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From the Sea
A captivating tour through some of our most cherished marine food traditions, and the danger of extinction that they increasingly face in today’s world.
In this standalone extract from Eating to Extinction, the distinguished BBC food journalist Dan Saladino travels the world to experience and document our most at-risk foods from the sea before it’s too late.
From exploring the curious case of the wild Scottish salmon and its tumultuous history; to observing the elaborate and highly ritualized process of making Japanese shio-katsu, that prized form of dried skipjack tuna; to learning about the artisanal production of dried mullet roe by the Imraguen in Mauritania; the ocean foodways Saladino profiles here are essential guides to treasured foods the rest of us have forgotten or didn’t know existed.
Throughout these original and grippingly written chapters, Saladino shows us that when foods become endangered, we risk the loss of not only traditional foodways, but also flavors, smells, and textures that may never be experienced again. And he also shows how endangering stocks of at-risk fish comes with the added loss of the human cultures that are tied together with them, and the greater dangers that overfishing poses to marine ecosystems at large.
From the Sea is part of the Picador Shorts series “Oceans, Rivers, and Streams” in which excerpts from beloved classics speak to our relationship with our water bodies, great and small.
In this standalone extract from Eating to Extinction, the distinguished BBC food journalist Dan Saladino travels the world to experience and document our most at-risk foods from the sea before it’s too late.
From exploring the curious case of the wild Scottish salmon and its tumultuous history; to observing the elaborate and highly ritualized process of making Japanese shio-katsu, that prized form of dried skipjack tuna; to learning about the artisanal production of dried mullet roe by the Imraguen in Mauritania; the ocean foodways Saladino profiles here are essential guides to treasured foods the rest of us have forgotten or didn’t know existed.
Throughout these original and grippingly written chapters, Saladino shows us that when foods become endangered, we risk the loss of not only traditional foodways, but also flavors, smells, and textures that may never be experienced again. And he also shows how endangering stocks of at-risk fish comes with the added loss of the human cultures that are tied together with them, and the greater dangers that overfishing poses to marine ecosystems at large.
From the Sea is part of the Picador Shorts series “Oceans, Rivers, and Streams” in which excerpts from beloved classics speak to our relationship with our water bodies, great and small.
96 pages, Paperback
Published June 10, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 5, 2025
A short and good read, these excerpts from Saladino’s longer book about how our consumption threatens entire species and ancient/indigenous practices focus on marine and anadromous species. Saladino takes a holistic and realistic approach to the actions that have brought important species such as salmon and native oysters to the brink with the help of the people who rely on them most. I’ve often thought of the ways that climate change threatens our food systems, but this approach of highlighting how over consumption threatens food culture as well as security opened a new avenue of consideration that I’d never contemplated before. I’m looking forward to reading the larger book soon.
July 13, 2025
Cute little book with cute little stories about marine ecosystems, food culture and (over)consumption. Not so cute future for the sea tho…
October 25, 2025
i just loved this book. It filled all my buckets of travel, gastronomy, marine ecology, and anthropology
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews