggs/lb body weight, eggs hatch in 5 to 7 days. All male hybrids can be produced by crossing female O. niloticus and male O. aurea.Or by crossing female O. niloticus and male O. hornorum.Stocking ratios for fingerling production is three females to each male.
Most common
production systems: For food fish estimate at 1500-3,000 lbs. per acre. For food fish production in cages stock 8-15 lbs. per cubic food. Stocking densities in recycle systems depends on the quaility of the filtration used. However at harverst a goal of from 0.5-1.5 lbs pounds per gallon is desired.

http://aquanic.org/publicat/state/il-in/as-494.htm